• by Paul Rostkowski , July 21, 2016

Programmatic media traders are responsible for executing and optimizing media-buying strategies to meet specific KPIs for clients, requiring the use of quantitative and analytical skills. Often, traders become so focused on day-to-day campaign optimizations that they miss opportunities to evaluate the sellers from whom they are regularly buying. If they conduct regular analyses of top sellers’ activities, they can achieve big campaign gains with just a few small buying adjustments.

Prioritizing Inventory

Concerns about rising CPMs can result in multiple hypotheses that could all be inconclusive, leading to optimizations that might have zero effect on a campaign. A major assumption is that programmatic competition leads to increasing prices, when in fact programmatic competition is almost exclusively affecting lower-tier inventory sources with high-performing impressions.

More than ever, brands are looking for reassurance that their ads are reaching humans, not bots, in brand-safe environments. Additionally, advertisers have shifted away from prioritizing high numbers of clicks on their ads.

The increase in verification-measured campaigns and the diversification of campaign goals have changed the way buyers are purchasing inventory—there’s greater focus on top-tier, more expensive inventory.

However, the shift in clients’ requests for better branding opportunities has also led to stiff competition on lower-tier, high-performing inventory. So while a trader isn’t surprised to see higher CPMs for top-tier inventory, he or she should consider the effects that branding goals have on the CPMs of lower-tier inventory.

Testing Multiple DSPs

Additional research into inventory sources can also reveal a lot about which DSPs are most beneficial to a specific campaign. It’s easy to rely on one DSP that is providing acceptable performance, but a closer look may reveal another DSP that can provide truly exceptional results. Invest in testing out a variety of DSPs for each campaign, to identify which ones drive the best ROI.

Survey Closing Prices

A solid inventory analysis will also uncover DSPs that are partial to their own inventory. A typical scenario might include a trader looking into CPMs for top sellers across multiple DSPs and finding that the closing prices from a specific inventory source are significantly lower if purchased through its own DSP. If traders don’t take the time to survey multiple DSPs for price discrepancies, they might pay too much for desired impressions.

When looking for ways to optimize campaigns, it’s important to regularly take a step back and conduct research into where inventory is coming from, which DSPs will provide maximum results, and where closing prices are the most reasonable. This knowledge will not only positively affect individual campaigns, but will also allow traders to apply new tactics to their overall trading strategies.