Ad serving platforms are nothing new. Whether you have a large marketing department or it’s just you, you already know you need the right one. How do you make the decision? Eighty-two percent of marketers we recently spoke to expressed concerns about siloed customer data, systems, and teams. For advertisers, ad serving platforms can improve access to the right data, delivering a high-quality, personalized experience each and every time. Without them, though, your business faces major roadblocks to delivering a quality experience.
Your customers expect personalized marketing. If they don’t get it, or if your marketing annoys them, they’ll click away. Make them click away enough, and they’ll eventually develop animosity toward your brand.
So, how do you prevent this while still delivering a steady stream of advertisements in a highly saturated market? The right ad serving platforms break down barriers, removing layers of work and uncertainty. Choosing one requires you to think critically about your options, looking at more than just meets the eye.
Here’s how to choose the best ad serving platform for your needs.
Identify your brand needs and goals.
The era of one-size-fits-all advertising is long gone. Ad serving platforms that offer little more than a basic serving of the same thing to everyone can’t meet the needs of today’s market. A quality marketing campaign is all about understanding your customer base and your goals.
Some questions to ask as you make your list of needs and goals include:
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What is our current strategy?
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What about our current strategy works?
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What about our marketing strategy does not work?
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Who is our ideal customer? Do we know? Are there other groups we could target?
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How do we know what works and what doesn’t? Do we have a system in place?
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What feedback do we most often get from customers?
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What is our advertising budget?
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How much revenue are we hoping to bring in with our new marketing plan?
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How much time do we have to devote to marketing tasks?
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What are our top marketing goals? Brand awareness? Loyalty? New customers? High engagement?
No ad server platform works for every business. You don’t want to pay for more services than you need—or for redundancies your team is already taking care of. Identifying your needs before you begin shopping can help you avoid getting taken in by slick marketing, letting you focus instead on what you really need most.
Know the hallmarks of a great ad server platform.
No matter what you’re selling or to whom, your customers don’t want to see ads that look like, well, ads. Consumers prefer personalized experiences that speak to their needs and address their real problems. That’s exactly what an innovative ad solution should deliver.
Some things to look for as you research options include:
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The right data: A good ad serving platform should enable intensive, intelligent ad testing and analytics.
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A holistic process: Decouple creativity from media placement for maximum flexibility. You also need easy, “always on” trafficking that uses rules and logic for creative decision-making.
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All-in-one solution: The ideal ad platform reduces your work while increasing your influence by accessing and integrating with all of your currently siloed customer data.
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Total visibility: You need a comprehensive view across formats and channels.
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First-party ad serving: This helps overcome common challenges with third-party cookies.
Today’s businesses must serve up ads on more platforms than ever without alienating customers or becoming forgettable.
Eager to get ads right the first time with less work? Download our white paper, Beyond Basic Ad Testing, to ensure your ad serving platforms are putting the latest science in ad testing to work.
