By Daniel O’Connor, Director of Sales, ANZ, StackAdapt
AI has taken over the advertising hype train and will likely remain at the top of the charts as many parts of the digital ad chain become automated.
There will continue to be considerable advances in AI and machine learning across the adtech stack. They will impact ad optimisation, channel selection, and creative assets.
However we believe multi-channel programmatic advertising should remain at the centre of all campaign activity, as the benefits are immense. And that requires humans to have their hands on the steering wheel.
Programmatic advertising works best if an advertiser spreads their campaigns across a multitude of channels. This is especially true for mid-tier marketers and the challenger brands that we work with across Australia. They want the best bang for their buck and taking a cross-platform approach is the best way to get noticed by target consumers.
Our platform processes 465 billion automated optimizations per second, a chunky volume of data that is applied to find the best ad impressions for each advertiser. The reality is that consumers are using a mixture of channels, and so a strategic approach to capturing attention is to be present on the channels and devices they are on.
Why does this matter? Because the way consumers engage with ads isn’t linear. They might see an ad while scrolling through their social feed, hear the brand mentioned on a podcast, and then click on an offer they see on their TV. It’s all part of an ongoing interaction between brand and consumer, and each touchpoint plays a role in driving that conversation forward.
When I think about my own experience as a consumer, I start the day by walking to the bus stop and listening to my favourite sports podcast. I will then scroll through the new headlines and the finance news on my phone, spend the day on my laptop visiting a load of content sites, and finally in the evening tuning in to some very mindless TV to unwind. I may then take action on the ad shown to me on the television.
Optimizing targeting so that it mimics the customer journey, which typically doesn’t stay confined to one channel, helps advertisers to achieve and exceed their campaign goals.
It’s about creating a consistent presence across channels, reinforcing your message at every step. Also, it enables marketers to get the reach and frequency equation better. This approach is working for our clients, including two fashion brands that we helped enter the Australian market from Europe. Their creative work ran on CTV, digital billboards and in the form of display ads, and then the multi-channel work began.
In tandem with media agency OPR Media we facilitated a seamless sequential retargeting strategy, re-engaging users who interacted with digital outdoor and CTV ads but didn’t convert, then targeting them with display ads to drive conversions.
By leveraging bid optimisation tools we worked with OPR Media to make real-time adjustments across multiple channels to key target metrics such as video completion rate, cost-per-click and cost-per-completed view. That led to better outcomes for brand awareness, engagement, and conversions. The sum of both campaigns was more than 950,000 unique users reengaged through sequential retargeting tactics.
It’s true that some advertisers view multi-channel advertising as a challenge, in particular the difficulty of measuring goals across different channels. That’s why multi-channel capabilities must live within a single platform in order to consolidate reporting and alleviate advertiser grief.
Also, we expect measurement to improve. AI-powered measurement tools provide deeper insights by tracking engagement across multiple touchpoints. Advanced analytics help marketers understand how brand awareness contributes to eventual conversions, moving beyond outdated attribution models.
AI is now guiding multi-channel investments and it is available to all sizes of advertisers. We expect advanced AI tools to continue to improve contextual targeting, real-time analytics, and lead to more intelligent targeting by analysing user behaviour and helping advertisers reach the right audience.