A Comparison of Self-Serve vs. Managed Programmatic Services

Programmatic advertising — the practice of buying ad space on third-party websites via real-time bidding — is one of the most valuable strategies for promoting your business online. It allows you to automate the bidding process and reach just the right audience through selective targeting.

The question is, will you opt for self-serve programmatic advertising — which is where you do everything in-house — or will you partner with a professional agency, which is called managed programmatic? In the case of self-serve vs. managed programmatic services, there are pros and cons on each side, and you might be wondering which to choose.

On this page, we’ll help you make that decision by breaking down some pros and cons of each option, as well as seeing how they stack up in several key areas. Here’s an outline of what we’ll cover:

• Self-serve vs. managed programmatic services: A comparison
• Self-serve programmatic advertising
• Managed programmatic advertising
• Self-serve vs. managed programmatic FAQs

Self-serve vs. managed programmatic services: A comparison

Before we dive into the specific pros and cons of each option, let’s see how self-serve and managed programmatic advertising compare on a few key points:

We’ll explore more of the details in the following sections.

Self-serve programmatic advertising

Self-serve programmatic is an approach to programmatic advertising where you handle your campaigns fully in-house. This means you’re either doing it all yourself, or you’re hiring an in-house team to manage your campaigns.

There are several pros and cons to this approach, and we’ll break them down below.

Pros of self-serve programmatic

The main benefit of self-serve programmatic is control. When you handle your ad campaigns in-house, with no outsourcing involved, you have full control over every aspect of your advertising. You also have complete transparency regarding everything happening with your campaigns.

The other major benefit is that a self-serve approach is often less expensive, at least in terms of the base cost. When you work with an agency, you have to pay to hire them in addition to paying for the ads themselves. Of course, you would also have to pay to hire an in-house team, but agencies typically cost more.

Cons of self-serve programmatic

One of the biggest issues with the self-serve approach is that you have to set up everything yourself. You have to handle the workload of hiring a team and setting up your demand-side platform (DSP), and then you have to continue managing the ongoing task of creating your ads and bidding on ad space.

Also, when you handle your campaigns in-house, you’re relying solely on your own expertise. If you aren’t experienced with programmatic advertising, and you’re not certain of the best strategy to use, you’re more likely to make mistakes that end up costing you a lot of money. That can be avoided with an experienced agency.

Managed programmatic advertising

Managed programmatic advertising is where you partner with a professional advertising agency to run your campaigns. The agency handles the workload for you, using their expertise to drive results that you might not otherwise achieve. Here are some of the biggest benefits and drawbacks to this approach.

Pros of managed programmatic

One of the most substantial benefits of managed programmatic services is that they reduce your workload. Instead of having to do everything yourself, you can sit back and let the agency run your campaigns for you. You’re still in control of how they manage your ads, but the actual work is off your shoulders.

Another major plus is the fact that agencies have years of experience with paid advertising. They know exactly which tactics will earn you the best results for the lowest cost, and they can use their knowledge to drive more revenue for your business. If you’re not an advertising expert yourself, you might not be able to achieve those same results on your own.

Finally, many agencies have access to advanced advertising tools that you might not be able to get your hands on by yourself — at least, not without spending a ton of money to buy them. That means you often get better resources with a managed strategy.

Cons of managed programmatic

The most obvious drawback to using a managed programmatic approach is that hiring an agency costs money. So, in addition to budgeting for the ads themselves, you also have to budget for the cost of hiring the agency.

Additionally, working with an agency is a much more hands-off process. Since you’re not directly managing the campaigns, you may have less control over how they’re being run, and possibly less transparency regarding what’s happening with them.

That said, the exact level of control and transparency depends on the agency — some agencies will be great about giving you full control over what they do and keeping you constantly updated.

Manage your programmatic ads with help from the experts at WebFX

If you’re trying to decide between self-serve vs. managed programmatic services, you may end up deciding that an agency is the right choice for you. In that case, it’s crucial to pick an agency that has a lot of advertising experience. That’s where WebFX comes in.

We’ve been driving ad revenue for our clients for 29 years, and we know exactly which tactics produce the best results in the world of programmatic advertising. We’ll handle the full workload for you, but rest assured — you’ll still have full control over your campaigns, and we’ll update you regularly on how your ads are performing.

Interested in partnering with us for our programmatic advertising services? Just give us a call at 888-601-5359 or contact us online today!