Digital Advertising Sales and Success for Traditional Media

By Ben Bouslog • AdCellerant

Planning, building, and executing on a new digital advertising sales strategy has proven successful time and time again by many traditional media companies. Whether those traditional channels were in radio, television, print, out-of-home, or other local media channels, it’s important to have a detailed plan in place to execute. Luckily, the wheel does not need to be reinvented to find success for organizations who may feel like they’re late to the game. It’s important to know the size or stature of the organization, or size of the market is not something that will hinder the execution of this plan. Digital advertising has no geographic boundaries and the opportunity to support businesses with these capabilities is abundant in all markets.

A lot of people have thought they need to hire more resources to create a dedicated team of digital-specific sellers–and it’s false. Any current advertising sales person can train and get comfortable with these new products. After all, don’t you want your teams and sellers to always advance their knowledge and get better at what they’re doing? Many media organizations are now considering their sales people to be multimedia sales specialists: A person who can create an omni-approach strategy using different marketing channels to advance an advertisers connection to their audience.

Getting started is the hardest part. Here are some key points to remember.

  • Choosing the right digital partners who can help to create your sales toolkit is essential.
  • Focus on products that best complement your core products–like programmatic display.
  • Create a hit-list and sales strategy of who to go after first and then grow from there. Remember, we’re no longer ad-takers and solely transaction focused.
  • Review the reporting; and providing a consultative approach to advertising sales and campaigns is important to the longevity of those relationships.
  • Set revenue goals, identify the KPIs needed to achieve them, and track success along the way.
  • Lean on your industry colleagues and digital partners to help guide through best practices and steer clear of the hurdles they faced.

Ultimately, you put into it is what you get out of it. Stick to your plans, hold people accountable, and always do the right thing. This is a proven formula for success when transitioning into digital advertising sales for traditional media companies.

Local Media Association / Local Media Foundation worked with the team at AdCellerant to develop this series of reports, Digital Advertising Sales and Success for Traditional Media, specifically for our Local Media Innovation Alliance members. 

AdCellerant is a technology and digital marketing company focused on making quality digital advertising accessible to every business. AdCellerant does this by partnering with local media organizations, agencies, and local marketers to leverage turnkey digital revenue solutions to build their digital advertising product arsenals. These are used to help accomplish the goals and objectives their local SMBs have. AdCellerant’s proprietary software solution oversees the entire digital sales lifecycle and creates time efficiencies, cost savings, and increased deal sizes for their media partners. 

Here is an outline of the full series :

●      Introduction

●      The Transition into Digital Sales

●      The Importance of Programmatic Display

●      Digital Sales Management

●      A Consultative Approach to Advertising Sales

●      Creating A Sales Strategy 

●      What To Look For In A Digital Fulfillment Partner

Click here to purchase the full report.

If you are an LMIA member and would like a free copy of the report, please contact Lindsey Estes.