Paid advertising is important for promoting an app, but the process of finding publishers for ads can be daunting and inefficient. Instead, you can use demand-side platforms (DSPs) to automate this process. In turn, you can spend less time searching for publishers and spend more time on other important matters. At the same time, you can remain comfortable knowing that your ads are reaching the right people at the right time and through the right channels.
With the ideal DSPs, you can benefit from high-quality ad campaigns that improve user acquisition and yield positive ROI. With a better understanding of what DSPs are, their benefits, and how they work, you can find the right solution for your advertising efforts.
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What Are Demand-Side Platforms?
Demand-side platforms, or DSPs, are a type of software that advertisers can use to purchase ads through automated programmatic advertising. DSPs enable mobile advertisers to easily purchase and manage their ad inventories from various sources from a single platform, making them among the best marketing automation tools to use.
With the help of a reliable DSP, you can buy programmatic ads for nearly any platform, including social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook, along with Google and YouTube. Ordinarily, you would need to go through each platform individually to secure and manage ads, but a DSP makes it easy to gain complete control over your campaigns with a central solution.
As a result, a DSP can help you save time, energy, and money as you get the results you want from your digital ad campaigns.
How Do DSPs Work?
DSPs work in two main ways, connecting advertisers to publishers.
The programmatic advertising process begins when advertisers develop their ads and upload their content to the platform, establish a budget for their campaigns, and identify a target audience. Advertisers can do all of this through a single easy-to-use DSP interface.
Once the advertiser has uploaded ad content and established the ad parameters, the platform will begin looking for the most relevant publishers. The platform will select an appropriate publisher and bid for ad placement based on the advertiser’s budget. The advertiser then benefits from having their ads placed on the best platforms based on their requirements.
The entire process is consistently convenient and efficient, enabling advertisers to get their ads up and running in no time. The key is finding the right DSP to get the job done, as not all DSPs are equal.
What Are the Benefits of DSPs?
DSPs offer several main benefits that make them helpful for advertisers when promoting an app or another offering. The following are some of the biggest advantages of using a reliable DSP for programmatic advertising campaigns:
More Efficient Ad Buying
The most obvious benefit of DSPs for ad buyers is more efficiency across workflows. Instead of seeking individual platforms for ads and managing multiple campaigns via separate solutions, you can keep everything centralized on one platform. This makes it easier than ever to develop and consistently keep track of your ad campaigns, with more control over ad distribution and budget.
A Wider Range of Ad Exchanges
Another advantage of using DSPs for boosting user acquisition through ads is increased access to a variety of ad exchanges, with the ability to place bids in real-time. You can achieve this with DSPs due to the fact that they work with supply-side platforms (SSPs), which allow for easier management of ad inventories.
Additionally, ad exchanges consistently update to help make sure your campaigns benefit from the most current data. As a result, you can ensure your ads land on the right platforms that are always relevant to your brand and industry.
Improved Targeting Capabilities
A dependable DSP will also provide you with advanced targeting capabilities that enable you to hyper-target all ad campaigns. You can select specific demographics, locations, and even browser behavior to get your brand in front of the audiences who are most likely to download and install your app.
The right platform will also be able to use retargeting campaigns to connect with users who’ve seen your ads but didn’t connect with them the first time. This will help maximize impressions and ensure your ads have more chances to reach the right people at the right time.
In-Depth Analytics
To get the most from your ad campaigns, you need to be able to measure their results. Otherwise, you’ll be in the dark regarding their reach and overall performance.
Using the right DSPs, you can gain all of the insight you need into your campaigns at a granular level. You can view key metrics in real-time, from click-through rates and impressions to page view lift and traffic. This information will remain consistently up-to-date to keep all of the data relevant at all times.
Based on the information you collect about your campaigns, you can take the appropriate steps to further optimize them. As soon as you make any changes to your ad campaigns, you can immediately implement them with your DSP to get the results you want much more quickly.
DSPs General Cost-Effectiveness
DSPs can also save you more money on your ad campaigns and maximize ROI with the right strategies.
One of the reasons for this is that DSPs come with a fixed rate in most cases, which makes costs predictable. In addition, you’ll be able to direct your advertising investment to channels that yield real results. You’ll be able to use the most relevant ad platforms to connect with prospective app users and target your audiences based on some of the most specific details.
Because of this, you can save more money on campaigns that reach only those who are most likely to respond to your ads. This is much more effective than the outdated “spray and pray” method of advertising. The latter would attempt to reach the highest number of users, while DSPs enable you to spend only what you need on the most lucrative advertising opportunities.
What to Look For in a DSP
A DSP can significantly help your advertising efforts, but you must find the right solution for your app. Different DSPs offer different features and capabilities, making it important to select the one that’s most compatible with your business.
Here are some of the specific considerations to keep in mind when selecting a DSP to make the most of your investment.
Ad Inventory
The first aspect to consider is the kind of ad inventory that DSPs offer. While many DSPs may offer the same kind of ad inventory, some may require their users to pay more for them than others.
Depending on your needs, choose a DSP that offers display, video, and mobile ad types. If your DSP has ample ad inventory, you’ll be able to connect with your audiences as needed.
Efficiency and Flexibility
Your DSP should make it easy for you to modify your ad campaigns, targeting capabilities, and ad placements. Look for a platform that puts you in complete control and enables you to easily make changes as your ad campaigns or audiences change. For example, if you discover that a segment of your audience responds to certain ad creative better than what you’re currently using, you can quickly update your ads and upload them to the platform, followed by placing them on the right platforms. You’ll then be able to manage and monitor your campaigns as they update with in-depth data in real-time.
Detailed Reporting and Analytics
You must be able to see how your campaigns are doing at all times. A DSP platform should provide you with the tools to do so, including real-time data tracking with in-depth metrics. The right solution will allow you to see all relevant metrics and key performance indicators based on the goals you have in place. You can then compare your reports to your goals to determine how well your campaigns are performing. With this information, you can effectively optimize your campaigns to continually improve results.
Dependable Support
Another aspect to keep in mind is support. What kind of client support does the platform offer? If you experience any technical problems with your DSP, you should be able to get immediate assistance to resolve them. Otherwise, inadequate support and unresponsive teams can compromise your campaigns. It’s often best to work with a platform that offers a dedicated account manager or well-equipped support team to keep your DSP working as it should.
Implement the Right DSP to Boost Ad Performance and User Acquisition
When you locate and integrate the right DSP into your operations, you can be on your way to the results you want and need with your ad campaigns. If you’re looking for the best solution for your brand, AppSamurai has partnered with some of the world’s leading DSP platforms. AppSamurai is a comprehensive mobile growth platform that can do much more for you than DSPs alone.
Sign up today and a dedicated account manager will reach out to you with a tailor-made mobile marketing strategy including but not limited to DSPs, influencer performance marketing and OEMs to name a few. Reach out today to begin your app’s growth journey!