• by Daisy Whitney , Op-Ed Contributor, June 10, 2015

Many marketers are moving money from TV to programmatic video, according to a recently released study from ad tech firm Unruly. The survey found that nearly 70% of marketing decision makers said they’ve shifted budget in this direction in the last year. They are making the change because of the more refined targeting tools that programmatic video buying offers. Specifically, the study found that emotional and psychographic targeting are the most desirable buying segments in programmatic video.

In terms of metrics, marketers are least keen on measuring programmatic success by click-through rate, and prefer viewability and completed views. However, the jury is still out on the effectiveness of programmatic targeting as a whole. More than half of respondents said they don’t think programmatic buying drives offline sales, which raises questions about why they continue to invest in it. Marketers also say they remain concerned about quality of inventory and fraud in this arena.

However, some of these issues are natural as a market shifts to a new style of buying. Early concerns are often eradicated over time as marketers become more comfortable with new models of marketing. In its report Unruly said, “the programmatic skills gap still needs bridging: Marketers have low levels of confidence in their knowledge of programmatic video and their ability to execute campaigns.”

Even so, the investment in programmatic buying won’t let up. About 75% of marketing decision makers expect to spend more in programmatic video over the next year.

The opportunity overall is expanding quickly. IPG Mediabrands Magna Global said in its report that $10 billion in TV ad budgets will be delivered through programmatic platforms by 2019, representing 17% of TV budgets then, up from 4% today.