As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to enjoy high investment levels, recruitment marketing professionals should recognize that automation is the industry's future. Nowhere is that more easily seen than with the rise of programmatic advertising, which uses automated platforms to buy and sell digital recruitment ads.
Programmatic advertising now accounts for over 90% of display ads, and businesses are forecast to spend over $150 billion on it by the end of 2024. With so much ad space dedicated to programmatic platforms, recruitment marketing professionals who don't use them will likely fall behind.
For those who have heard negative things or are unsure whether programmatic advertising is suitable for their organization, here's the truth behind five programmatic advertising myths and how the practice can benefit companies now and in the future.
Display advertising is a visual digital ad bought inside a specific closed network. Because display ads can be "programmed" to show on particular websites or at specific times, many recruitment marketing professionals confuse the concept with programmatic advertising.
However, programmatic advertising is a different process, relying on intelligent automation to make buying decisions. Instead of purchasing ads from a single network, programmatic advertising taps into the power of multiple to access more ad space and create more targeted and effective campaigns.
Programmatic advertising offers a variety of formats, such as:
Access to a wealth of data across several networks makes programmatic advertising highly desirable for recruitment marketing professionals looking to build a solid talent pool of qualified candidates.
Many recruitment marketing professionals purchase programmatic ads through a process known as "header bidding," which allows publishers to offer their ad inventory on multiple exchanges simultaneously. Every advertiser is bidding on the same inventory simultaneously, and the ad space goes to the highest bidder.
Header bidding opens access to high-quality inventory that would have previously only been accessible via direct, closed-door purchases. It also allows recruitment marketing professionals to balance cost-effectiveness with inventory quality, as automated bid processing ensures they access the best possible placements for their budget.
Programmatic advertising offers precise targeting capabilities, assuring that ads reach the most likely to respond and convert. That helps hiring professionals maximize their return on investment (ROI), thus making the process even more cost-effective.
Programmatic advertising isn't a business wherein people take an advertiser's money without information about what happens next. In exchange for spending on ads, recruitment marketing professionals can access real-time reporting and analytics. On the front end, that ensures the ability to make data-driven decisions in segmenting and targeting the right audience. On the back end, those running the campaigns can see campaign performance statistics and optimize performance in real-time.
Recruitment marketing professionals can also check their ads to ensure they appear on the proper websites (not fraudulent pages), in the right context, and are seen by their target audience. This is all done through the use of verification tags, which are deployed with the ad to send back that critical information.
Programmatic advertising involves a delicate balance between automation and human experience. Though media buying and placement may happen automatically, recruitment marketing professionals should know which levers to pull. Humans must evaluate real-time data, create and tweak ad creatives, understand target audiences, and decide how much to bid.
With a human to think through these aspects, programmatic campaign success is highly likely.
Contrary to popular belief, programmatic advertising is more than just helpful in selling to B2C customers. B2B brands also use it to target business decision-makers. Remember, programmatic advertising has in-depth targeting and segmentation capabilities to reach a precise audience with a tailored message. B2B professionals use these features to increase brand awareness and leads by targeting people in specific industries, roles, or company sizes using the websites they most frequently visit.
B2B professionals also use the platform's real-time data to see exactly what their target audience responds to and quickly shift their ad creatives in response. When a recruiter calls or sends an email, the person on the receiving end will likely already be familiar with and have interacted with the brand, making it easier to secure a candidate.
Programmatic advertising improves recruitment ad targeting and personalization using real-time data; hiring professionals can see which campaigns and creatives the audience prefers. That, in turn, helps segment the audience and tailor messages to each group's specific needs and desires, resulting in a higher chance of conversion. It also produces a higher ROI, as ads will begin to perform better and bring in more revenue for the price.
Additionally, because programmatic advertising is automated, it doesn't require long conversations or manual bidding. This increases the efficiency of the media buying process, allowing talent acquisition professionals to spend their time on more strategic initiatives.
Furthermore, programmatic advertising can easily be scaled across multiple channels and formats. It gives recruitment marketing professionals unprecedented access to many publishers while eliminating the hassle of juggling each individually. Integrated platforms allow for managing and optimizing campaigns through one centralized dashboard.
Tip: For those looking for an effective programmatic job advertising solution, Recruitics offers a robust platform with advanced, AI-driven algorithms that balance high performance with smart budget management and makes adjustments based on real-time data.
When using programmatic advertising, it's essential to set clear goals and key performance indicators for the campaign. If hiring professionals know their goals, it is easier to identify when they've been met.
Recruitment marketing professionals should develop long-term relationships with trustworthy programmatic partners. Doing so ensures that talent acquisition professionals have access to the features they need and deal with a partner that provides transparent, real-time reporting for verification and optimization purposes. They can use that real-time data to consistently optimize their campaigns and ensure the maximum ROI from each, highlighting the need to balance automation with human expertise.
It's also important to stay involved with the campaign throughout to produce the best possible results.
AI and machine learning will continue to play a more prominent role in programmatic advertising. Algorithms can go beyond real-time data to offer predictive analytics, a type of data that automatically analyzes past user behavior to make future predictions based on everything from the weather to a user's specific location.
Though Google recently announced that it has ended its plans to phase out third-party cookies, recruitment marketing professionals should still prepare for a cookie-less future. If tracking user behavior through cookies becomes impossible, they may need to rely more on contextual advertising, which serves ads based on the website's content, instead of tracked user data.
Programmatic advertising transforms the work of recruitment marketing professionals, ensuring high efficiency and more effective campaigns. Those who adopt a programmatic advertising strategy stay ahead of the curve, providing smooth and easy campaign scaling, real-time optimization, and a better ROI.
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Contact Recruitics today to schedule a consultation and discover how programmatic advertising can maximize your recruitment marketing results.
