Transparency concerns stunt programmatic investment

Some 65% of marketers consider lack of financial transparency a major barrier to increased investment in programmatic, according to new research.

A study by Infectious Media found that while 75% of marketers planned to boost their programmatic spend in the next six to 12 months they harboured significant concerns.

For 55% of marketers the complexity of the programmatic ecosystem was a barrier to spending increases, while 50% cited lack of measurement as a concern. Just under half said their spending was hampered by lack of transparency of delivery and distrust of agency relationships.

Martin Kelly, co-founder and chief executive of Infectious Media, said: “Although marketers plan to put more investment into programmatic, it’s clear that transparency is still an issue.

“The IAB forecast for programmatic would account for nearly half of display advertising last year, so imagine how high it could be in 2015 if transparency wasn’t an issue.”

According to Infectious Media’s research the subject is still a mystery for many marketers. Some 85% wanted to know more about how to form a programmatic strategy while 65% wanted to know more about the major players. Just over half were looking for more information on how programmatic has been used successfully by other businesses.

Despite their lingering concerns, the majority of marketers did see the benefits of programmatic. More than half saw the syncing of online and offline campaigns as the biggest opportunity programmatic presents, while 50% chose programmatic’s ability to connect new data sources. Programmatic video and programmatic TV were selected by 45% and 40%, respectively.