If you sell advertising, you know that efficient ad production is a key to staying competitive. However, for many publishers and media companies, ad production is a time-consuming manual process—and not because of the production team.
Any seasoned production pro will tell you that back-and-forth exchanges between advertisers, sales reps, and even accounting can leave jobs hanging in the balance until right before a deadline. Sound familiar? If so, you need to consider automating your processes now.
3 Typical Ad Production Process Hangups
With manually intensive processes, there are many potential holdups can cause your ad production processes to suffer. Here are 3 of the more common speed bumps that publishers seem to encounter:
- Asset Storage. It happens to the best of us. First, you know you have the assets you need to get the job done—digital, print, or otherwise—but you can't remember where you left them. Then, you frantically check your local folders(s), dedicated company server, client cloud drives, and (gulp) your email attachments. Finally, you know you encounter this issue repeatedly each month, meaning you're losing days of productivity!
- Proofing and Approvals. You're on round 4 of revisions for a client, and it's the last weekday before the ads are scheduled to run. You can't get in touch with your vacationing coworker to confirm what the changes are supposed to be. Now, you're waiting for an answer and stress is high. Wouldn't it be great to have client proofing feedback in one centralized place?
- Duplicate Work. If you're trying to knock out ad production in a hurry, communication is key. Otherwise, you might end up duplicating or overwriting the work that's already been done by someone else. You need accurate, up-to-date information each job—and that includes a real-time sync with your production software itself.
So, How Does Automation Fix Ad Production Issues?
To start, let's get this out of the way. We're not proposing that you hire robots to make coffee for your production team (although that would be pretty cool!). The real-world solution is much more practical—namely, investing in industry-specific, automation-focused CRM software.
First, let's talk about organizing your creative assets. From logos to banners to full-page ads, your team deserves a smart, organized, cloud-based repository for your production assets. Imagine logging into software that not only syncs your sales and billing with your production, but also serves up the assets you need without a frantic search. Now, channel that sense of zen into delivering the best possible product for your advertisers!
Second, let's address proofing and approvals. A back and forth exchange is necessary for gathering artwork, proofing creative, and approving ads. Yet there are ways to reduce the number of manual touches required to complete these steps. The best ad production software will make it as simple as possible for your advertisers to provide artwork, feedback, and approvals in an easily digestible format—for your team and for theirs.
Third, let's banish the possibility of duplicate work. Simply put, your publishing CRM platform, flat plan tools, and production software (inDesign) should be talking to each other in real-time. Add cloud-based connectivity and mobile-friendly compatibility, and everyone is on the same page from wherever they may be working.
Ad Sales Genius Is Your Production Automation Solution
In conclusion, it's time to evaluate the capabilities of your publishing CRM software. The automation solutions outlined above aren't a pipe dream—they're key features of Ad Sales Genius.
If you're looking for ways to smooth out your ad production process, schedule a personalized demo with us today. Our team helps publishers of all sizes realize greater efficiency every day, and we're here to help you run a lean and mean media business.