You’ve probably heard the term audience extension in the digital advertising landscape. It may even be something you describe to potential advertisers. But what does it really mean, and how does it improve the performance of programmatic ads? Let’s find out. 

What Is Audience Extension? 

Audience extension refers to the process of expanding digital audiences. It’s the mechanics of turning a website’s traffic into an advertising audience. It’s how publishers monetize their sites for inclusion in a DSP (demand-side platform) where ads are trafficked. 

It helps increase the potential number of people who will see an ad that fits the targeting profile. 

Audience Extension Improves Lift and Reach 

Lift and reach are critical in digital advertising tactics. Audience extension supports both. First, it enables more precise targeting of people who represent the advertiser’s ideal customer profile, whether by demographics, interests or online activity. 

Second, audience extension is what fuels diversification of reach. Instead of buying ads on a dedicated website, advertisers can reach many people across publications within a DSP’s inventory. 

With lift and reach, your advertisers see higher-performing campaigns. 

How Audience Extension Works via a DSP 

Third-party digital advertising platforms enable local media sellers to automate the trafficking of programmatic ads. These systems connect to a DSP, which has a variety of publications available to serve ads on. 

Real-time bidding occurs based on available inventory. Then, the DSP “matches” the ad’s content and targets the appropriate sites. It automatically calculates and bids for the spot. 

Are All DSPs the Same? 

The short answer is no. They all have the same workflow, but some differences impact audience extension. The quality of the inventory is the most significant. Some DSPs don’t monitor content and may have many made-for-advertising (MFA) sites. These sites are low-quality, often clickbait types of publications. Ads serving on them can suffer from low performance and possibly cause brand damage. 

You want to choose a third-party digital advertising solution that screens out MFA sites and focuses on quality ones. Your software should also provide transparent reporting of sites where your advertisers’ ads appeared. 

Digital Advertising Extends Audiences While Complementing Radio and O&O 

You could call digital advertising an audience extender, in general, since it amplifies campaigns that can also include radio and O&O (owned and operated) spots. No other media has radio’s broad reach, and O&O ads on your digital properties will often be a secondary channel to reach this same audience. 

With digital advertising, businesses can effectively target specific groups of people in multiple ways through display ads and OTT/CTV. When all these pieces fall together, their campaign achieves reach and lift. It means capturing more ad spend for you, but it’s a win for all parties. Omnichannel campaigns routinely perform better. When advertisers see results, they’ll stay loyal and possibly increase spending! 

Educating them about audience extension is a great way to introduce digital to the conversation. You can also explain each type of tactic and how it works. We created a guide to help you do this, which you can find here. 

Do you have other questions about digital advertising terms? Let us know, and we’ll answer them on Aspire!Â