Reach the right audiences, with the right messages, at the right time — that’s the digital marketer’s mantra, and now more than ever before, advertisers have a range of options to bring this goal to life. According to one directory, there are more than 419 ad networks worldwide — a number that excludes many independent publisher networks and startups.
If you’re selling ad placements, you probably know that the range of available options can be a double-edged sword. Higher levels of customization mean tougher sells, as today’s media buyers and brand marketers are looking for solutions that are exact fits with their customer acquisition and retention goals.
“Our biggest challenge is that we have many products to sell,” says Ryan Whittington, senior vice president of advertising operations and digital revenue at The Business Journals. “Between print advertising, digital, and event sponsorships, we have dozens and dozens of opportunities.”
Whittington explains that at any given time, it can be challenging for his team to match clients’ goals to available advertising opportunities.
“If we’re not careful, we confuse and overwhelm customers by presenting them with too many options,” says Whittington.
That’s why Whittington invests heavily in team training programs — to ensure that his ad sales reps are positioned to deliver their best performance. He describes the following as characteristics of his best performing ad sales reps.
1. The patience to listen
Just 10 years ago, the digital advertising landscape was finite in the sense that publishers and advertisers had precise sets of CPM, CPC, and fixed rate placement options. Today, thanks in part to programmatic technologies, native advertising, and real-time exchanges, the choices of what ad sales reps can create and sell to clients is unlimited.
“Our team devotes careful attention to package unlimited opportunities into a box that meets clients’ goals in a very precise way,” says Whittington.
To that end, Whittington explains that some of his most productive sales calls are meetings in which sales reps spend their time listening and learning.
“In the past, selling was the purpose of these calls,” says Whittington. “But today, we deliver much stronger pitches when we take the time to deliberate upon the best course of action to our client. We’re not going to come up with our best ideas, on-the-fly, mid sales meeting.”
2. Strong product expertise
As Whittington points out, media buyers expect their advertising partners to operate as consultants. Brand marketers run ad campaigns to achieve focused acquisition and retention goals. As solutions providers, ad sales reps need to be experts who are armed and ready to answer questions and offer recommendations.
“Often, we work with clients directly,” says Whittington. “There are no agencies involved, and our customers expect highly tailored solutions.”
This process can be challenging to manage for ad sales reps who are responsible for selling a variety of product lines. Not to mention, the digital media landscape is evolving quickly — which means that companies like The Business Journals are constantly introducing new product lines.
Whittington explains that top performing sales reps have a thorough understanding of their product portfolios and upcoming changes.
“Digital has always moved faster than traditional print businesses,” says Whittington. “We ensure that each of our sales reps are familiar with our product roadmaps and changes to our ad packages. We give our team members the opportunity to review and discuss these changes as a team.”
3. A fierce desire to learn
Today’s media landscape moves quickly. That’s why it’s important for sales reps to have an understanding of the digital landscape as a whole. As part of this goal, Whittington encourages his team to participate in the IAB’s Digital Media Sales Certification program.
“The training that we do internally revolves around our own products,” says Whittington. “Where the IAB certification adds the most value in giving our reps a high-level view of the advertising community as a whole — things that our sales reps may not be exposed to in their day to day operations.”
This opportunity to learn gives The Business Journals’ ad reps understand what other publishers and media companies are doing.
“It helps them understand models that our customers may be researching,” says Whittington.
As Whittington points out, the most important value that the IAB Certification adds is a confidence.
“That [credential] means a lot to our team,” says Whittington. “Today, everything is changing, and the best thing that you can do as a leader is to be in learning mode. It’s this mindset that empowers you to develop closer connections with your customers.”
Learn more at https://www.iab.com/topics/certification/
