I think we all want to be the most efficient we can be in all aspects of our lives, especially when it comes to work. We are constantly under pressure to complete tasks faster at work and I’m sure your employer wants the same. In our industry of Advertising, it seems that most of our vendors are shrinking in size and in many cases, our account executives are being replaced by hardware. There is a lot less personal attention. In some cases, we no longer can talk to anyone at these companies, and we are forced to use a dashboard and move to a self-managed campaign model.
This new model is used more frequently with our digital vendors. However, this model seems to be working its way into other forms of media that are not digital. More companies are moving into this self-managed campaign model and what we are being offered in regard to inventory, we would never purchase on behalf of our clients. The value of what is being offered has hit an all-time low. It appears that this automation will put together the lowest value inventory or inventory that they need to unload and bundle it up to appear to some that it’s a great deal. At first, it might appear to be a great deal, but after closer review, you begin to wonder how much of your potential audience is being reached.
All of our clients have their own set of unique goals and putting these buys together that meet all of these goals is complicated but has never been a problem we couldn’t solve here at A3 Media. We do our homework and look at every one of our buys and will spend this money as if it was our own. That being said, the process on our end is taking us more time as what we are being offered in some cases are bundles that don’t meet any of our needs and in almost every case will NOT be beneficial for our clients. We have adapted and have learned ways around these “bundles”, but it’s time-consuming.
Many companies have brought buying in-house and seem to think they can save a few bucks and manage their own campaigns. They are being sold advertising space that we don’t believe has much value and certainly won’t meet our client’s goals. As this new model spreads, these companies should do more research on their own on how to best spend their advertising dollars and ask themselves a few questions.
Is what I am being offered and purchasing a real value?
Are my potential customers in this space?
Who will manage this campaign and watch every spot to ensure it runs properly?
As we continue to move into this new era of ad buying, we must weigh the good and bad. Using dashboards will save time if you know how to use these dashboards. There will be a learning curve, and questions as to whether what is being offered is best for the client or the vendor. Often, it’s the latter. Moving forward many vendors will move to this model and lose all personal client attention, which is one main reasons to work with a talented and service-oriented agency. Having an agency that understands a client’s goals, objectives, audience, and budgets and manages every dollar of your spending during this new uncharted territory makes more sense. Let’s see where they go from here.