<p><br></p><p dir="ltr">As we already know, Programmatic media buying takes automation to a whole new level. It deploys software &ndash; during an ad campaign &ndash; to purchase, place, and optimize specific media using a bid based system. This streamlines the way businesses showcase their products and services; saving the sheer amount of time which can be effectively used for other tasks. However, as most processes are data-driven, businesses must understand that they need to define a clear data strategy before they even think about implementing programmatic advertising. No matter how complex the implementation may seem, data strategy is indeed considered as a panacea for all the mistakes &ndash; that could be avoided &ndash; in your campaign.</p><p dir="ltr"><br></p><p dir="ltr">That&rsquo;s a lot of fuss about programmatic. Now let&rsquo;s focus on how you can create a comprehensive strategy&mdash;based on a plethora of data if you want to make the most out of your advertising budget, and the campaign altogether.</p><p><br></p><p></p><h3 dir="ltr">Know What You Want to Achieve</h3><p dir="ltr">It is true that analytics help you gather massive volumes of customer data. However, categorizing them in a way that best aligns with your specific business goals can sometimes be a massive hurdle. So ideally, your future programmatic buying strategy and efforts will depend on what you want to achieve with your customer data. This can help you pinpoint and rule out the irrelevant data.&nbsp;</p><p dir="ltr"><br></p><p dir="ltr">To shed some light on this, for instance, if your primary goal is to boost the CTR of your business website, you can use the gathered data to gain insights on which platforms and ads are performing well; i.e. delivering the most click-throughs. On the other hand, if your aim is to lower your ad spends, you can leverage the data to identify the ads that give you the best ROI on your marketing efforts. Knowing what you want to achieve can help you set up the right KPIs which you can measure and improve.</p><p dir="ltr"><br></p><h3 dir="ltr">Develop a real-time mindset</h3><p dir="ltr">Programmatic using real-time bidding (RTB) allows marketers and advertisers obtain data which helps them analyze, optimize and execute their campaigns in real-time. Such a quick availability of data enables them to serve the right ads to the right audience at the right time. As such, marketers and advertisers making use of RTB should learn to take advantage of this aspect of RTB. It is no more sufficient for them to understand the data they obtain but also to utilize it at scale and speed to achieve their goals. This creates a necessity to break away from the mindset of static auctions and learn to create strategies and develop an &lsquo;always-on&rsquo; mindset.&nbsp;</p><p dir="ltr"><br></p><h3 dir="ltr">Invest in the right platforms</h3><p dir="ltr">Programmatic advertising makes use of various platforms and technologies such as data management platforms (DMP), supply-side platforms (SSP) and demand-side platforms (DSP). The minimum requirement for a marketer or an advertiser to use programmatic is to have a DSP. Today, there are several platforms available in the market with varied features and capabilities. Moreover, there are also hybrid DMPs available which combine certain features of a DSP and a DMP. Hence, it is important for an organization to understand which platform can help them achieve their programmatic goals. Having a bit of technological understanding additionally helps them understand whether they are getting what they are paying for.</p><p dir="ltr"><br></p><h3 dir="ltr">Analyze and leverage the Available Data</h3><p dir="ltr">Programmatic provides access to a plethora of data about the publisher, the kind of audience on the publisher&rsquo;s web assets, the effectiveness of your campaign, the channel or format of advertisement that made your campaign successful and much more. This data can be utilized effectively only if there is a strong reporting and analytics system that provides deeper insights. Such a system helps you monitor the progress, make quick adjustments, use the right creatives, channels and ad formats to enhance the effectiveness and relevance of your future campaigns and deliver them to your target audience at the right time.&nbsp;</p><p></p><p><br></p><h2>Conclusion</h2><p><br></p><p>Today, programmatic advertising has transformed the way businesses buy ads. However, it&rsquo;s an undeniable fact that it involves a plethora of processes that have to be mastered with the best-of-breed tools and practices. If you find this as a challenge, there are numerous solutions out there in the marketplace which you can implement&mdash;to gather data and reap maximum benefits as you move further.</p>