Programmatic media buying refers to ads bought through automated technology, as opposed to traditional negotiations and deals. This encompasses numerous digital channels nowadays since social or search buys can be automated. However, programmatic advertising in media buying often refers only to tactics such as digital display, video, audio, etc., separate from other channels such as search or social. The way in which programmatic ads are purchased, the types of ad placements available, and the targeting capabilities are what sets this channel apart from others and is the reason that programmatic ad spend increases year over year.* With programmatic buys, advertisers purchase ads on a Demand Side Platform (DSP) where real-time bidding takes place. The DSP works with ad exchanges and networks that host the auctions between advertisers. From there, publishers provide available ad spaces on the Supply Side Platform (SSP) and ultimately ad auctions are won and ads get served. Programmatic ad placements include display banners, native, video, audio, CTV and more, and these ads can appear on any website that is auctioning off ad space either mixed within their content, or on the site space around the content. This means there is expansive inventory and diverse creative opportunities that can be bought on a single platform. Audience targeting capabilities with programmatic are significantly more robust than other biddable media platforms. Typically, advertisers have options to target based on platform online behavior, interests, lookalike technology and first party data. What sets programmatic targeting apart from social is the access to third party audiences and deals from a variety of companies. Programmatic Concerns Given the nature of programmatic advertising’s expansive web inventory, brand safety is the first concern. It is imperative to utilize the built-in platform settings to ensure ads are served alongside brand-safe content. It is also recommended to utilize third party verification companies to track brand safety, fraud and viewability. With cookie deprecation looming, third party data will become less reliable since it will be harder to track user behavior across websites. This is why predictive audiences, contextual audiences and first party data is now more important than ever. LeadLab’s Programmatic Expertise Can Help Guide You Through Programmatic Implementation & Management  The LeadLab team boasts programmatic experts that can help walk you through a customized programmatic strategy, including ad servers connections, campaign structure, recommended audience targets, as well as budget allocation.

Getting Prepared for the Transition As Google prepares to sunset Universal Analytics (UA), it is important that you and your clients are prepared for the transition to Google Analytics 4 (GA4). In this post we cover an overview of the key differences between UA and GA4, as well as necessary action items to prepare for the transition. What’s Out: Universal Analytics Universal Analytics was built for a period of online measurement centered around desktop web usage and data gathered from cookies. As desires for privacy increase, and cookies phase out, a need for a new kind of measurement has emerged. UA uses a session-based measurement model which collects a group of user interactions (hits) with a website over a certain timeframe as one session. Universal Analytics sessions can include multiple pageviews, events and transactions. In UA, most reporting relies heavily on device ID and when the User-ID feature is enabled, its data reports separately and does not integrate with other identity spaces. Because these identity spaces work separately, it is difficult to measure user journeys across devices. Bounce Rate: A percentage of single page sessions in which there was no interaction with the page. A bounced session has a duration of 0 seconds. According to GA, Bounce Rate was a reasonable measure of site engagement at one time, but has become less useful as websites and apps have changed. What’s in: Google Analytics 4 Every Hit is an Event: GA4 uses a more flexible event-based measurement model in which all user interactions are stored as events. GA4 events can collect and send pieces of information that better specify the actions a user takes and can include things like purchase value, page visits and user demographics. Increased Privacy: Google Analytics 4 does not rely exclusively on cookies and will no longer store IP addresses, as users have come to expect more privacy and control over their data. 4 Event Categories: Automatically Collected Events, Enhanced Measurement Events, Recommended Events, Custom Events Identity Spaces: In GA4, data is processed using all available identity spaces (User ID, Google signals and device ID). Once a user is matched, analytics creates a single user journey from all data associated with this identity. Bounce Rate will no longer be an available metric as GA4 transitions to the use of the new “Engagement”metrics to measure page performance. Engaged Sessions: The number of sessions that lasted longer than 10 seconds, had a conversion event, or had at least 2 pageviews or screenviews. Avg. Engagement Time per Session: The amount of time the user is actually engaging with the page (scrolling, etc) while the page is the primary window being viewed on the screen. Engagement Rate: The percentage of engaged sessions relative to total sessions. According to GA, this metric is more relevant to how websites and apps work today. Reports: GA4 has significantly fewer standard reports compared to Universal Analytics and is designed to encourage the use of custom reports. In GA4 there are only 3 standard acquisition reports available with a key difference being the removal of the Source/Medium report as a standard view. However, it is fairly simple to update these reports to include your desired dimensions and create custom reports by modifying these existing GA4 reports. You can create custom reports in GA4 using the Explorations feature.

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The Many Benefits of Remote Work After spending years in the traditional corporate world, our CEO, Sara Johnson, realized that office life isn’t for everyone and there are benefits to operating differently. Instead of having a headquartered brick-and-mortar location, Sara chose to build LeadLab Media in a remote space, enabling employees to work in an environment that they genuinely enjoy and can be productive in. The environment at LeadLab Media is highly collaborative, and fully remote, with flexible work schedules and strong employee benefits. Our remote team has complete autonomy to decide where they will work from. Employees can customize their workspace according to their needs and can create their own office designed solely for them. This being said, coworking office space is always an option for our employees based on what each individual feels is best for their productivity and working structure. Being a remote company also doesn’t limit us to where we get our talent from. Our co-workers can reside anywhere in the world and still be an asset to our team. We don’t need to all be in an office to stay organized or operate as a unified team. Since we work in the digital industry, we can collaborate and connect in a virtual space while using platforms like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Slack. Offering flexibility to employees helps improve work-life balance and encourages high productivity. This work-life balance has provided flexibility for our working moms to work while still operating as a full-time parent. Our Operations Manager, Jenna Bonazinca loves the time she’s spent as a working mom at LeadLab Media for the past four years. People want to do well for a company that cares about their well-being and personal life. It is statistically proven that people also perform at their best when they are happy and satisfied. In research conducted from a LinkedIn study, 90% of employees are happier working remotely than under the supervision of their employers at the office. Keeping our team satisfied, inspired, and happy helps increase engagement and creative ideas from our team, which helps move our clients forward. LeadLab Media can help your team succeed through our dedicated service and entrepreneurial culture. Want to find out how? Request a consultation today !

Which is Right for You?  Google has two main ad buying platforms: Google Ads and DV360. Both platforms are widely used by advertisers due to their access to Google inventory and seamless integration with other Google Marketing Products (GMP) such as Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, and Campaign Manager 360. Most advertisers use these two platforms for different types of media buys, with Google Ads being used mainly for search and Google property buys, and DV360 used for programmatic display or video buys across the web. However, there are multiple ad types that can be bought on both platforms and knowing the differences can help align your campaign goals and budget.