Report: 70% of Marketers Have Only Been ‘Somewhat Successful’ with Programmatic Advertising

Although many marketers are investing in programmatic advertising, new research shows that they still face several hurdles, and they may not dedicate as much of their budget to it in the future.

Ascend2 recently published its “Programmatic Advertising Survey Summary Report,” and statistics suggested that the majority of marketers (70%) have only been “somewhat successful” at achieving their primary objectives through programmatic advertising. Twenty-three percent of the “best-in-class” marketers consider themselves to be “very successful,” while seven percent do not find themselves to be successful at all.

Audience targeting (46%), budget allocation (37%), and personalization (32%) were all considered to be top obstacles for marketers turning to programmatic advertising.

Over the next six months, most marketers (37%) said that they expect their programmatic advertising budget to only increase by 10% or less. About 15% expect it to decrease by 10% or less.

Marketers’ Focus on Digital Video and Mobile

In terms of priorities, tactics such as digital video and mobile remain at the top of marketers’ lists this year, according to previous research.

Integral Ad Science published its “Industry Pulse Report 2020,” and statistics showed that companies are expected to spend about $41.76 billion on digital video this year. This is a 20.8% year-over-year increase from 2019.

In addition, marketers will spend about $63.51 billion on mobile, which is a 20.2% year-over-year increase from 2019. Social media ($43.53 billion) also made the list, with a 20.5% year-over-year jump.