The following is an excerpt from our white paper on Adopting a Hub Driven Workflow to Automate Ad Sales. This is part two, you can read part one here. To download the entire white paper, please visit this page. Enjoy!
When first introduced into the workflow, one-offs and customized ads often require manual intervention between isolated departments leaving media companies trying to increase individualized profit margins for each ad. In addition to the intensive manual intervention, the disjointed workflows expose data redundancies and errors. This has had media companies wondering if the one-off advertising opportunities are worth selling.
After all, new revenue is great, but only if it exceeds the operational expenses and produces a viable profit
Additionally, the advertisers’ demand for data to the Nth degree (where their ad gets placed, when it was placed, who sees it, how many clicks it receives, and what various copy versions perform better) has burdened the workflow. Simply running the ad is not good enough. Tracking ROI is critical. Advertisers want to know and target specifics about their audience such as purchases, frequency, and a life event that impacts buying influence.
And although it is the advertisers who are after this information, it is up to the media company selling the advertising to surface this information. This drastically shifts the way an Account Executive (AE) sells; the traditional singular spot is now a complex multi-channel campaign. Plus, they are now expected to provide in-depth insights into the audience for each campaign.
Implementing an infrastructure that can accom- modate numerous integration points and provide greater interoperability throughout an enterprise reduces advertising operational costs. Even if the ads are one-offs it opens the door for more efficient and long-term advertising possibilities. To capitalize on recent sales opportunities and grab as many of those ad dollars as they can – media companies need to look at the advertising workflow holistically, so they can increase revenue and reduce operational costs to enlarge their profit margin. This is the equivalent of entering that money booth covered in glue.
Come back next week for the continuation of this article. Can't wait? Download the entire white paper here.