For many publishers, extending the CRM system to incorporate the order management functions of digital ad sales seems like a good strategy (or at least an easier one than implementing a whole new system for booking campaigns). But as many publishers have learned, it’s an approach that’s filled with formidable obstacles – inability to scale, redundant data entry, and serious investments in software development – to name just a few. To find out why CRM systems aren’t quite up to the task of managing the digital ad business, our blog editor, Amy Inlow, sat down with Geoff Petkus, Senior Director of Product Management, and asked him to share what he’s seen first-hand.
AI: Are publishers asking their CRM systems to do too much? Why?
GP: Yes. Over a 4 or 5-year period we’ve seen publishers attempt to extend their CRM system to handle their order management functions. But it’s way more than their CRM systems can handle. The digital advertising system is unique, and CRM systems are – by design – generic, since they need to support as many industries as possible.
There are many reasons why publishers have gone down this path. Most publishers with roots in traditional media already had a CRM system in place. Since digital ad sales initially only represented a small fraction of the company’s total revenue a dedicated digital order management system just didn’t seem necessary or justifiable. In addition, emerging Internet publishers often implement a CRM solution first because that is where the growing pains are first felt, plus the CRM vendors have done a good job of pitching a low barrier to entry and ultimate flexibility and customization.
AI: What are publishers discovering once they go down this path?
GP: A bunch of pain points, actually, starting with a lot of data-entry redundancy and manual errors. Here’s why: at the very highest level, publishers have product, sales, trafficking and billing processes, which means a lot data entry is necessary to move a campaign from one process to another. A typical, multi-channel order can require as many as 10-20 data-entry redundancies moving a campaign through the CRM, ad servers, affiliate partner systems, financial systems and so on. You can see how there is a lot of room for error.
CRM companies have successfully created the perception their systems can accommodate any business requirements you have. But that’s a slippery slope. CRM systems don’t have the fields that are standard in our industry – CPM, CPC, CPD rates, targeting premiums, number of impressions – really basic stuff. All of that requires custom configuration.
And there’s a host of other issues that will need custom-developed fixes. Sales can’t respond to RFPs quickly if they don’t have real-time access to available inventory, so the publisher needs a custom integration with its inventory management process. And ad servers are completely different systems, which means ad ops personnel end up entering campaigns manually. And CRM systems haven’t been designed to handle the forecasting requirements that are so vital in our world.
So what publishers are finding, in a nutshell, is that the CRM-extension path necessarily entails a lot of time focusing on software development and managing its lifecycle to make-up for the CRM shortcomings.
AI: But that’s not to say CRM systems aren’t vital to publishers …
GP: Absolutely! CRM systems were designed to help companies manage the interactions with customers and prospects, and they do a very good job at those kinds of tasks. They make it easier for media companies to manage marketing and lead-generation programs, track account activity, view the revenue pipeline, and support ticket management. I see a lot of cases where publishers are spending so much time trying to get their CRM systems to do things it wasn’t meant to do, like order management, which they neglect to fully utilize the core competencies.
AI: So what do you recommend for publishers that are ramping up to enterprise-level digital ad sales?
GP: Publishers need to remember that CRM specializes in relationship management. In order to scale publishers will need to implement a more comprehensive solution that can bring their whole digital advertising value chain together. Advertising Business Management (ABM) platforms are a great solution for integrating all of their silos. These platforms provide the underlying business layer that brings together all of the people, processes and technologies required to package, sell, traffic, manage, optimize and bill ads.
AI: And the CRM plugs into that …
GP: That’s right, the CRM system plugs into the ABM platform. What’s more, all of the people throughout the organization who need access to the data that’s stored in the CRM can access it through the ABM. So for instance, finance can get deal terms to generate invoices. In that way, the ABM actually enhances the benefits of the CRM system by making its data more available.
AI: What are some of the operational efficiencies that result from ABMs?
GP: Publishers can streamline their catalog management and media-plan building processes. In order to sell, sales teams need a catalog of sellable products, and they need a process to sell those products quickly. But with a CRM system filling in for order management, there’s a huge amount of manual effort involved. ABM systems, on the other hand, are specifically designed to handle digital media products, so a lot of that manual intervention can be eliminated right off the bat. Sales won’t need to wade through spreadsheets attempting to find ad products that match their customers’ requirements. The ABM system also integrates with the front-end systems that agencies use, which makes it easier for sales to respond to RFPs with well-built media plans.
Ad Ops execution is another area where publishers will see huge gains in efficiency. CRM systems don’t integrate with ad servers, and that introduces a wrench for ad op teams. Without an integration a spider web of manual processes evolve between the CRM and ad servers, resulting in duplicate data entry, trafficking errors, delays in campaign launch and more. But an ABM platform provides the proper infrastructure to integrate CRM with ad servers, which means all that critical data can flow smoothly and automatically.
Another system critical to the publisher: Billing. CRM systems weren’t designed for the unique ways that campaigns are sold and launched. Nor can they connect to the financial systems that the billing department uses to generate invoices. So again, a lot of manual intervention is required, which means potential errors, and slower cash flows. An ABM platform, on the other hand, spans and compiles all of the information finance needs to generate invoices.
AI: To sum up, what are some of the benefits publishers can expect to realize by integrating their CRM system with an ABM platform?
GP: In addition to the significant operational efficiencies we just mentioned, they will benefit from reduced data entry and errors, better business transparency, and lower operating costs.
Note: Operative is hosting an EXCLUSIVE webinar on this topic Thursday, October 20th at 10:00 a.m. EST, featuring guest speaker Michael Goefron, Senior Director of Ad Operations for Alloy Digital. To register for this event, please visit www.operative.com/crmmeetabm.
About Geoff Petkus, Senior Director of Product Management, Operative
Geoff is a respected online advertising veteran, bringing to Operative more than 15 years experience and a firsthand understanding of publishers’ needs for effectively running their business. As Senior Director of Product Management, Geoff guides Operative’s market strategy for the software suite domestically and internationally; acts as a liaison between sales, account management and development; and is continually designing solutions to ongoing publisher challenges. Geoff is also an active participant in industry-wide efforts, and received an IAB Service Excellence Award in 2009 for his contributions to the IAB E-business Interactive Standards initiative.
Geoff joined Operative in 2006 after serving as Director of Sales Development for Interactive Corporation (IAC). There, he was responsible for the online advertising strategy of properties such as Ticketmaster, Match.com, Expedia and Evite. Prior to his time with IAC, Geoff served as Director of Advertising Systems at Edmunds.com.
