“Insider Voice” offers expert perspectives from our team on key trends and challenges in media and advertising. Through this series, you’ll gain actionable insights and forward-thinking predictions on topics ranging from AdTech advancements to the impact of emerging technologies on audience engagement and revenue models.
The country’s broadcast media companies, both large and small, are composed of hundreds of local sales teams scattered across the country operating almost entirely independently. These teams have traditionally operated as independent outposts from both each other and from headquarters. For many years there was a presumed uniqueness to each markets’ business, which was a by-product of the unique personality of the team. However, more recently, it’s becoming clear that (to quote an industry veteran) the stations are not as much the snowflakes in their business operations, workflows, and obligations as once believed.
As someone who grew up around and served in Broadcast Television, I have experienced many of the ups and the downs of this unique corner of the media world. From passion to productivity, local sellers have an independent spirit and over decades have forged incredible relationships in these individual markets, establishing lifelong bonds with their client base. In a business riddled with such tradition, there is a deep proclivity to repeat what has worked. But as we see changes in organizational structure, buying demands, sales opportunities, and sales expectations, a time of change is now upon us like a looming shadow.
The broadcasting world is changing in real time. Some of the concepts that have been theorized and whispered about for decades are surfacing in the market: Cross Platform, Linear Streaming, AI, Impression based selling, just to name a few. With these changes comes a need to define a solution, execute it, and support the ability for the sales effort to meet and surpass their objectives in this new landscape.
Ensuring That The New World Supports Local Sellers
For decades, the routine of a local seller was to check into the office at 8:30 before hitting the street for most of their day. Extroverts by nature, face to face engagements with their clients is their bread and butter. Today, a lot of that work is done behind a desk, working on monotonous tasks that are the result of more complexities in a new proposal workspace, an already high demand selling effort, an increase in their account list, or even more demand from the buying community, just to name a few examples.
Local sellers have also been handed a new set of goals to deliver not just linear, but also digital and streaming revenue. Many sellers have been in their jobs before the first banner ad was sold online and these new aspects of their role have a learning curve to them.
These pain points could get worse as CTV and targeting make a sale ever more complex.
Without a new strategy, expansion consistently challenges a sellers' ability to perform with the same success as "yesterday." Media companies can, however, embrace change and, ultimately, empower their sellers, increase efficiency, increase revenue, and prepare for "tomorrow."
Opportunity 1: Change Management: Train for Tomorrow
Nearly every local sales office has a core group of ad sales reps who are linear natives with deep relationships and a single or maybe two digital reps that are often pulled into meetings when a client asks questions. Training veteran linear sellers on digital has been a goal for the better part of two decades across nearly every major media company. It starts at the top.
It may not have started at the top, but at this point in the game it doesn’t matter. The need to bring the sales effort through the door of change has proven vital and it needs to happen from the top-down and at the ground level.
As converged and new vertical demand continue, so will the demand for sellers that can cover it all. The challenge is on today’s seller to relearn. Management must provide the tools to keep sellers engaged, while making it easy for legacy sellers to adapt to and learn a new set of skills not innate to them. It’s time to go back to school to stay relevant and keep a valued workforce abreast of the latest market developments. Prepare them to do what they do best. Talk to clients. Broadcasters need to create change that their teams need to (and can) embrace
Opportunity 2: Streamline Where Stations Are More the Same Than Different
Some of the most labor-intensive jobs in advertising like program management, pricing management and estimation management is done at the individual market level. One media company could have offices in 150 markets, all with multiple staff members working on these elements separately even if a large percent of their programs are the same as the market next door.
Media companies can eliminate this wasted effort by centralizing the work so that every market taps into one team that manages core program, pricing and estimation information. From presales to reporting, the more the home office can take care of, the more time a seller has to be out selling. Automation technology, third party AdOps teams, and centralized processes have proven to work. They can certainly deliver value for Broadcasters.
Opportunity 3: Explore New Products
Concepts like linear streaming and true convergence bring fantastic value as they offer some of the best of both worlds across linear and digital, and opportunities for broadcast to catapult its efforts forward. Traditional processes, workflows, and selling tactics across verticals can begin to mesh with support of modern software. Linear advertisers can start to utilize some of the digital approaches with benefits beyond new dynamic inventory. Linear sellers can now bring new opportunities to their presales and order management. All of the features new to their traditional sales effort can be a challenge, but also a huge opportunity for any media company that’s successful, and certainly a competitive edge for any seller on the streets.
Some of the biggest opportunities include:
For a long time, rumors of change have been lingering in the employee lunchrooms, gossiped about over wine week, and theorized on the convention floor of countless Broadcast industry events. It’s time for media companies to think differently about local. Advancement in technology and organic consumer demand have presented a big opportunity for convergence and now the tools and data are available to make it happen.
Even with so much change, media teams will be most successful in local markets if they preserve the elements that make sellers happiest – providing the time and the incentive to have close relationships with clients and deliver results. It’s time software allowed them to get away from the desk.
