As media companies expand and diversify their ad tactics, digital advertising is a lifeline for new revenue streams and customer acquisition. However, hitting digital budgets isn’t as easy as simply presenting options to advertisers. Without a strategic plan covering prospecting, needs assessments, relevant proposals and easy execution, you could miss out on digital advertising revenue.
To capture more dollars, you’ll need to identify and overcome the obstacles limiting your success. In this post, we’ll look at common reasons for missing out on digital advertising wins and how to correct them.
Why the Digital Landscape Is Critical for Media Sellers
It’s no secret that linear ad spot spending is in decline and has been for years. In 2022, traditional media is getting a massive bump from political advertising. That won’t be there in 2023. Selling broadcast spots is still critical to advertisers and your portfolio, but providing an integrated campaign that combines linear and digital is the future.
To see how this could play out for your organization, check out our ROI calculator to forecast revenue for both linear and digital. You’ll see that digital ad spending is rising while the latter stays flat or declines.
So, digital must be part of your portfolio. The issue is that you aren’t the only one selling third-party digital. Local businesses can work with agencies or manage it internally. The key to gaining customers is to illuminate your value as an expert, starting with prospecting and a needs assessment.
Reason 1: Prospecting and Needs Assessments Are Misaligned
You’d find very few businesses that aren’t a fit for digital advertising. In this environment, these advertisers realize the impact of digital. Some are savvier than others, but it’s rare to have to convince them they need to be online. Thus, your approach to prospecting and the needs assessment should reflect this and provide a deeper connection.
That starts with doing your homework about the company and its digital footprint. You won’t know all the tactics they use or targeting employed, but you should be able to make a quick evaluation of why their digital ads aren’t performing. It could be as simple as content and visuals that are lackluster. Many components go into creating compelling digital ads, so there could be many gaps.
Once you get the opportunity to discuss digital with the customer, ask them what they think is missing to meet goals. Many times, companies deploy digital ads without a strategy or objective. It’s your time to determine what they need — new customers? Product or service launches? More employees?
Getting to the root of what they want to do allows you to align their needs and the digital tactics available. If you go to them with a plan to make this happen, you may be way ahead of the competition.
Reason 2: Proposals Are Too Vague
Carrying over from the needs assessment is the proposal. You will reap more digital advertising revenue wins if you include details. Tell them why this tactic will support their goals and what budget they need to assign to it. You’re not just lumping together the same package for every advertiser. It’s personalized and relevant, which again should get their attention. They’ll look to you as an expert when you do this, which builds trust.
The other part of delivering the right proposal is that it needs to be easy for you to build. You shouldn’t have to spend hours in multiple software programs to do this. Ideally, your combined proposal could include linear and digital to illustrate how they can work together for better results. That’s possible with a cross-channel advertising platform.
Reason 3: You Avoid Proposing “Complex” Digital Tactics Because They’re Hard to Execute
This reason is the one you have the most control over to change. Selling specific digital tactics can be difficult. SEM (search engine marketing) is not easy to execute in most cases. You may also struggle with niche advertising platforms (e.g., Pinterest, Snapchat, LinkedIn) and how to deploy and target them successfully. Overcoming this requires two things.
First, you’ll want to sharpen your knowledge in these areas through training and practice. Second, you need easier technology with hands-on support to guide these campaigns. You need to know the basics of why these tactics will work for that advertiser. The technology augments your digital acumen to make execution more effortless and less time-consuming. With built-in optimization features, the system will adapt to drive the best results.
Reason 4: Deciphering and Reporting Results Is Too Difficult
The final reason you may be missing out on digital advertising revenue relates to post-campaign challenges. First, it may be hard to run reports or export data due to the use of multiple systems or platforms that aren’t report-friendly. The solution goes back to having the right technology that provides analytics meaningful to your advertisers.
With this information, connecting the dots is more straightforward. You may not even know where the dots are without it! When discussing results, you can provide advertisers with the full report. Then, offer insights in layman’s terms. For example, in SEM, you’ll be able to connect the highest-performing keywords and ads to actual conversions. It’s no longer a mystery how that customer landed there.
A Smart Strategy Drives Digital Advertising Revenue
You and your advertisers need a strategy when it comes to digital. That’s what fuels success, along with having the right technology. Being a digital seller can be challenging at times, but you’ll always find helpful resources from Marketron.
Get more digital advertising insights by reading:
Updating Your Digital Selling Strategy for 2022
What Can Broadcast Sales Leaders Learn from Ad Performance Data?
How to Explain Digital Advertising Tactics to Your Advertisers
