How Ad Exchanges Are Helping Small Advertisers Compete With Big Brands

Roman Vrublivskyi is the experienced CEO of Attekmi , a global ad tech company that provides white-label programmatic solutions. While advertisers leverage demand-side platforms (DSPs) to set up and launch their campaigns, ad exchanges are still the backbone of programmatic ad buying. Being a marketplace connecting marketers and media owners, an ad exchange enables advertisers to reach their target audiences in a quick, efficient and cost-effective manner.

For small brands, this plays a crucial role in terms of competition with large companies. Standard digital advertising methods like social media marketing are rather limited, while manual search for relevant publishers can be a pretty time-consuming process, leading to heavy expenses. That is why more and more brands are switching to programmatic marketing.



In the U.S., the share of programmatic in digital display marketing spending was projected to surpass 90% in 2024.

An ad exchange allows marketers to connect with media owners in no time and reach potential customers across different environments, including digital out-of-home devices and connected TVs. For programmatic ads, there are no limits, which helps increase reach, cut costs and accelerate the process of media buying thanks to automation capabilities. With programmatic technology, a brand can target a customer whether they are surfing the internet, listening to a podcast, watching a movie or walking down the street.

Accurate targeting is crucial for companies of all sizes. However, it becomes even more important for small organizations trying to survive in the competitive market. Fortunately, ad exchanges make precise targeting possible.

Marketers use demand-side platforms to specify targeting settings and apply filters: demographic characteristics, language, geolocation, device, OS type, IAB categories, etc. However, an ad exchange is a place where auctions happen—it allows advertisers to benefit from accurate targeting and reach exactly those users who are most likely to get interested in their products or services. In combination with creative and memorable advertisements, this is a great way to build brand awareness and drive conversions.

For small brands, cost-effectiveness plays an exceptional role, and ad exchanges allow them to advertise without enormous investments. When it comes to programmatic advertising, marketers are in full control of their budgets—they set up bid prices and apply DSP features to prevent overspending and adjust bids to the most optimal level. Then, with data insights provided by an ad exchange, they can ensure even more effective refinements.

Additionally, ad exchanges provide data on user preferences and behavior, which helps improve the overall strategy, enhance the campaign performance in real time and reach better results. While real-time and header bidding auctions are among the most popular programmatic models, open ad exchanges are highly competitive, meaning that brands with limited marketing budgets may find it challenging to access relevant ad inventory. Fortunately, there are alternative options like private and preferred deals and exchanges.

Competition there is often lower, while the available inventory is usually of a higher quality. By experimenting with different types of ad exchanges, small companies can determine the most optimal advertising path and identify the most effective and relevant publishers. Then, they can purchase inventory from them via preferred or guaranteed deals and maximize the performance of their ads.

Apart from using a DSP, marketers may consider getting their own ad exchange platform. There are ready-to-use solutions available, which means that a brand will not have to invest time and money in development from scratch. If a business has a marketplace under its total control, it will be responsible for matching supply and demand, preventing fraud and other activities.

It will be able to create a healthy programmatic ecosystem, which can help maximize its campaigns’ performance and target the right users. Such an approach can be an effective way to compete with large brands, especially those simply relying on ad exchanges but not controlling them. For small brands, leveraging programmatic advertising can be a game-changer.

In the majority of niches, competition is severe, so gaining access to a wide pool of publishers and automating the processes can help a business cut costs and survive. However, it is important to remember that selecting an effective demand-side platform is not enough. First and foremost, you need to collect your audience data to apply targeting settings.

Then, you must continuously analyze the data provided by an ad exchange to be able to adjust your campaigns promptly. Yes, programmatic technology implies automation, but human intervention is still required to maximize the campaign performance and remain competitive. Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives.

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