The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) on Wednesday will announce the launch of a training course for digital media buyers and sellers seeking expertise in programmatic advertising technology.
The lack of expertise in the field of programmatic advertising, as well as a lack of educational classes at universities and trade schools, led the group to take action.
The intensive educational course, Programmatic 360: Automation Decoded, will be taught in person and online by industry executives at LiveRamp, CBS Interactive, and Pandora — all with advanced experience and knowledge on the topic.
U.S. programmatic digital display ad spend will surpass $46 billion by 2019, estimates eMarketer.
For example, more than 90% of Snap Ads were bought programmatically during the fourth quarter of 2017 -- up from about 80% in the third quarter, the company said during its earnings call Tuesday. In fact, programmatic advertising was the fastest-growing segment of the company's business.
In line with other certification and training programs from the organization, the IAB course will provide an impartial, comprehensive education on the programmatic landscape, furthering IAB’s mission to solve for the industry’s skills gap, said Christa Babcock, vice president, learning and development, IAB.
The first class will be offered in New York City on February 22, 2018, and in San Francisco on May 16, 2018.
Graduates will qualify for eight credit hours toward IAB certification or recertification status.
The program is designed for account managers, media planners, media buyers, sales teams, traders, operations teams, and those who manage and support. Testing the syllabus took several months. The course will offer detailed insights into the processes, tools, and strategic capabilities required to succeed in programmatic advertising.
The curriculum reviews the history of programmatic advertising, looks at the evolving standards for programmatic transactions and the implications of header bidding on core buying and selling processes, and offers the IAB's perspective on how programmatic will likely be redefined in the future.
Those who complete the course can expect to develop a proficiency in programmatic technologies and tools, have the ability to assess investments in programmatic solutions, and apply best practices to day-to-day management of campaigns and inventory.
Why do they keep calling it "programmatic advertising" when it's really nothing more than "programmatic media buying"?
How do we get details of these classes, and where do we sign up?
Beth, you can find more details here: iab.com/programmatic360