Programmatic Advertising: Reaching the Right Consumers at the Right Time

Today’s consumers no longer follow traditional media consumption patterns. They stream television across multiple platforms, listen to podcasts during their commute and browse apps and websites throughout the day on various devices. As media habits continue to evolve, advertisers need new ways to connect with audiences wherever they are. That’s where programmatic advertising comes into play.

“With programmatic advertising, we don’t buy media based solely on a publisher or platform. We target the consumer, allowing us to reach audiences across streaming services, connected TV and other digital channels,” said Programmatic Manager Amanda Cheese.

At Strategic America, our programmatic advertising services help brands reach highly targeted audiences through connected TV (CTV), streaming audio, display advertising and other digital channels, while delivering tracking and optimization capabilities that maximize results.

With in-house expertise and advanced reporting tools, we help build campaigns that align with business goals, increase brand awareness and deliver measurable results.

Programmatic advertising uses automated technology to buy and place digital ads across multiple platforms. Rather than purchasing advertising media from a single television station, website or publisher, advertisers access numerous media channels from multiple publishers, websites and apps in real time to target specific audiences through a centralized media buying platform.

While traditional media buying often relies on broad demographics like age or gender, programmatic advertising allows advertisers to layer additional criteria, including:

• Household income
• Homeownership status
• Geographic location
• Consumer interests and purchasing behavior
• Industry-specific audience segments

Rather than simply buying media placements, programmatic advertising allows brands to focus on consumers most likely to convert.

Consumers engage with media in countless ways throughout the day — streaming television after work, listening to Spotify during a workout, tuning into podcasts while driving or browsing websites before bed.

Programmatic advertising allows marketers to reach audiences across a variety of touchpoints, such as:

• Connected TV (CTV)
• Streaming services
• Podcasts and streaming audio
• Display advertising
• Mobile and smart home devices
• Digital video channels

Programmatic advertising allows marketers to adapt to changing consumer habits rather than relying solely on traditional channels. SA helps partners target consumers across an entire state through a single programmatic campaign, rather than negotiating separate media buys across multiple television markets.

“Programmatic advertising helps us understand where consumers spend their time throughout the day and reach them with greater precision,” said Cheese.

Over time, consumer behavior has fundamentally changed. Today, most consumers don’t rely on traditional television, radio or print media as their primary source of entertainment and information — instead opting for streaming platforms, digital audio services or free ad-supported television channels.

As a result, audiences are increasingly fragmented across media channels. Consumers increasingly rotate streaming subscriptions based on cost and viewing preferences.

“Consumer viewing habits continue to shift as people adjust their streaming subscriptions based on cost and content availability. Programmatic advertising allows marketers to adapt to those changes and reach audiences where they’re spending time today,” said Cheese.

Programmatic advertising helps brands reach audiences across platforms, from Hulu to Spotify and beyond. Programmatic advertising services can help partners:

• Improve audience targeting
• Expand media reach
• Reduce advertising spend
• Deliver measurable results
• Create a more efficient media buying process

Rather than paying to reach broad demographic groups, businesses can focus their budgets on the audiences most likely to take action. Brands can also integrate traditional and programmatic advertising strategies to maximize performance.

Cheese notes that connected TV (CTV) and traditional media each play a unique role. Traditional TV offers broad reach, while CTV provides more precise targeting. When integrated with search and social campaigns, CTV can strengthen full-funnel performance by increasing brand awareness and driving more qualified searches and leads.

One of the biggest advantages of programmatic advertising is its ability to track performance throughout the customer journey. Through SA’s reporting tools (tracking pixels, UTM parameters and audience analytics), advertisers can gain insights into how consumers interact with their campaigns.

Cheese and her team monitor key actions like website visits, form submissions, click-to-call activity, return visits, and lead generation. These insights allow the team to move beyond assumptions and make data-driven decisions based on campaign settings and performance data.

For example, if a consumer sees a connected TV advertisement and later visits that advertised website without taking action, the team can implement retargeting strategies to reconnect with that individual through display advertising that encourages them to take the next step on the customer journey.

SA’s reporting utilizes AI capabilities that help optimize campaign performance by identifying the most effective publishers, placements and audience opportunities based on campaign setup. As the campaign runs, the AI-driven tools can analyze the results and uncover efficiencies that can improve audience targeting and overall performance.

By bringing programmatic media buying in-house, Strategic America strengthened campaign management and more closely aligned programmatic, search and social strategies to improve overall performance.

As streaming continues to dominate the media landscape and consumers increasingly embrace free ad-supported digital content, programmatic advertising will become even more important.

“One of the biggest advantages of programmatic advertising is the ability to measure performance and understand how consumers respond to advertising,” said Cheese. “Those insights help us continually improve results and optimize future campaigns.”

At Strategic America, we’re committed to staying ahead of these marketing shifts by expanding our programmatic expertise, exploring new solutions and developing data-driven strategies that help businesses connect with the audiences that matter most.

Programmatic advertising complements traditional media by helping brands reach consumers across today’s fragmented media landscape. Whether your goal is to increase brand awareness, generate leads or support a broader marketing strategy with a targeted campaign, Strategic America can help build a programmatic approach that delivers measurable results.

Amanda Cheese is Programmatic Manager at Strategic America (SA), an integrated marketing and communications agency in West Des Moines, Iowa. Learn more about SA’s digital advertising services.