The News Media Advertising newsletter (April 2024)

Greetings from London, UK as usual.?

This is the latest (April) monthly newsletter for senior, global media executives interested in the future of media advertising.?

This month is a special focus on the?latest trends in news media digital advertising. I come from the perspective of both media and advertiser/agency as we need to fully understand how all in the chain, (from media to agency to advertiser) benefit together, ensuring the best relationships with each other for maximum rewards.

Let’s take a look?

Top Five Advertising Digital Media Trends?

In conversation. recently with my good friends at the Alexander Group,?https://www.alexandergroup.com, (advertising industry?experts in driving sales ROI and improving media advertising revenue, via data-driven insights, true, actionable recommendations, and most importantly, tangible results), they pointed out that the digital media industry is, as we all know, facing a challenging advertising market with a prolonged decrease in ad sales throughout this year.?

However, the leading pure play digital media companies are using this difficult environment as an opportunity to?re-evaluate their go-to-market model?and make changes that will better position them for ongoing success.

The Alexander Group have identified five key trends that are shaping the pure play digital market leading into 2024 and which fit perfectly with the points made in this newsletter over the past few months. It echoes what we have said here, that advertising is not dead…just changing. We need to embrace that change and take the necessary steps to secure our future, NOW! See what I mean below…?

1. Ad Sales are Down

One of the key trends contributing to the challenging environment is the decrease in ad sales. This has put pressure on media leaders to review the cost-to-serve for each of the segments in their model. Leaders should evaluate whether the cost-to-serve associated with each segment is profitable, given the type and size of advertiser in each one of those segments. They should also consider moving small advertisers to a programmatic channel to reduce cost-to-serve while retaining the advertiser and its current spend.

2. Sales Force Reductions

Another trend is the sales force reductions that have occurred across companies. Leaders must re-examine how to best evolve their sales organisation to maintain effective coverage that meets advertiser and holding company needs. This may include realigning resources to maintain focus on the top accounts, moving small advertisers to a programmatic (as above) or a self-service channel, and/or adding lower-cost resources to assist with non-sales-generating activities.

3. Decreased Ad Budgets?(are driving further competition for advertiser share of wallet)

To increase their chances of dominating in the fight over advertiser share of wallet, media advertising leaders should consider updating their sales compensation programmes to focus sellers on the expansion and retention of current customers. For example, rewarding sellers on measures like net retention rate (NRR), rather than new customer dollars, will ensure that sellers align their behaviours to drive increased spend within their top advertisers, rather than hunting new small advertisers.

4. Increased Focus on Top Customer Experience

Media companies are looking to improve the experience of their biggest advertisers. Leading media companies are realigning their sales teams’ focus with how these advertisers prefer to transact. This results in sales teams that are organised around each of the major holding companies, with another team focused on servicing advertisers that prefer to transact through independent agencies. For the main advertisers, this digital model streamlines the buying experience.

5. Focus on Retention of Top Talent

Finally, leading digital media companies are re-evaluating their sales compensation and sales enablement programmes to ensure that they can retain their top talent. Those leaders are reviewing their target total compensation, as well as their sales compensation plans, against the market to ensure that pay is competitive. They are also building out internal talent frameworks to provide sellers more clarity on how they can progress through the organisation successfully.?

In Summary

To succeed in the challenging advertising market, media companies must reevaluate their cost-to-serve in all advertiser segments and evolve their go-to-market model accordingly. Redesigning aspects of the go-to-market model now will ensure that companies are able to meet the needs of advertisers while also growing profitably. Additionally, companies must focus on retaining top talent and updating sales compensation programmes to focus on the expansion and retention of current customers, whilst paying attention to having the right resources and the right skills sets to be able to serve the market profitably and efficiently.?

This last area (skill sets) is one we’ve covered in a prior. Here’s a reminder. Use it as a checklist for your organisation?

Future Media Advertising Sales Skill Sets?

1. Digital Literacy: Proficiency in understanding and navigating digital platforms, as well as keeping up with emerging technologies and trends.?

2. Data Analysis: Ability to analyse and interpret data to make informed decisions, leveraging insights for targeted and personalised advertising strategies.?

3. Content Marketing Knowledge: Understanding content creation and distribution strategies to align with evolving consumer preferences for valuable and engaging content.?

4. Adaptability: Being open to change and quick to adapt to new technologies, market dynamics, and industry trends.?

5. Storytelling Skills: Crafting compelling narratives that resonate with the audience, creating emotional connections between brands and consumers.?

6. Customer Relationship Management: Proficiency in using CRM tools to manage and nurture client relationships effectively.?

7. Cross-functional Collaboration: Working seamlessly with other departments such as marketing, analytics, newsroom and creative teams to deliver integrated solutions.?

8. Ethical and Responsible Advertising: Awareness of ethical considerations, data privacy, and responsible ad practices in an evolving regulatory landscape.?

9. Communication Skills: Strong interpersonal and communication skills to effectively convey ideas and build relationships with clients.?

10. Strategic Thinking: The ability to think strategically, foresee market trends, and align advertising strategies with broader business goals.?

There is no doubt, as the media landscape continues to evolve, these skills will help sales teams navigate challenges and capitalise on emerging opportunities.?

Alongside?the above, there?are a number of complementary "soft" advertising skills?we must adopt in our sales teams to be successful in the?future. See if you agree...

a. Empathy

Truly great ad campaigns understand their target consumers. They have a grasp on what motivates the target consumers to buy and they have a real understanding of their audience’s primary concerns, desires and feelings.?Empathy refers to a person’s ability to step into someone?else's shoes and share their point of view. Digital advertisers are able to use their empathetic skills to gain a sense of what the target consumers want or need, ?and then develop an ad campaign that presents their brand’s products as a solution to those specific desires. Content marketing, in particular, is heavily reliant on the advertiser’s ability to build the?right connections between brands and consumers.?

b. Curiosity

A successful advertiser always wants to know more about their customers.? It’s practically impossible to be innovative/effective without developing?a lover of curiosity and exploring new ideas. Customers tend to lean into brands they view as interested in their ideas and values.?

c. Persuasiveness

The importance of persuasion makes obvious sense (advertising is all about persuasive messaging). But to be clear, the power of persuasion isn’t just about making a sale; it is about influencing how a customer feels after the sale, too. When a customer engages or finishes a particular transaction, they should be able to walk away feeling well satisfied and even excited about their engagement/purchase. Successful persuasive advertising helps customers feel like they are getting a fabulous deal with a fabulous business.

4. Communication

Communication is the key. As a digital advertiser, you will need to be a great communicator across a variety of channels and contexts. Good?communication skills are worth spending?time developing upon with our advertisers. They are our revenue ?lifeblood. A survey run by GMAC Corporate Recruiters not only found that hiring professionals ranked oral communication & listening capabilities as the top two most important qualities for an ad sales candidate, whilst also stating that interviewers expect ideal candidates to be an expert in both of these soft skills.?

5. Adaptability

Today, advertising?is in a constant state of change. New techs?develop, customer wants and needs change, and social trends can pivot in an instant. As a digital advertiser, you may need to sometimes help re-shape your client strategies and rethink ad campaigns on the hoof. Be on the ball here and act as a consultative partner for your?clients. Proactivity?will be appreciated and rewarded.?Bearing in mind all of this, adaptability and openness to change are important?skills to have?in our sales teams. You need to be able to move with any social shifts and be ahead of the curve, even when that means making a change to previously sold/existing plans and strategies.?

We shouldn't ?fear change but instead, embrace it when it arrives. Keep an open mind.?

Let me know what you think about any of the?above? [email protected]

Looking ahead

We have an ever expanding global News Media Advertising Committee of senior executives from across the world’s news media industry. We will be meeting over the next week to discuss practicalities and examples of real/current media stories and how AI can work in media advertising (the pros, cons and implications for your media business. See you next month when we will be reporting on the outcome of this important?discussion..?

And finally, if you have any specific ad related topics for future newsletters, again, please let me know? I would personally be delighted to hear from you at?[email protected].?Any comments, observations to include, just email me? It is a great opportunity to share your thoughts with your peers in a large, growing community of news media professionals across the world (there are now over 1,000 people taking this newsletter in over 50 countries globally). ?

Yours in advertising

Mark

Mark Challinor

News Media UK (consulting)

Mob:?+44 (0) 7584 206568

Twitter:?@challinor