What is a Demand-Side Platform (DSP) & How Does it Determine Marketing Success

What is a Demand-Side Platform (DSP) & How Does it Determine Marketing Success

Demand-side platform (DSP) is an automation software that helps manage ad campaigns while simultaneously generating reports on improving their performance. However, each DSP comes with its own set of scalability challenges that you can overcome by partnering with a mobile attribution tracking platform, like Apptrove. Not sure if it's the right choice for you? In this article, we will give you a rundown of all that’s good and exacting about DSPs, so that you can make a better decision tomorrow!

What Is a DSP?

Let’s start from the beginning with the DSP meaning. A demand-side platform is a type of software that allows advertisers to purchase and manage advertisements with the help of an automation platform. The backbone of every DSP is real-time bidding technology. This means that the media buyer sets a unique bid for every ad impression and competes for it during a real-time auction. For advertisers and media buyers, a DSP is the technology that keeps ad activities under control but mainly it’s a vast source of online traffic. DSPs allow you to manage multiple ads across multiple real-time bidding networks (websites, SSP, ad exchanges, and mobile apps).

How Does Demand-Side Platform Work?

DSP operates through modern technologies like AI & ML to help advertisers navigate the best place for their ads at the best price. When the advertiser starts a new ad campaign, the DSP gets ready to receive ad requests for it from ad exchanges or SSPs and bids on them. To bid on the right impression, the DSP stores the information array about the ad campaign.

The DSP knows this ad campaign needs impressions to match specific targeting, ad format, size, etc. After going live, the campaigns join the real-time bidding auction. This means that it’s ready to bid on requests coming from ad exchanges and SSPs. For the latter send ad requests with a specific array of data about the user who will see the ad, and also contains details on a specific, on-site or in-app spot where the impression is going to be delivered. To be ready to buy this impression, the DSP starts bidding. Finally, the advertiser with the relevant targeting and the highest bid wins the impression. Even though the process seems complicated it lasts no longer than a few milliseconds in real life.

Benefits of Opting for a Demand-Side Platform (DSP)

  • DSP improves the ad-buying process while simultaneously reducing manual labor and increasing efficiency.

  • Ensures reaching the right audience by facilitating real-time bidding on impressions.

  • Targets the correct audience for your product by collecting info like demographics, interests, and location

  • Enables the ad campaigns to a vast network that generates greater scalability.

  • Efficiently manages the data to track and analyze the performance of the campaigns with the help of AI & ML.

What Are Queries Per Second?

The number of QPS reflects how many times a DSP gets called to make a bid on an ad placement. Higher QPS represents the speed and frequency of analyzing and acting on those requests. After making a bid to reach a unique user at a specific price, the DSP understands whether the price gets accepted. If the price is not accepted, the DSPs are made aware.

Who May Need A Demand-Side Platform?

DSP is a platform where users may promote their offers, services, products, goods, and more by setting up ad campaigns, managing performance, and driving new leads. Anyone searching for products or services online can decide to go through the DSP advertising model.

How To Choose A Demand-Side Platform Effectively?

It takes time to choose the correct DSP for your ad campaigns. A correct DSP not only promotes your brand but also increases its visibility, accessibility, and recall. Value your money before committing to a Demand-Side Platform and go through these steps to see if it is the right fit for you!

  • Step 1: It is important to know that your DSP covers the fundamentals (targeting options, ad formats, ad sizes, etc.) required in an ad campaign.
  • Step 2: Ensure that your chosen DSP caters to the KPIs you have set for your company. A DSP should hold the capacity to meet an advertiser's needs and keep an eye on the set KPIs simultaneously.

Example- Suppose your priority is increasing the acquisition rates and converting them into actual sales. In this case, what would want your DSP to do? You’ll want your DSP to improve user targeting, gather feedback, and provide incentives like offers and referrals.

  • Step 3: Optimizing the supply chain and giving access to the DSP is one of the crucial steps to a successful ad campaign. It is important to keep in mind that a DSP should support the advertiser through multiple channels at any given moment like websites, apps, social media, etc.

Summing It Up

Handling multiple ad campaigns with vast data manually is tedious and time-consuming. This is where DSP advertising helps your company to take off! With automated service to run multiple campaigns simultaneously, keeping track of their specific goals and KPIs. DSPs ensure to elimination of the human factor and display the results of your advertisement performance with the snap of your fingers!