Features Of A Good DSP

‘Washing powder Nirma’ is a familiar chime you cannot resist singing along with. The ad was first released on Akash Vani radio in 1975 and later on TV screens in 1982, reaching almost every consumer in the Indian market.  But we have progressed far from the ‘Nirma’ days, when radio and TV spaces were the slots to catch. Digital advertising now accounts for 51% of ad revenue, surpassing TV at 26%. Digital is a new battlefield to dominate, and in this war my friend, a good Demand Side Platform (DSP) might as well be your most handy and versatile sword.

Finding the proper sword (DSP) can be tricky, but I am here to give you a checklist of features so you can choose your weapon of choice!

Audience Targeting

Digital advertising thrives on precision targeting. Audience targeting isn’t just a nice-to-have; it is a critical feature that makes your campaigns more effective. Your brothers down south need the ads for a new brand of coconut oil more than their northern counterparts. The DSP you choose should have the sharpest tools to cut through the unnecessary noise and aim ads based on geographic locations, behaviour, and audience interests. Say your ad campaign is promoting a new chain of cafes in Bengaluru; you would not want those impressions wasted in Chennai. Are you selling high-end skincare? Make sure that your ads reach those in the right income bracket and are likely to make a purchase.

Omnichannel Support

Over half of smartphone users’ time is spent on social media platforms. But that is not the only place that they are engaging. They watch YouTube videos, stream other websites, and play games on their mobile phones. By 2030, India is expected to see around a billion active screens, of which only 240 million will be large screens like TVs and Laptops. The balance will be phones, tablets, etc. To capture your audience’s attention, you need to meet them where they are. From the billboards outside their office buildings, the games they play in their Ubers back home, to the Spotify ads in their showers. Choose a DSP that can ensure your brand stays relevant.

Real-Time Optimisation

Real-Time Optimisation is an ideal battle strategy- swift, precise, and effective. A top-notch DSP is equipped with machine learning algorithms that leverage AI tools to stay up-to-date and automatically adjust bids and targets based on real-time performance data. Your DSP should also be able to effectively reallocate your ad spend to campaign channels that show higher performance.

Transparency

A central feature of your DSP should be transparency. This ensures that you safeguard your brand image by keeping a subpar DSP from handling the reputation of your campaign.  Imagine this: You just ordered a pizza using a delivery app. You tracked the delivery, watched the little scooter icon move closer and closer to your door, and now –ding-dong– it arrives! But when you open the box, it isn’t your pizza. Instead, it is someone else’s order with extra mushrooms (and you definitely did not ask for those). The delivery app does not tell you anything about this mishap, so you are stuck staring at a pizza you did not order and have no idea where your real one is.

This is how a lack of transparency in advertising feels. You have spent your budget, but where did it actually go? Which part of your campaign worked? Which aspect is bringing in the customers? Without good reporting, you remain in the dark, similar to the mismatched pizza delivery.

Integration With Data Providers

For a DSP to effectively reach the right audience, it must have access to a broad range of data sources. This includes first-party data (your own customer data), second-party data (data shared by trusted partners), and third-party data (external data gathered from other sources). Access to these three data types allows the DSP to target and personalise campaigns accurately. Without this data, your ad campaigns will be like shooting a shot with your eyes closed. The recent decline of third-party cookies drives media companies to focus on first-party data collection and utilisation. Companies are investing in data partnerships to enhance audience targeting capabilities with contextual data models. Lucky for you, Cubera Tech provides you with an entire AdTech ecosystem to ensure that your ad campaigns are fail-proof. Rest assured that your DSP has access to the exact data you need!

Fraud Detection

In digital advertising, fraud is one of the most significant challenges marketers face. Without effective fraud detection mechanisms, your budget could be wasted on fake impressions, bot traffic, or low-quality placements without actual results. As programmatic advertising grows, so does the potential for fraud in automated ad purchases. Ad fraud involves malicious activity where bots, fake clicks, or fraudulent websites exploit your ad budget. This can be via fake impressions by displaying your ad on websites with no real traffic, using bots to mimic human traffic to provide skewed metrics of the campaign’s success and even stacking your ad under another but still charging you the full amount. Using first-party data can drastically minimise the number of frauds that take place. Fraud detection goes beyond just a feature.

You are now ready to put your armour on, pick up your best featured DSP and charge into the digital battlefield!