Experts within the ad industry believe that automation may not only lead to increased profitability but could also be the key to solving typical ad ops pain-points like inefficient processes and human error.
Research from full service flexible digital marketing and tech solutions provider, Theorem Inc, has uncovered that 87% of ad operations and sales professionals from media companies believe automation can make their companies more profitable. Further, 83% of respondents expressed that automation can make them more productive.
In collaboration with global insights and strategy agency Hypothesis Group, Theorem conducted both qualitative and quantitative research and surveyed 229 decision-makers from within the digital ad and media planning game. Respondents spanned publishers, retail media networks, streaming media and audio companies, among others that use digital ads as a revenue stream and are considering implementing automation.
Some of the biggest pain points among advertising experts are time consuming (55%), complex (45%) and inefficient (36%) processes, as well as poorly connected teams (42%) and lack of a centralised space for adtech tools (33%).
Per Theorem’s findings, these same specialists view the benefits of automation as solutions to many of these problems. Three quarters of those surveyed (75%) believe automation will save employees time, 67% said it will reduce human errors to save on costs and 59% have faith it will centralise adtech and supplementary information, among other benefits.
In summary, increasing time and efficiency, reducing costs and centralising tools are the three main aspects where respondents see automation as a potential solution – and something all advertising organisations should consider investment in.
“We are seeing first-hand that automation has the power to revolutionise the industry and the revenue opportunity for media companies”
Jay Kulkarni, founder and CEO of Theorem, said: “Human errors and make-goods have become a standard practice across the industry due to the nature of the current ad operations workflow. We are seeing first-hand that automation has the power to revolutionise the industry and the revenue opportunity for media companies by addressing these systemic challenges.
“By automating the manual tasks that lead to inefficiencies, human errors and make-goods, media companies recognise revenue faster, which drives their bottom lines.”
Automation in practice
From a practical perspective, according to the research, some of the common use cases for automation in the ad ops processes include generating reports (62%), completing repeatable tasks (59%), and eliminating labour- intensive tasks (56%).
A myriad of potential benefits have been identified as a result of these best practices, including 64% of organisations expecting to see better campaign performance, 63% of organisations hoping to see an increase in company revenue and 48% of respondents stating they plan to see improved client satisfaction.
Kulkarni added: “The research shows an eagerness among ad ops professionals to evolve workflows through automation and play more strategic roles in areas such as media strategy, campaign optimization and performance, and white-glove account management.
“This is an encouraging finding and is very much aligned to what we have observed working with our clients and their teams. Media companies have much to gain from reimagining media operations and driving excellence with technologies like automation. It starts with the people and ends with greater revenue gain for the business.”
