The many options for digital advertising SaaS platforms bring both appealing features and complexity. Those with all the bells and whistles have appeal, but they best serve organizations that are very mature in their digital sales journey.
Companies didn’t develop these for radio, but many in the industry have adopted them without understanding the barriers. The key problem when radio uses these applications is they only work for whales, and there are only so many of these. Most of these solutions have high minimums, which means local businesses don’t have the budget to play. In this case, the list of whom sellers can target becomes much narrower.
The Truth About Digital Advertising SaaS Minimums
Minimums for tactics are mostly universal with this technology. It’s one way they cover revenue if they don’t charge a SaaS fee. They represent the lowest amount of a campaign, and those numbers are often out of reach for local advertisers. Even if they aren’t, a new customer may hesitate to invest that much with you initially. They’d prefer to start small and build based on performance.
Minimums then become an obstacle for sellers. If the least amount is $5,000 or more for a single tactic, sellers have no way to negotiate or get their foot in the door.
This type of digital advertising SaaS system only works for whales, and those businesses are much harder to convert. They have multiple decision-makers and in-house experts. They also tend to work with national agencies. Your sales team may be unable to compete, so digital sales stumble or remain flat.
That’s a major concern for any radio station, regardless of size or market. Local digital advertising sales will increase in 2025, while airtime won’t. It will be your revenue fuel, but with this technology, you really can’t scale.
Why Scale Should Be a Priority Over Whales
As noted, whales are hard to convert. Even if you do, you likely aren’t getting all their digital advertising budget. They may be more likely to spread it around. Growing that revenue source will be challenging when it remains fragmented.
Scale for smaller fish can actually pave the way for profit growth. Local media sellers can freely prospect across the market without the obstacle of minimums. They can hook a business with smaller campaigns to experiment and test. When those perform well, there’s lots of potential to gain more ad dollars for digital while also keeping their airtime dollars.
Sellers can create their own whales with a flexible digital advertising platform.
Local Digital Advertising SaaS Designed for Radio and Opportunity
To avoid the pitfalls of minimums and restrictions on whom you can prospect, you need a better local digital advertising software platform. Beyond eliminating minimums, seek out these radio-friendly features, including:
- Complete integration with your traffic system
- The ability to propose, order, report on and invoice digital and airtime campaigns together
- Solutions that do the ad operations for you (e.g., trafficking and order execution)
- Sophisticated targeting options
- High-quality inventory from a reputable DSP (demand-side platform) connected to the system
- Transparent and easy-to-understand reporting
- Web-based access and layers of security
You’ll find all these capabilities and NO minimums with Marketron NXT. Find out why it’s radio’s preferred choice by booking a demo today.
