By Amit – Digital Marketing Consultant, Managing SEO & Social Media for a CRM SaaS Company, 20 Schools, and 5 Colleges
If you’ve been running traditional display or search ads, programmatic advertising might feel like a big leap. But once you understand how it works, you’ll realize it’s not just the future — it’s the present.
I’ve set up programmatic campaigns for clients ranging from educational institutions to SaaS products, and I can tell you this: the beauty of programmatic is in its automation and targeting precision. But automation doesn’t mean “set it and forget it.” You still need a strategy.
Let me break down how to set up your first programmatic campaign so you can hit the ground running.
Step 1: Understand What Programmatic Advertising Is
Before you dive in, you need to understand what you’re working with.
Programmatic advertising is the automated buying and selling of ad space using software, rather than manual negotiations. You tell the platform who you want to target, with what ad creatives, and your budget — the system then uses algorithms to place your ads in the right place at the right time.
There are two main types:
- Real-Time Bidding (RTB) – Ads are bought and sold in real-time auctions.
- Programmatic Direct – You buy specific inventory directly from publishers at a fixed price.
If you’ve ever run Google Display Ads, think of programmatic as the more advanced, data-driven, and customizable version.
Step 2: Choose Your Demand-Side Platform (DSP)
Your DSP is your control center for buying programmatic ads. Some popular options include:
- Google Display & Video 360 (DV360) – Great for those already using Google Ads.
- The Trade Desk – Powerful targeting options for advanced marketers.
- MediaMath – Popular for large-scale campaigns.
- Amazon DSP – Excellent for eCommerce targeting.
For beginners, I recommend starting with DV360 if you’re already in the Google ecosystem. It’s easier to learn if you’ve run display or YouTube campaigns before.
Step 3: Define Your Campaign Goals
This is the most important step — and where most beginners go wrong.
Programmatic can do everything from brand awareness to lead generation, but you need to define one primary goal. Examples:
- Brand Awareness – Focus on impressions and reach.
- Lead Generation – Optimize for form submissions or calls.
- Sales – Target conversions or purchases.
💡 For example, when I ran a campaign for one of the schools I manage, our goal was lead generation for admissions, so every targeting and creative decision was built around that.
Step 4: Build Your Target Audience
Programmatic advertising shines when it comes to targeting. You can combine:
- Demographics (age, gender, income, education level)
- Location (country, city, even specific postal codes)
- Interests and Behaviors
- Contextual Targeting (ads appear on sites related to your topic)
- Retargeting (ads to people who visited your website or interacted with your brand)
- Lookalike Audiences (people similar to your best customers)
🎯 Example: For a CRM SaaS client, we targeted decision-makers in mid-sized businesses, narrowed to specific job titles like “Operations Manager” and “Sales Director,” and layered that with interest targeting for “business automation.”
Step 5: Prepare Your Creatives
Your creatives can make or break your campaign. You need ad variations in different formats:
- Display Banners (728×90, 300×250, 160×600, etc.)
- Native Ads (match the look of the site they appear on)
- Video Ads (short 6–15 second clips work well)
- Rich Media (interactive elements)
Tips for creatives:
- Use high-quality visuals that match your brand
- Keep text minimal but impactful
- Include a clear call-to-action (CTA) like “Book Now” or “Get a Demo”
- Test at least 3–4 variations per ad type
📌 For schools, I often use images of happy students + a short headline like “Admissions Open 2025 – Apply Now.”
Step 6: Set Your Budget and Bidding Strategy
Programmatic platforms usually work on a Cost Per Mille (CPM) basis — you pay for every thousand impressions.
You can also optimize toward:
- CPC (Cost Per Click)
- CPA (Cost Per Acquisition)
- Viewable CPM (you only pay if the ad is actually viewable)
💡 My advice for beginners:
Start with a modest daily budget (₹2,000–₹5,000) and focus on learning how your audience responds before scaling up.
Step 7: Set Up Conversion Tracking
You can’t improve what you don’t measure.
Make sure to:
- Install your conversion tracking pixel from your DSP
- Use Google Tag Manager to manage tags easily
- Define what a conversion means (form fill, purchase, download, etc.)
- Link to Google Analytics 4 (GA4) for deeper insights
Without this step, you’re essentially driving blind.
Step 8: Launch and Monitor Daily
Your first week is about data gathering. Check:
- Which creatives are performing best
- Which audience segments are engaging most
- Which placements are giving high CTR but low conversions (pause them)
💡 Example: In one college campaign, we found that mobile placements on news apps gave a lot of clicks but very few leads — cutting them saved 30% of the budget.
Step 9: Optimize Weekly
Optimization is where the magic happens:
- Pause underperforming creatives
- Adjust bids for high-performing segments
- Test new audiences based on early results
- Refine ad copy and visuals
The goal: keep increasing CTR and lowering CPA every week.
Step 10: Scale Smartly
Once you’ve found a winning combination of audience + creative + placement, gradually increase your budget.
Scaling too quickly can throw off your results — I usually increase budgets by 20% at a time while monitoring performance.
Final Thoughts
Your first programmatic ad campaign will teach you a lot — not just about automation and targeting, but about your customers’ online behavior.
The beauty of programmatic is that it gives you real-time control and massive reach without wasting money on irrelevant audiences. But remember — it’s not “set and forget.” It’s test, learn, and optimize.
Whether you’re running campaigns for a SaaS company or trying to fill classrooms for the new academic year, mastering programmatic advertising can give you an edge over competitors still stuck with old-school display ads.