Comprehensive Survey Reveals Majority of Marketers to Spend At Least 40 Percent of Digital Media Budgets Programmatically by 2015

NEW YORK, May 15, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- A comprehensive new survey of marketers, agencies, publishers and technology vendors by AdExchanger Research reveals a strong, positive outlook for programmatic media over the next 12 months. AdExchanger Research is a new practice from AdExchanger designed to provide thoughtful analysis on the digital media and advertising ecosystem, and support to marketers navigating the digital landscape.

The report titled, "The State of Programmatic Media," contains insight from more than 400 members of the digital advertising community.

Programmatic Spending and Management:          
Marketer spending on programmatic advertising is strong and growing. Over the next twelve months, the majority of marketer respondents (66 percent) plan on spending almost half (40 percent) of their digital media budget programmatically, while a quarter of marketers plan on doing so for at least 80 percent of their budget. Currently, the majority of marketer respondents are managing 20 percent or more of their media programmatically, with nearly half managing 40 percent or more of their digital media budget this way. 

Agencies are investing heavily in programmatic as well. More than two-thirds of agency respondents are currently managing at least 20 percent of their digital budget programmatically, and more than a third are managing at least 60 percent. Nearly half plan on managing at least 60 percent of their total digital budget programmatically within the next 12 months.

"Programmatic has evolved far beyond real-time bidding. It is enabling marketers to deliver the most relevant advertising experiences to consumers," said Joanna O'Connell, Director of Research at AdExchanger. "Programmatic has become an accepted way of conducting business helping streamline operational processes along the way. I am pleased to see it on the rise and being embraced by those across the entire digital advertising ecosystem."

When asked which media channels are being managed using programmatic methods, display continues to dominate with adoption by 96 percent of marketers surveyed. However, at least a portion is being managed programmatically across the following channels as well:

• Video (73 percent)
• Mobile (64 percent)
• Paid social (55 percent)
• Connected TV (16 percent)

According to the survey, marketers are currently spending most heavily through open exchanges, allocating more than 60 percent of their current programmatic budgets to such environments. However, private marketplace and guaranteed programmatic deals will become increasingly important in the near future. Surveyed marketers expect to spend almost 50 percent of their total programmatic budget across private marketplaces and programmatic guaranteed buys over the next 12 months.

Benefits, Challenges and Divergences:         
According to marketer respondents, "audience targeting" and "improved ROI" are key benefits of programmatic, while agencies and publishers lean more heavily toward "operational efficiency." As for key challenges, marketers, agencies and publishers all point to "inventory quality issues" and "market complexity" as major obstacles facing programmatic.

The study reveals marketers and agencies diverge when it comes to service and technology models. Marketer respondents strongly favor "direct to platform" service models, with a nearly even split across self-service (27 percent) and full service (25 percent) approaches to programmatic media management. Marketers also favor a single platform relationship, with more than 40 percent of marketers surveyed relying primarily on a single general demand side platform (DSP).

Meanwhile, more than half of agencies lean toward self-service and are much more frequent multi-platform users, with the majority of respondents using either a single general DSP with multiple channel-specific DSPs, or multiple general DSPs to manage programmatic buying.

About the Study:        
AdExchanger conducted "The State of Programmatic Media" survey online from February-March 2014. Survey participants include 44 marketer respondents, 99 agency respondents, 97 publisher respondents and 178 tech vendor respondents. The report is available for purchase on AdExchanger Research by visiting research.adexchanger.com

About AdExchanger Research      
AdExchanger Research was formed in 2013 by AdExchanger to provide thoughtful analysis on the digital media and advertising ecosystem. As a complement to AdExchanger's editorial and publishing arm, our research practice is intended to provide ongoing guidance, advice, support and interpretation of the dynamic digital landscape. Visit AdExchanger Research at research.adexchanger.com.  

About AdExchanger          
Founded in 2008, AdExchanger is a publishing and research company devoted to the data-driven digital advertising space. AdExchanger enables the exchange of ideas between all members of the "ecosystem," including agencies, advertisers, publishers, data providers, ad networks, media traders and ad technology companies. The goal of this exchange is to help improve understanding and efficiency. The publication has 140,000 monthly unique visitors and a daily newsletter with more than 16,000 subscribers. The company also produces the leading conference in programmatic media, PROGRAMMATIC I/O, and Industry Preview, which provides an exclusive look at the year ahead in digital marketing technology. Visit us at www.adexchanger.com and follow us on Twitter at @adexchanger to stay informed on the latest news.

SOURCE AdExchanger