How would you allocate a $10 million programmatic budget in 2025?

Summary

MarTech Podcast: "How would you allocate a $10 million programmatic budget in 2025?"

Host: Benjamin Shapiro
Guest: Amanda Martin, Chief Revenue Officer at Mediavine
Date: October 9, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this episode, host Benjamin Shapiro explores the state of programmatic advertising in 2025 with guest Amanda Martin, Chief Revenue Officer at Mediavine. The core question posed: "How would you allocate a $10 million programmatic budget in 2025?" Amanda delivers candid guidance on strategic allocation, the importance of audience insights over content for buy-side decision-making, and the necessity of iterative testing before large-scale spend. Via a dynamic real-world scenario, Amanda illustrates how marketers should approach channel choices, data modeling, and campaign testing for optimal returns from programmatic investments.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Starting with Strategy: DSP Choice & Technology (01:47–02:40)

• Choose the Right DSP (Demand-Side Platform): The selection should match business sophistication and campaign objectives.
  • Quote: “Pick the right DSP for what you're looking to drive and what your level of sophistication is.” — Amanda Martin (01:49)
• Leverage Technology and Data: Utilize available tools—algorithms, insights, and learnings—to optimize targeting and performance.
  • “Lean into the tech, lean into the learnings, lean into the insights, lean into the algorithms.” — Amanda Martin (01:54)
• Stay Agile, Not Rigid: Avoid inflexible creative or targeting strategies. Let the technology help uncover where your audience actually engages.
  • “If your buying is so fixed at the beginning of the process, you're not using any of the bells and whistles that Programmatic has to showcase to you who your actual audience is or where you're actually driving results.” — Amanda Martin (01:58)
• Embrace Surprising Findings: Recognize that the data often reveals unexpected audience segments.
  • “My favorite thing from being on the buy side was…your campaign showed the exact opposite of what the result was. Learn from your DSP and learn from the insights you can glean.” — Amanda Martin (02:10)

2. Audience-First Approach to Channel Allocation (03:10–04:54)

• Define and Find Your Audience: Success hinges on precise audience definition—content focus matters less on the buy side.
  • “On the sell side, everyone's focused on their content and why their readers come to them. And on the buy side, everyone's focused on the audience and where they are.” — Amanda Martin (03:41)
• Audience Modeling and Algorithmic Expansion:
  • Start with a "seed"—some data defining your current customers.
  • Build lookalike audiences and expand your reach using third-party data and modeling.
  • Let the DSP's algorithm guide refined targeting and channel selection.
  • Quote: “Get a seed audience of who your current customers are, lookalike, model, expand it, buy third party data, and let the algorithm find your audience.” — Amanda Martin (04:45)
• Channel Mix Realism: Marketers often assume preferred channels (e.g., podcasts for podcasting audience), but data may show better CPMs elsewhere.
  • “You may not actually spend as much on podcasts as you think you would to reach that audience...You probably are spending a lot on the open web, quite frankly with video, and then you're probably expanding into audio, and you may expand into CTV.” — Amanda Martin (04:12)

3. Practical Investment Guidance and ROI Focus (04:54–05:28)

• Test Before You Invest Big:
  • For small/niche audiences, $10 million is likely far too much to spend upfront; risk management is essential.
  • Run smaller, test campaigns to discover successful strategies—then allocate further budget.
  • Quote: “I'd say $10 million sounds like a lot could go wrong. And so I would pace it out. I would do a lot of smaller versions of that budget, trying and testing, and then when you find a recipe that works, then invest the rest of the dollars.” — Amanda Martin (05:11)
• Define Return on Ad Spend (ROAS): Before committing large sums, brands must know what constitutes a successful ROI for them.
  • “Define what your return on ad spend is and then figure out if $10 million is a risk or a reward.” — Amanda Martin (05:02)

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Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• Amanda Martin on DSP and Data:
  “Pick the right DSP for what you're looking to drive and what your level of sophistication is.” (01:49)

• Amanda Martin on Programmatic Flexibility:
  “If your buying is so fixed at the beginning…you're not using any of the bells and whistles…” (01:58)

• Amanda Martin on Buy Side Mindset:
  “On the sell side, everyone's focused on their content and why their readers come to them. And on the buy side, everyone's focused on the audience and where they are.” (03:41)

• Amanda Martin on Lookalike Modeling:
  “Get a seed audience of who your current customers are, lookalike, model, expand it, buy third party data, and let the algorithm find your audience.” (04:45)

• Amanda Martin on Budget Phasing:
  “I'd say $10 million sounds like a lot could go wrong. And so I would pace it out…” (05:11)

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Segment Timestamps

• [01:15–01:47] Setting the question: allocating a $10 million programmatic budget
• [01:47–02:40] Tech, DSP selection, importance of agile buying and learning from outcomes
• [03:10–04:54] Audience definition, buy side vs sell side focus, channel selection strategies, modeling and data-driven expansion
• [04:54–05:28] Programmatic vs. pocketing the budget, risk of over-investment, advocating for testing and pacing

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Memorable Moments

• Amanda’s humorous opening: “Give it all to us. I'm just kidding.” (01:47)
• The realistic dialogue on marketer assumptions: Benjamin admits, “Absolutely not,” when asked if he knows exactly where his audience is. (03:21)

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Summary Takeaways

• Tech-Driven Flexibility: Leverage DSPs, algorithms, and continuous insights, rather than setting rigid upfront plans.
• Audience-First Planning: Define, model, and expand your audience using available data; don't assume channels.
• Iterative Budget Allocation: Test and learn with small segments before making large investments, especially for niche B2B targets.
• ROAS Before Spend: Always clarify what return justifies large spends, and adapt based on performance data.

This episode is a practical, candid roadmap for marketers planning sizable programmatic spends amid rapidly evolving tech and audience behaviors in 2025.

Transcript

[A]

The Martech Podcast is a proud member of the I Hear Everything Podcast Network. Looking to launch or scale your podcast, I Hear Everything delivers podcast production, growth and monetization solutions that transform your words into profit. Ready to give your brand a voice? Then visit iheareverything.com.

[B]

From advertising to software as a service to data, across all of our programs and clients, we've seen a 55 to 65% open rate. Getting brands authentically integrated into content performs better than TV advertising. Typical lifespan of an article is about 24 to 36 hours. We're reaching out to the right person with the right message and a clear call to action. Then it's just a matter of timing.

[A]

Welcome to the Martech Podcast, a member of the I Hear Everything Podcast Network. In this podcast, you'll hear the stories of world class marketers that used technology to drive business results and achieve career success. Here's a host of the Martech Podcast. Benjamin Shapiro.

[B]

I'm Benjamin Shapiro and joining me today is Amanda Martin, the Chief Revenue Officer at mediavine, the largest independent ad management firm in the US that helps publishers maximize revenue through advanced monetization and data solutions. And today, Amanda will reveal which strategies are actually working for publishers and how to future proof your monetization stack in 2025. All right, you're going to like this next question. Here's $10 million. How are you going to allocate it in a programmatic budget in 2025?

[C]

Give it all to us. I'm just kidding. I would say pick the right DSP for what you're looking to drive and what your level of sophistication is. Secondly, I would say lean into the tech, lean into the learnings, lean into the insights, lean into the algorithms. Because at the end of the day, if your buying is so fixed at the beginning of the process, you're not using any of the bells and whistles that Programmatic has to showcase to you who your actual audience is or where you're actually driving results. My favorite thing from being on the buy side was when you met with a brand who defined who they were going after and who they win with. And then your campaign showed the exact opposite of what that the result was. Learn from your DSP and learn from the insights you can glean.

[B]

I'm going to ask you a reframing of this question, which I like better. Okay, I've. I've got 10 million bucks. Okay, sounds way better. What should I do with it? If I'm going to invest in Programmatic, I'm running A media production company. I'm targeting podcast media creators and producers. How do I get in front of them? Am I podcasting? Am I, you know, using video? Am I going display which channels? What should I do?

[C]

So your definition of your audience is what?

[B]

We sell infrastructure to podcast producers software.

[C]

Do you have a good handle on where they are at?

[B]

Absolutely not.

[C]

Absolutely.

[B]

They go to podcast movement, they go to events, and that's pretty much what I know.

[C]

I would say try to find, try to assume where your audience is going to go and measure performance. Secondarily, I would say gain access to a list of who those people actually are and utilize that to spend your dollars. Drive the audience first. So on the programmatic side of things, which is really one of my biggest aha moments when I transferred from the buy side to the sell side was on the sell side, everyone's focused on their content and why their readers come to them. And on the buy side, everyone's focused on the audience and where they are. And so if you can define your audience, even if it's with a seed piece of information, I would model off of a seed, and then I would spend wherever that insight in your DSP tells you to spend. And it may surprise you, you may not actually spend as much on podcasts as you think you would to reach that audience that leans into that space. You probably are spending a lot on the open web, quite frankly with video, and then you're probably expanding into audio, and you may expand into ctv, but you probably are looking at too niche of an audience to go that big for those CPMs. But I'd say get a seed audience of who your current customers are, lookalike, model, expand it, buy third party data, and let the algorithm find your audience.

[B]

If I had $10 million in budget, should I actually invest it in programmatic advertising or should be putting it in my pocket?

[C]

That's a good question, I think. Define what your return on ad spend is and then figure out if $10 million is a risk or a reward. It sounds like a very, very small audience that you're looking to get in front of. So I'd say $10 million sounds like a lot could go wrong. And so I would pace it out. I would do a lot of smaller versions of that budget, trying and testing, and then when you find a recipe that works, then invest the rest of the dollars.

[B]

All right, that wraps up this episode of the Martech podcast. Thanks for listening to my conversation with Amanda Martin, the Chief revenue officer at mediavine. If you'd like to contact Amanda. You could find a link to her LinkedIn profile in our show notes or on martechpod.com or you can visit her company's website, which is mediavine.com if you haven't subscribed yet and you want a daily stream of marketing and technology knowledge in your podcast feed, hit the subscribe button in your podcast app. Or Visit us on YouTube and and we'll be back in your feed next week. All right, that's it for today, but until next time, my advice is to just focus on keeping your customers happy.

[C]

Foreign.

[A]

Thanks for listening to the Martech podcast, and I hear everything. Production Looking to launch or scale a podcast like this one for your brand? Then visit iheareverything.com.