Are you part of a media company that wants to maximize the value of the ad space they are selling? Analysts say you need to make it easier for clients to buy traditional and digital at the same time using cross-​channel sales. The shift from mass marketing to audience targeting in the TV space is another trouble spot for clients. In its new report, The Future of TV, SinTecMedia explains what you need to know to persuade prospects to advertise with you.

TV

The TV media space has grown more complicated recently. TV media companies are offering a variety of formats to clients, including:

• Addressable TV
• Programmatic TV
• Contextual audience networks
• Video on demand

In this brave new world, here is what media companies say about their readiness to streamline traditional TV, advanced TV and digital video into a single selling process:

• Very well prepared 41%
• Not very well prepared 35%
• Not sure 29%
• Doesn’t apply 4%

Cross-​Channel Sales

With only four in ten media companies feeling up to the challenge of simplifying cross-​channel sales, sales reps must find a way to explain how their process works to marketers. Sometimes, that explanation is too confusing.

When considering how to measure a campaign that combines TV and digital formats, advertisers are fixated on audience reach (25%+) and conversion metrics (23%+). Media companies (30%+) want to talk about impressions.

In addition to this disconnect, marketers are sometimes under the mistaken impression that digital is competing with TV. This belief drives them to do business with digital powerhouses like Google and Facebook — competitors that have made it easy to purchase ads with targeting capability that scale. TV media companies can thrive in the next decade if they implement changes.

Right now, TV media companies are using a mix of strategies to sell ad space:

• Home-​grown technology and process to manage and sell their TV and digital video inventory: 59%
• Use third parties to sell digital inventory 22%
• Sell all inventory using third parties 12%
• Use third parties to sell more TV than digital inventory 8%

The Result

These strategies result in a fragmented process that creates difficulties for an advertiser that’s ready to make a digital and TV buy all at once. One solution suggested by SinTecMedia is for media companies to offer more automation in their ad buying systems. Putting together a universal product catalog that is easily updated and covers all ad formats and audience types should be a priority. In addition, reps should be able to work with a proposal system that allows them to select from formats like linear TV or video on demand, filters through the relevant available audiences and supplies pricing for each component. Finally, TV companies have been falling short on yield management, especially as it applies to omnichannel selling. As the digital component of sales has been growing more important, media execs have relied on third-​party vendors to help them optimize yield.

For sure, this is a big-​data problem and media companies may need outside assistance to crunch the numbers. But analysts suggest that TV companies should take control of the process and develop a model that encompasses all media formats. Marketers want this information and these kinds of services. If they can get what they need from a trusted local provider, they’ll be less likely to defect to the large online competitors.