Articles by: "Michele Bavitz, Global Head of Account Management – Theorem"

Automating ad operations: turning doers into revenue drivers

August 26, 2024 Michele Bavitz, Global Head of Account Management – Theorem

Are the time-consuming, error-prone manual processes of traditional ad operations a thing of the past? The answer is simple – they can be. Because there’s a paradigm shift happening in the fast-paced world of digital publishing. The catalyst behind this shift is automation. And it’s not just transforming ad operations, it’s also driving growth and unlocking new revenue channels for media companies.

By automating repetitive and labor-intensive tasks, media organizations can streamline workflows, reduce errors, and free up resources for more strategic initiatives. But automation isn’t simply streamlining processes; it’s fundamentally reimagining the roles within ad operations. No longer confined to being mere ‘doers’ burdened with high stress and constant fire drills, ad operations teams are evolving into vital contributors to revenue growth. The result is a work environment once steeped in friction and burnout, shifting to one where productivity and motivation thrive.

New revenue streams unlocked by ad operations automation

To help media companies understand the impact automation of ad operations can have on long-term success, let’s explore the specific ways it’s opening new doors to revenue growth.

Maximizing ad inventory utilization

Automation optimizes the use of ad inventory, which significantly increases fill rates and revenue. By continuously analyzing real-time data, automated systems allow ad operations teams to make intelligent adjustments to ad placements. This ensures that every available slot is used efficiently, reducing wasted inventory. Automated platforms can help identify demand trends and dynamically allocate inventory to the highest-paying ads, maximizing potential revenue.

For example, during peak times, automation provides key insights that enable the prioritization of high-value ads, ensuring premium inventory is filled first. Conversely, during off-peak times, teams can quickly adjust their strategy to fill available slots with lower-paying ads, ensuring no space is left unused.

Real-time bidding and dynamic pricing

Dynamic pricing strategies supported by automated, real-time bidding allow media companies to instantly adjust prices based on demand. Automated systems continuously monitor market conditions, competitor pricing, and user engagement metrics. As a result, ad professionals gain instant insights, allowing them to optimize campaigns, adjust prices, and maximize ad inventory sales. For instance, during high-demand periods, such as seasonal events, automated systems can help teams increase interest or prices. On the other hand, in low-demand situations, prices can be lowered to attract more buyers, ensuring that inventory is still utilized efficiently. This flexibility helps media companies capitalize on market fluctuations and maximize revenue.

Personalized ad experiences

Personalized advertising, enabled by advanced data analytics, significantly enhances engagement and conversion rates. Automated systems analyze user data, including browsing history, purchase behavior, and demographic information, to create detailed user profiles and accurately segment audiences. This allows for highly relevant ads tailored to individual interests, increasing the likelihood of user interaction. Users are more inclined to click on ads that resonate with their current needs, leading to higher engagement and conversion rates.

Automation doesn’t just unlock new revenue channels; it also enhances operational efficiency. These efficiency gains play a critical role in boosting profitability. These efficiency gains play a critical role in boosting profitability.

Enhancing operational efficiency for revenue growth

Automation in ad operations takes care of routine tasks, freeing up teams to focus on strategic initiatives and explore new revenue opportunities. It reduces errors and makegoods with more accurate ad placements, improving client satisfaction and boosting revenue. It also significantly accelerates complex order-to-cash processes, enabling media companies to capitalize on time-sensitive opportunities and expedite revenue realization.

Creating additional revenue channels is just one aspect of how automation contributes to revenue growth.

Strategic revenue optimization with automation

Data-driven decision making

Data analytics enabled by automation can process vast amounts of data to identify trends and insights that would be near impossible to detect manually. This data-driven approach allows media executives to make strategic decisions that maximize revenue by understanding patterns in user behavior, market demand, and ad performance.

For example, automated systems help media companies track ad performance, revealing specific data insights that improve decision making and optimize ad spend.

Enhanced targeting and retargeting

Automation significantly improves targeting and retargeting, leading to more efficient ad spend and a higher ROI. Automated systems empower ad professionals to analyze user behavior and preferences to deliver ads to the right audience at the right time, increasing campaign effectiveness. This precise targeting ensures that ads are shown to users who are most likely to engage and convert, maximizing ad spend efficiency and boosting revenue.

Embracing automation in ad operations: thrive or fall behind

Purpose-built automation solutions are designed to meet a company’s hyper-specific needs. Unlike off the shelf options, these tailored solutions deliver optimal performance virtually out of the gate, driving rapid adoption and maximum ROI.

Media companies that embrace purpose-ready technology and automation have a distinct competitive advantage and an opportunity to transform ad operations into a revenue driving powerhouse. Companies who fail to evolve and continue to depend on legacy systems risk getting left behind, while the competition scales to new heights.

Advertising | Supporter Spotlight

How automation harmonizes tech-enabled creatives and ad ops

June 10, 2024 Michele Bavitz, Global Head of Account Management – Theorem

Digital media has always been marked by the intersection of creativity and technology. Unfortunately, in many cases that intersection has been a bumpy one. Today, however, there are automation solutions that can allow these two sides of the media business to work together and do better work as a result.

The digital publishing business is at a pivotal crossroads. On one hand, an explosion of creative possibilities facilitated by technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) are enabling personalized, dynamic content at scale. On the other hand, lies the intricate realm of ad operations, where complexity remains consistent, and efficiency and precision are paramount. The gap between creative potential and operational capability must be closed if digital media firms are to compete and scale effectively in today’s market.

The path to a solution starts with an exploration of the relationship between tech-enabled creatives and ad ops and ends with a question: How can organizations strategically synchronize right-brain creativity with left-brain operational efficiency in publishing? The answer is to level the playing field with the power of automation. Bringing both sides of publishing into perfect, tech-powered harmony does more than just streamline workflows. It empowers media firms to navigate the rapid pace of market changes, paving the way for maximum efficiency and operational excellence.

AI’s impact on the publishing business

Reaching the right customer at the right time with the right message is becoming a critical component of advertising success. So critical, it’s driving publishing companies to embrace advanced technologies, particularly AI technologies, to create content at scale like never before. The surge in tech-enabled content combined with the end of third-party cookies is forcing ad ops teams to re-evaluate their operations to keep up. Here’s a closer look at the impact of AI on content creation.

AI enhanced content production and customization at scale

By harnessing AI’s power to analyze data and recognize patterns, publishers can turbocharge content creation, crafting high-quality texts and visuals that are deeply engaging. This tech-enabled approach enhances content production and enables precise audience segmentation. It delivers hyper-personalized content at an unparalleled scale across various formats. All of which substantially boosts efficiency and the impact of content strategies.

How AI affects brand engagement

The creative advancements powered by AI are also profoundly influencing consumer interactions with brands. Relevant, engaging content that aligns with audience preferences and values can substantially boost brand engagement. Engagement which can potentially turn into revenue for brands. The downside is, it creates even more operational challenges for ad ops teams trying to keep up.

Operational challenges with tech-enabled creatives

To reap the benefits of tech-enabled creatives, publishers must fully grasp the challenges they pose to ad ops teams. This understanding is crucial for implementing effective solutions and maximizing the value of creative content in digital media.

Pressure to scale

Traditional manual processes in ad ops (campaign setup, trafficking, performance tracking), become bottlenecks when faced with the scale and speed of AI-driven content production. The pressure to scale operations to match the pace of content generation increases, requiring an equally robust systems in ad ops.

Complexity management

The complexity of content tailored for different audience segments requires meticulous management throughout its lifecycle. Automated systems capable of managing the detailed workflows and large datasets of ad ops are essential for keeping pace with production, and achieving maximum ROI.

Risk of siloed functions

Another significant challenge is the risk of siloed functions within organizations. When advanced creative tools operate independently from operational capabilities, it can create gaps that lead to inefficiencies and missed opportunities.

Creative outputs must seamlessly integrate with ad ops systems to prevent campaign delays, performance tracking issues, and scaling challenges. Such disconnects hinder adaptability, affecting competitiveness and growth. Robust automation reduces friction between sales and ops teams translating to improved morale, higher productivity, fewer fire drills, and ultimately – happier clients.

Clearly, there is a critical need for automation. Without integrating automated systems, ad ops teams face delays, increased make-goods, and ultimately a failure to capitalize on the content’s potential.

An Integrated approach nets tangible benefits

As the digital media landscape evolves, integrating advanced automation tools with creative production capabilities becomes increasingly critical. It not only enhances operational efficiencies but also serves as a key driver of revenue growth and scalability. Let’s take a look at the tangible benefits automation can deliver.

Quickly adapting to market changes

With AI’s rise, and content production dramatically increasing, ad ops teams struggle to quickly adapt to market changes. However, according to Theorem’s research, 79% of ad ops professionals think their tools need improvement, and 69% feel digital advertising processes need enhancement. Implementing advanced, automated systems can empower ad ops teams to meet the needs of a constantly evolving market more effectively.

Enhancing data flow

Automation also significantly improves the flow of information between creative teams and ad ops. Centralizing information, as noted by 59% of ad professionals, ensures that data from campaign performances is quickly available to refine ongoing and future campaigns.

Automation drives revenue through operational excellence

Automation not only streamlines operations in ad ops, it significantly enhances ROI. 55% of ad pros in our research noted time-consuming processes as a major pain point. Another 36% reported complex processes slowed their pace of work. By automating tasks such as campaign setup, monitoring, and optimization, businesses can minimize costly mistakes and make-goods that are directly impacting bottom line revenue.

There is also the tangible reward of time saved as a direct result of automation. 56% of ad pros believe implementing automation saves valuable time. Time that can be redirected towards creative and strategic initiatives.

Navigating innovation with automation: the strategic advantage

Media organizations need to remain competitive and responsive in an industry driven by rapid technological advancements. Embracing the symbiotic integration of tech-enabled creatives with automated ad ops can lead to marked improvements in campaign outcomes and overall business performance. Implementing automation isn’t merely about keeping pace. It’s about setting the pace in the journey towards more synchronized, efficient, and responsive operations in publishing. Now is the time to act, to innovate. This will empower your team and your organization to lead now – and well into the future.

Advertising | Innovation | Supporter Spotlight

What publishers need to know about the media automation journey

November 13, 2023 Michele Bavitz, Global Head of Account Management – Theorem

The media landscape has undergone rapid transformation over the last decade. However, there are areas that are primed for fast-paced evolution. Take ad operations, for example. To date, advertising workflows are still heavily manual, relying on humans to fulfill day-to-day tasks such as audience targeting, campaign set-up, optimization and data analysis. These tasks are tedious, time-consuming and often lead to human error. Legacy methodologies that worked in the past no longer serve today’s modern digital media players. To streamline workflow and maximize revenue, publishers need to make updates to existing processes, and the solution lies in automation.

The benefits of automation to current workflows

Theorem recently partnered with a third-party company to conduct research on the topic and found professionals in ad ops, who have traditionally been excluded from automation discussions, recognize the benefits of automation, with 86% of survey respondents agreeing that automation would modernize their company. Another 90% of ad ops professionals are open to the idea of their roles and responsibilities evolving as a result of automation.

Automation can help address common pain points related to day-to-day workflows. Of those surveyed, 55% believe automation will eliminate time consuming processes, 45% agree that it will address complex processes that slow the pace of work and 42% agree it will help the teams feel more connected. Above all, automation will decrease inefficiencies and create more available time for ad ops professionals to devote to more strategic work such as analysis and optimization, client recommendations and relationship building.

Automation also eliminates human errors thus decreasing the number of make-goods they deliver. Make goods are costly on many levels, there is the obvious revenue loss for the publishers, a negative impact on the client and publisher relationship, and the impact on campaign performance. Additionally, make-goods disrupt the publisher’s internal processes and ops teams with ripple effect from inventory management through campaign delivery. Staff freed from putting out fires and managing repeatable tasks are able better leverage their skills for higher value work. Ultimately, automation enables companies to recognize revenue faster.

How to start the journey to a future-ready ad ops team and processes

There are five important steps for business leaders to consider when embarking on the automation journey.

Conduct a thorough audit of current processes to determine where automation is needed. Determine what are the most common pain points in ad ops processes by asking some questions, including: Where are the inefficiencies? Are there high volumes of repeatable tasks? Is there unnecessary complexity because of tech limitations? Are teams working in silos?
Evaluate team competencies. Identify the strong and weak points of current teams to determine how skills can be more effectively allocated after automation has been introduced.
Consider the budget. Plan for both the initial cost of implementing automation and the long-term expenses such as maintenance, updates and staff training.
Determine opportunities for growth. Ensure the automation solutions being considered have the ability to grow in tandem with business expansion.
Involve the right people in the conversation. Consider the opinions of leadership from sales, media operations and the IT team. HR should also be involved to offer the general perspectives and sentiments of employees.

A final consideration for publishing business leaders is working with an automation partner to help navigate the adoption.

What to look for in an automation partner

Automation in this sector of the industry is still relatively new and finding a partner who is well-versed in the area can be difficult. Below are four key traits an automations partner should have:

Adaptability. Can create a customizable program to meet specific needs and integrates seamlessly within existing technology.
Credibility. Have experience working in the client’s industry and can be trusted. They have worked with prominent, recognizable names within the industry and have received endorsements.
Differentiation. Does the partner provide a clear and concise value to the organization?
Support. Available when needed to answer questions, provide high-quality customer service and offer training for employees.

Working with the ideal partner is a crucial part to the successful use of automation and leaders should feel confident in the partner they chose.

How organization culture will affect automation adoption

The likelihood to adopt an automation solution is contingent on the organization and how employees perceive the new solution.

According to our research, most companies fit into four categories when it comes to automation: visionaries, slow seekers, mindful movers and firefighters. The most effective way to get employees on board with automation is to use different tactics depending on the company’s category.

Visionaries are already adopting automation. Their needs are often more complex and strategic, so the number one priority for them is making sure there is a reliable partner who can guide them through the automation process.
Slow seekers have started adopting automation but they need help realizing the value to commit to implementing. Employees need to see the benefits of automation and ensure there will be necessary training.
Mindful movers want to implement automation but are held back due to staffing constraints. Employees need to understand that automation can benefit everyone, no matter the size of the team.
Firefighters know their teams are inefficient and do not have enough time to be proactive or implement an automation strategy. Leaders will need to share the excitement related to onboarding automation and encourage teams to take the plunge.

While many executives recognize the value of automating operations, understanding the nuances—identifying bottlenecks, involving multi-disciplinary teams, and anticipating roadblocks—is essential for successful implementation. The emphasis should be on how automation strategically aligns with broader business goals.

When embarking on the automation journey, media executives need to determine the needs and benefits of each department and find the right partner and approach to successfully implement the new technology. Media organizations that effectively leverage automation will improve the way business is conducted.

Advertising | Industry-Research | Supporter Spotlight

Surprising revenue opportunities offered by automating Ad Ops

August 28, 2023 Michele Bavitz, Global Head of Account Management – Theorem

Ad operations (ad ops) involves a complex number of tasks relating to the execution of online advertising campaigns. With the global digital advertising market expected to hit $185.17B this year, the industry is increasingly competitive at a time of reduced consumer spending and economic uncertainty. This boom in digital advertising can be attributed to the ever-increasing consumer demand for online content and the rise of online shopping. With that in mind, companies using automation to streamline processes and supplement the work of ad ops teams could see an increase in revenue.

Automation has emerged as a tool nearly every industry is using, yet ad ops is still a notoriously manual process. From campaign management and reporting to trafficking and optimization, there are a plethora of procedures teams need to follow to ensure success. This manual process hinders productivity considerably and is prone to human error and inefficiencies – ultimately slowing order cycles and delaying revenue growth.

According to a recent study we conducted at Theorem, 69% of surveyed ad ops professionals cite that their company’s digital advertising processes need improvement. And another 79% reported that the tools or solutions they use to try to solve this challenge could be better.

As advertising is a key revenue model for publishers, streamers and media companies alike, this is a big problem. One that — if not quickly resolved — will lead to unnecessary financial burden that no company can afford.

So, what’s the secret? How can we simplify the ad ops process and find revenue in a place far too often ignored or overlooked?

The answer is automation.

Automation eliminates makegoods

Our survey revealed that the number one pain point for ad ops professionals is finding time to complete time-consuming tasks. End to end, the ad ops process consists of many error-prone tasks. Teams input data into spreadsheets, manually check and cross-check targeting, or pull data from multiple sources to manually create reporting.

This leads to companies experiencing high percentages of makegoods, which occur when an advertising campaign fails to deliver on a pre-agreed target number of metrics. Managing makegoods is operationally time consuming as workflows and reporting are adjusted—not to mention that the advertising campaign itself may underperform as a result.

With the stakes being so high, it’s time for businesses to jump on the automation bandwagon when it comes to ad ops. Makegoods have become so commonplace within the industry they are being written into contracts as an expectation. Automation has the power to revolutionize how organizations conduct business by addressing systemic challenges that increase profits while reducing human error. It can also centralize information and establish consistencies across processes that eliminate bottlenecks and minimize makegoods. By making makegoods obsolete and automating ad ops processes, revenue cycles accelerate. Processing a higher volume of work more efficiently allows ad-supported business models to see increased revenue faster.

Automation boosts strategic thinking and creativity

Ad ops teams realize that the benefits of automation extend beyond eliminating makegoods. Theorem found that three in five ad ops professionals agree that their team does not have enough time to be proactive.

Of those surveyed, 62% said automation can be used for generating reports, 59% said it could be used for completing repeatable tasks and 56% said it could be used for eliminating labor-intensive tasks. Ad ops professionals are able to be more proactive and focus on creativity and the strategic direction of the business with automation performing those tasks.

These professionals are well-versed in a multitude of platforms and are highly organized, detailed-oriented and analytical – making them incredibly valuable to their organizations. Implementing automation and using it as a professional development opportunity adds weight to a business’s career development pathways and can help boost morale and increase employee engagement.

It has long been recognized that a happy workforce is a more productive one. In fact, 90% of survey respondents said they were open to their roles evolving as a result of automation. Essentially, the majority of respondents see automation as a compliment to human efforts, not a replacement. This, coupled with the financial benefits that automation can bring would suggest that the implementation of such technology would have significant benefits to any business.

Ad ops professionals are pivotal to the overall success of an organization, and yet they are often overlooked and underappreciated. Current ad ops processes are archaic and laborious and do not provide the optimal setting for team success. By engaging with automation, businesses can revolutionize their advertising prowess while simultaneously improving the productivity of their workforce. And that is a winning combination that will boost bottom line success.