It’s marketing technology at its finest.

Programmatic advertising is a form of automated digital marketing which enables ads to be purchased or sold in real time through automated technological systems. This process requires demand-side platforms (DSPs) and supply-side platforms (SSPs). I want to explain how these two entities work together to make programmatic advertising profitable in a way that makes sense to people unfamiliar with the digital marketing world.

If you want the briefest version of the explanation without any details, scroll to the photo at the bottom of this article. But, here is a more detailed and concise version that you may understand:

Demand Side Platforms (DSPs) are online systems used by advertisers (companies) and agencies to buy ad impressions from various sources. Through data analytics, user profiles, and targeted bidding strategies, DSPs provide an efficient way for marketers to purchase ad space. Additionally, DSPs enable companies to target specific demographics with their campaigns based on location, age, gender and other factors.

On the other hand, Supply Side Platforms (SSPs) act as middlemen between publishers and advertisers (companies). They allow publishers to access a wide variety of potential buyers from a single interface while also providing them with demographic information about their respective audiences. This data helps publishers better monetize their inventory by allowing them to accurately price and package their ads according to consumer preferences.

It is important to understand who publishers are and who advertisers are.

In the context of digital marketing, publishers are usually websites that produce content such as articles or videos. Examples of publishers include news sites, media outlets and other online content providers. By using an SSP, these publishers can manage and optimize the sale of their ad inventory to a wide variety of potential buyers. This allows them to accurately price and package their ads according to consumer preferences, thereby helping them maximize their potential earnings from each sale.

Advertisers are companies promoting their products or services on a publisher’s website. Advertisers typically pay either per impression (CPM) or on a cost-per-click basis (CPC).

Through SSPs, these advertisers can access a wide variety of potential publishers while also being able to target specific audiences through demographic data. This helps them reach their desired audience more efficiently and effectively, thereby providing them with a better return on investment.

The relationship between DSPs and SSPs can be thought of as a marketplace:

DSPs provide marketers or companies with the means to purchase targeted advertising space, while SSPs give publishers the tools to maximize their potential earnings from each sale.

Together, they make programmatic advertising more efficient while helping buyers and sellers optimize profits at every stage.

If none of that made sense to you, here is how I would explain
it to my grandmother.

Some forms of programmatic advertising are display ads, mobile ads, and audio (podcasts) and video (OTT/CTV) streaming ads.

In essence, this process allows for more accurate targeting of your audience with less time and effort involved and greater efficiency in terms of cost.

If you want to know how I can provide a DSP/SSP for no agency costs, please get in touch with me via Linkedin, and I will connect you with the right people.

If you want to support my writing career, you can donate to my Venmo (username: David-Zosel). 

In the age of digital video advertising, Over-the-top (OTT) and Connected TV (CTV) are setting themselves apart. While traditional digital media ads, such as those we find on YouTube or social media, are easy to skip, OTT/CTV ads can be harder to avoid. This is due to how they’re displayed on streaming platforms, resulting in higher video completion rates than other types of digital video advertising.

These higher video completion rates mean more attention for your brand, leading to better results. The key to success in this medium is understanding its uniqueness – it’s simultaneously tried-and-true yet cutting-edge.

Leveraging OTT/CTV ads also offers additional benefits that traditional video advertising can’t replicate. This is due to the data tracking analytics offered by streaming platforms such as Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, and Hulu. This provides a more granular level of ad targeting for brands, allowing them to reach their target audience with laser-like precision. What this means is that contextual targeting means ads are shown alongside specific content and genres, creating better engagement and higher rates of return.

Along with high video completion rates, accessibility to more businesses, highly targeted, and data analytics is what it will provide you to set your brand apart from your competition.

To learn more about how I can provide you with OTT/CTV services with no agency fees, markups, and wholesale prices, don’t hesitate to contact me via LinkedIn, and I will connect you with the right people.

If you want to support my writing career, you can donate to my Venmo (username: David-Zosel). 

Over the Top (OTT) and Connected TV (CTV) has been transforming the digital media landscape in recent years. These platforms provide marketers new ways to reach consumers that traditional TV can’t match. In this blog post, I’ll discuss what OTT/CTV is, how it’s different from traditional TV, and what it means for the future of programmatic advertising.

“Over-the-top” (OTT) refers to media delivered via the internet instead of a cable or satellite subscription service. OTT includes streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, YouTube, and more—all of which can be accessed without signing up for traditional pay-TV packages.

Connected TV (CTV) is any television set that is connected to the internet. This could include Smart TVs connected directly out of the box or streaming devices like AppleTV or Firestick hooked up to a traditional TV set.

The most significant difference between OTT and CTV is how they deliver video content. With OTT services, viewers don’t need a pay-TV package; they must sign up for one or more online subscription services to access their favorite shows and movies on demand. But with CTV, viewers still need a pay-TV package to access content through their smart TVs or streaming devices.

This distinction is important when it comes to advertising revenue models as well. Since OTT services are delivered over the internet instead of cable networks, they don’t rely on fees from cable providers or ad revenue from commercials during programming breaks. Instead, many offer ad-supported versions where viewers watch commercials before viewing their chosen content for free or at a reduced cost compared to subscribing to ad-free services. CTV channels rely more on traditional commercial breaks within shows and tend not to offer an ad-supported option for viewers yet.

Programmatic advertising has become increasingly popular in recent years due to its targeting capabilities and improved efficiency over manual buying processes. As OTT/CTV continue their growth momentum and become more integrated into everyday life – including being supported by all major connected device ecosystems – they present a huge opportunity for marketers looking to tap into this space through advanced programmatic solutions powered by data science techniques such as machine learning algorithms that optimize results while minimizing costs and risk compared with other platforms & channels like desktop & mobile web & apps and radio & outdoor billboards respectively.

This marketing platform brings exciting opportunities for advertisers who want to reach potential customers in new ways previously unattainable through traditional television advertising models. Programmatic advertising helps further capitalize on these opportunities by providing advanced targeting capabilities while improving efficiency over manual buying processes – making it ideal for leveraging ever-increasing demand amongst OTT/CTV audiences worldwide.

Most importantly, it is accessible and affordable to companies big and small.

To learn more about how I can provide you with OTT/CTV services with no agency fees, markups, and wholesale prices, don’t hesitate to contact me via LinkedIn, and I will connect you with the right people.

If you want to support my writing career, you can donate to my Venmo (username: David-Zosel). 

As a small company, don’t let digital agencies scam, prejudge, or hide information from you. 

They want big clients to charge big agency fees and mark up your media buys.

As a small company, you may be wondering what OTT/CTV advertising can do for your small business and why it should be part of your advertising strategy.

Due to a lack of knowledge out there, let’s back up.

OTT/CTV is Over the Top/Connected Television: the new wave of Television advertising. And it is a programmatic strategy, which is a whole other article for me to write about OTT/CTV. 

Your small company/business can now advertise like the heavy-hitting industry leaders. OTT/CTV ads are the fastest growing advertising channel, and you will be lost in the dust because:

Digital agencies are the people who hold the knowledge of this marketing channel and are only providing it to companies with huge budgets for huge profits. This is because they know they can charge companies who can afford their ridiculous fees. 

These digital marketing agencies display very little information because they secretly sell this service to companies with huge marketing budgets at a marked-up rate for the cost per thousand views. 

The only information you can find on it is:

1. What it is.
2. What is the difference between OTT/CTV?

It’s simple… streaming television across streaming platforms and devices through accurate targeting.

The bigger the budget their clients have, the more they will profit. It is unfair to small businesses with small budgets who cannot afford expensive agency fees and their CPMs (cost per thousand views) rates.

Don’t let agencies scam, hide, or take away these opportunities. 

There is no reason why businesses with smaller wallets should miss out on taking advantage of OTT/CTV. 

I can offer this to your company with no consultancy fee at no-marked-up pricing by connecting you with my partner’s OTT/CTV programmatic technology.

The point of marketing is to bring success to your clients as an agency. 

Why would my partner charge no fees? 

If marketing doesn’t bring you results, why even pay my partner’s consultancy fee? Just pay for the media at cost. 

Advertising should be affordable to all companies. Even the little guy. 

This is an unprecedented opportunity for smaller companies, and agencies are holding you back due to your lack of budget. 

Please contact me via Linkedin for me to help provide these services for you.

If you want to support my writing career, you can donate to my Venmo (username: David-Zosel). 

As the world of television continues to evolve, Over-the-Top (OTT) and Connected Television (CTV) have become two of the leading formats for consuming content. With OTT and CTV, users can access films and shows over the internet without needing a traditional cable or satellite subscription, unlocking an unprecedented level of choice in terms of what and when to watch.

In 2023, it is projected that companies will be investing a majority of their advertising dollars into OTT/CTV. This is due to the fact that this format allows advertisers to target specific demographics with laser accuracy by leveraging data-driven insights about user behavior.

Is this only just for B2C, you may ask?

You would immediately think so, but…

For B2B marketers, OTT/CTV presents a unique opportunity to reach their potential clients in powerful new ways. By using this new marketing channel effectively, B2B marketers can create tailored campaigns highlighting their company’s strengths while delivering actionable insights into products or services that can help customers achieve longer-term goals.

As we move further into the future, it is clear that the growing popularity of OTT/CTV will continue to shape television viewing habits – making it one of the most important areas for companies looking to invest their advertising dollars effectively in 2023. B2B marketers should take advantage of this medium to capitalize on its potential for creating personalized, engaging campaigns that truly resonate with their target audience.

For more information on how I can provide OTT/CTV services for your company or digital agency at wholesale cost without any consulting fees, please reach out to me via LinkedIn, and I will connect you with the right people in my network.

If you want to support my writing career, you can donate to my Venmo (username: David-Zosel). 

Are you making the most of your first-party data? If not, it might be time to invest in a professional GA4 setup from experts.

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is the evolution of Google Universal Analytics and a game-changing tool for marketers and companies.

It allows you to leverage all the data collected from your customers, allowing you to make smarter decisions about how to optimize user experiences and better target campaigns.

Benefits of having a professionally set up GA4 include:

• Create more effective marketing strategies – Targeted campaigns that are tailored to specific users become easier with detailed first-party data insights.
• Increased visibility into customer behavior – With enhanced insights into customer activity, you can create highly personalized user experiences, leading to higher conversions.

• Improved ROI on ad spend – Track individual performance for every campaign or creative effort, ensuring maximum return on investment (ROI).
• Easier tracking & reporting – Professional setup of GA4 makes it easy for non-technical users to access reports, extract meaningful insights and monitor their data quality over time.
• Access to premium features – Unlock powerful advanced analytics capabilities like predictive modeling when you work with an experienced team on your GA4 setup.

The difference between UA and GA4 is that Google’s new platform is much more and extremely customizable.

What separates a good GA4 setup from a great one? It’s the ability to write Javascript to create User Defined Variables to implement to your parameters to create a more robust tracking system for your GA4 Events.

What does this mean?

Events – the activity on your website you are trying to track.
Parameters- the details of events you want to track.
Variables- the specific customization to create the parameters that will implement the details of your Events. Using Javascript to implement this is the most challenging step.

I have researched all over the web, talked to companies who set up GA4, and connected with “Gurus” to only get roundabout marketing answers to basically saying “no.”

When you invest in a GA4 setup, ask the person if they can set it up like that. Then look at your Google Tag Manager account under “Variables” to see if they comply with your requests.

If they are not doing this, then you are getting ripped off.

I have discovered someone who does this and can even teach you how. He has worked with many big-time clients and is so busy that you have to be on a waitlist to work with him.

Please get in touch with me via Linkedin, and I will connect both of you.

Anyway…

With so many benefits of investing in a professional GA4 setup, it’s no wonder why more companies are turning to experienced professionals for assistance. By working with someone who understands the nuances of this new platform, you can take advantage of all the potential to make the most informed marketing decisions.

If you want to support my writing career, you can donate to my Venmo (username: David-Zosel). 

Stress is a good thing, but that is only if you make yourself believe that, which I do. But eating all the time is not healthy because of the stress you’re under.

Whenever I open up to people about my stress eating issue, people always say, “Oh David, you just have a high metabolism” or “You’re too skinny.” Which is fine and acceptable because humor is a great way to deal with things and support people. But that is also a problem because, as a society, we don’t take mental health as seriously as we should still.

People like to over-dramatize stress eating, but research shows it is an actual issue that comes from dealing with stress by using instant gratification and is another category of mental health. Due to the 10 million things I have going on while going 100 million miles an hour, I find myself eating two breakfasts, lunches, and dinners, along with periodic snacking.

I’m not exercising or eating healthy either. I’m always in front of my computer working. The exercise I get is cleaning the house and doing chores.

I think the first thing I need to do to combat this is to define what stress eating is.

Understanding the negative aspects of your life and defining them can help you overcome is what I have always believed in.

Stress eating is a term used to describe the tendency of some people to engage in comfort eating or emotional eating when they are feeling overwhelmed or anxious. It’s a common problem and one that can have serious impacts on our physical, mental, and emotional well-being if left unchecked.

Let me reiterate: For me, stress is a positive thing because it means that I have active involvement in my life to control my own destiny. If I had no stress then my life would be complacent. It’s a positive thing.

But why do we stress eat? Let’s take a look at some of the most common reasons why we might turn to food for comfort:

1. Stress triggers an increase in appetite hormones. When we experience stress, our bodies release the hormone cortisol, which can lead to an increase in appetite. This creates an urge to consume more calories than usual – even though the body actually doesn’t need them – resulting in mindless eating.
2. Eating releases feel-good hormones: Eating certain types of food releases dopamine and serotonin, hormones associated with pleasure and relaxation. This encourages us to continue seeking out these feelings through food, resulting in unhealthy habits such as overindulgence and addiction.
3. Food often serves as a distraction: When faced with difficult situations, turning to food can be a temporary distraction or escape from reality; albeit a short-term one at best!

By understanding the underlying causes of our stressful eating habits, we can look for healthier alternatives such as practicing mindfulness, engaging in calming activities like yoga or listening to music, and talking about our emotions rather than attempting to ignore them.

I wanted to speak up about this as the first step to figuring out how to beat this bad psychological habit.

The mind is a powerful tool and I must keep molding it to discover who I am to live the life I want.

If you want to support my writing career, you can donate to my Venmo (username: David-Zosel). 

Marketing is a copycat game. There are rare instances of being an innovator in this practice where you will see an equivalent of “the invention of the wheel” to change marketing. Those who adapt, keep up with trends and use data the best to make the best business decisions will thrive the most for companies as a marketer.

Business-to-business (B2B) marketing is no longer stuck in the past. With tremendous growth potential and an increasing focus on customer experience, B2B marketers are now turning to business-to-consumer (B2C) funnel-building lead-generation tactics to acquire new clients.

From leveraging SEO, Google PPC, Paid Social Media, OTT/CTV, LBA, to utilizing targeted email campaigns through purchasing email lists, B2B marketing is embracing the new age of client acquisition engagement. By utilizing insights from consumer behavior, B2B marketers can create more effective messaging and campaigns that produce positive results.

The fundamental difference between B2B and B2C is that marketers need to get the message in front of more people. The reasoning for this is that you are marketing to a group of people you will be doing business with versus one person who is the decision maker that you would find in B2C.

Ultimately, B2B marketers need to understand the expectations of today’s potential clients that they are trying to attract – who have grown accustomed to seeing modern, user-friendly advertising experiences from companies like Amazon and Apple – to create an impactful and successful campaign.

From what I keep reading and seeing and my experience being targeted by ads that fit my needs as an ambitious B2B marketer, we need to set ourselves, clients, and companies up for success by adapting to survive in an ever-evolving digital landscape.

If you want to support my writing career, you can donate to my Venmo (username: David-Zosel). 

Don’t let anything stop you from achieving your dreams – if life throws you a curveball, stay determined and keep going!
No matter how hard it is, keep pushing forward and don’t give up. One thing at a time.

Even if you’re not hitting your goals yet, practice patience and stay dedicated to the goal.

The journey may not be easy but with dedication, determination, and resilience, anything is possible.

You have the power to create your own destiny.

If you want to support my writing career, you can donate to my Venmo (username: David-Zosel). 

There are so many things that I cannot control in the world.

With all the noise going on in the world, I challenge you to remind yourself that “You’re running your own race.”

If you run someone else’s race, you will lose every time. And if you do win, you won’t obtain the result that is right for you.

Focusing on yourself is crucial.

I need to focus on being my best self to give my best to others.

I must focus on being my best self to give back to others.

I need to keep running my own race, so I can lead teams to success and help people worldwide.

I know I’d fail if I were running someone else’s race.

I can’t do what Elon or Zuckerberg does. Building cars and creating a new dimension of the internet is not my thing.

But I can do what I control and try to do it the best I can every day.

If you want to support my writing career, you can donate to my Venmo (username: David-Zosel). 

WOW. It’s been exactly one year since I posted on my blog despite constantly writing. I’ve done some recollections on how I can improve in life and I wanted to improve my leadership skills. Here are my ambitions for improvement:

1. CONNECT – Putting People First – Build strong relationships by listening, connecting with, and recognizing co-workers for doing 5-star work.

2. FAIR AND SQUARE – Treat people fairly and support them because the people around you are your teammates. Drop everything you’re doing to help someone, and you will receive that energy back.

3. WHAT & WHY – Ask yourself what the solution to the problem is and why. Make suggestions. Tell people what you like about what they are doing and how they could improve it versus putting them down and telling them how they can improve. You will manifest intelligence to those surrounding you that way.

4. THE SKY’S THE LIMIT – Properly train people through thorough detailed explanation – communicating on a meticulous level is key; then promote a 5-star people mindset to position others to feel empowered with greater responsibility – Be First Class.

6.  JUMP ON IT – When you see a problem, try your best to fix it immediately, then move on. Don’t point fingers, be quick to react, dwell on the past, or hold grudges. Move on, learn from it, and get better. If it happens again, keep supporting each other positively every time, and things will improve. This is how a championship team wins. Pick up your teammates.

7.  MAKE IT BETTER – Collaborate with others positively and optimistically. Don’t count out all the possibilities. Be a good listener and treat people with the benefit of the doubt that their knowledge is priceless in their area of expertise. If they aren’t in your area of practice and have ideas, take their thoughts as if they are the expert. Encourage others to participate.

8.  DATA DRIVEN – Rely upon data to educate and motivate people and to make intelligent business decisions. Numbers are behaviors, and behavior is energy, and energy tells a story. The more we understand the story of data and pay attention to it, the more successful we can be because we will make smarter decisions.  

9. IT’S GO TIME – Be organized, focused, disciplined, hustle, and work hard. Win the day.

10. BE REMARKABLE – Deliver 5 Star work by consistently being calm, courteous, sincere, honest, and reliable every day, not only for yourself but for others.

11.  LOOK GOOD; PLAY GOOD – Take pride in your professional appearance, behavior, language, and work product. If wearing a blazer is your thing, or if it is wearing a nice sweatshirt, if it makes you feel good, then use that as the power to perform your best. It’s like how Michael Jordan was better as number 23 than 45.

12. WE, NOT ME – We put the team’s interests before anything else. The success of others is your success and vice versa. Everyone is equal, and no one is better than anyone else on a team because you are all linked together. The strongest link in the chain is only as strong as the weakest link.

I think all of those 12 things reflect the leadership of David Hasselhoff in Baywatch. Maybe I should be more like Mitch. What do you think?

If you want to support my writing career, you can make a donation to my Venmo (username: David-Zosel).