The modern radio traffic ecosystem requires technology that makes production easier. Anyone in the radio business will attest to that, but there hasn’t always been a variety of solutions. They are the center of ensuring ad spots run when they should. However, when it’s a manual process, efficiency is subpar, and you’re dependent on ineffective methods that can lead to inaccuracies. In this post, we’ll look at manual vs. cloud-based traffic production workflows, so you have all the facts and can evolve your processes.
Manual Traffic Production: Paperwork, Mistakes and Lots of Back-and-Forth
Manual traffic production was once the only approach for radio. It started with handwritten ledgers. Some stations still use this, while others have graduated to filling out and printing spreadsheets. In either scenario, it’s time- and labor-intensive.
Since both options are manual, errors occur regularly. As a result, stations lose time and money. They also have unhappy advertisers. In a manual environment, changes aren’t instantly updated in the traffic system and necessitate back-and-forth between traffic managers, production and sales.
The situation can become even more prone to error when email is the communication channel. Long, back-and-forth threads are hard to keep track of when many changes are necessary. It’s too easy to miss these important notes in email trails.
Even with checks and balances, getting every change correct is impossible. It can be very chaotic in times of high volume, straining your resources. Because of these inherent challenges, many organizations have adopted a cloud-based traffic production workflow.
Cloud-Based Traffic Production: Simple, Turn-Key and Transparent
If you haven’t upgraded your traffic platform with a cloud-based production tool, these benefits should be great validation and motivation. Here are five highlighted benefits of using the cloud for traffic production.
- Production in the cloud can integrate seamlessly with your traffic system. It saves time, ensures consistency and eliminates almost all manual errors.
- It’s accessible to all stakeholders, so constant emails or instant messaging are no longer necessary. That accessibility is also universal, as users sign in with a secure login from anywhere.
- You can eliminate email chains and follow-ups. The system generates email notifications with different statuses within the production order workflow.
- It works for simple and complicated workflows. Ideally, you want a tool that meets your specific needs. There are multiple options for radio traffic production in the cloud. You just want to find the solution that supports your process and not pay for things you don’t need.
- The workflows are scalable, and you can store media with copy instructions in the cloud. You wouldn’t have this functionality by remaining manual.
Manual vs. Cloud-Based Traffic Production: Shift to the Cloud for Easy-Breezy Processes
As you’ve elevated your tech stack and leaned into automation and other tools, your traffic production workflow should be on your list to modernize. We created Marketron LINK because we knew the industry needed a simple, comprehensive solution in the cloud.
With LINK, salespeople enter orders. Then, traffic managers assign carts and update rotations. Production finalizes and attaches the media. It all happens inside one system. Another great cloud-focused feature is the ability to create one production order for multiple spots.
