Q4 Ad Revenues will be up: Did you cut back too much?
It seems like the digital ad market & ad revenues are starting to pick back up. If you’ve read my previous blog on the 212 Boat Cruise or are in the interactive ad industry, you know things have been on an uptick over the last month or 2.
Typically July and August are slow, but from Operative’s vantage point, it’s been the opposite because agencies are racing to spend ad dollars for the 4th quarter media buys, ensuring their own revenues for 2009 are maximized.
This made me think of how important the role of Ad Ops will be in the 4th quarter of this year. After Labor Day, both publishers and agencies will be selling and buying media as if it was thier last opportunity to do so. As most companies have cut resources earlier in the year, their resources are not in line with these types of volumes and most companies will be significantly understaffed in ad operations.
Not only that, in some cases junior and less experienced resources will be used to execute complicated media types, which is almost worse than having no one to traffic ads at all because that leads to errors…you don’t want to make errors at a time when your customers are figuring out who to spend with in 2010 because there are unlimited options.
This made me think of an article I read back in April about the influx of complex media types, which I think is more relevant than ever before. It was called Don’t be Left High and Dry, written by Erica Crossen from Brightcove, who spoke of the importance of having your ad ops resouces in on product and ad revenue strategy as early in the process as possible to ensure client satisfaction at the point of transaction. Cool article, thanks Erica.
As you take off for Labor Day and drive out to the Cape or your house in the Hamptons, you may want to ask yourself a couple of questions, keeping your Q4 ad revenues in mind.
1. Do you have the right amount of resources in place to handle your Q4 ad trafficking volumes?
2. Furthermore, do you have resources that have the right technical experience in more complex media types?
If you answered no to either question, you may want to get ahead of the curve sooner than later.
Have a good weekend.
Lorne
—-Thanks for all the comments everyone’s been giving. Makes for a more interesting post. If you have something to say, say it.
