But accurately evaluating these attributes across vendors is no easy task since marketing technology is often arcane, which makes it tough to filter through the pretenders.
Even if marketers want to outsource their programmatic operations to vendors, they still need some tech savvy to choose the best vendor and avoid unexpected costs. For years, programmatic platforms on both the buy- and sell-side charged hidden fees that advertisers and publishers alike had trouble spotting. But unfortunately, many marketing firms have struggled to scale their tech talent to match the industry growth rate of programmatic advertising. We forecast that about 80% of US digital display ad dollars will be transacted programmatically this year.
Marketers will continue to grapple with vendor selection for the foreseeable future, but they’re not powerless when it comes to improving how much bang they get for their buck. Throughout the past year, many advertisers, including Procter & Gamble, cut down the number of demand-side platforms (DSPs) they use to purchase inventory. Reducing DSPs helped advertisers trim their tech costs and lower the probability of bidding against themselves. But it remains to be seen how marketers will adjust their strategies when it comes to striking deals across other sectors of the marketing tech industry.