Put the Right Eggs in Your Basket

With so many options available in programmatic advertising, it can be tough to determine what type of targeting strategy is right for your campaign: Targeting by inventory, or targeting by user. Targeting by inventory involves choosing to serve ads across specific types of content. For instance, contextual and keyword targeting both deliver ads based on the content of the website or app where the ad appears. PMP (Private Marketplace) targeting is the most similar to traditional media purchasing, as it entails buying ad inventory directly from premium publishers or media companies.

User targeting is more precise, and involves using first-party or third-party addressable data to deliver ads directly to specific people. This enables advertisers to personalize their ads based on user behavior, preferences, and demographics. For example, a car dealership can target users who have recently visited a dealership or been to websites related to car shopping.

Targeting by user allows advertisers to reach specific people regardless of what types of inventory they are browsing, allowing for more competitive pricing and (often) higher engagement rates and performance. If advertisers don't have access to relevant addressable data though, user targeting may not be an option. Targeting by inventory would allow these advertisers to reach a broader audience based on the content they are viewing. However, inventory-dependent strategies are generally less precise, which can lead to lower performance, and can also be more expensive (depending on the targeted publishers).