By Ben Bouslog, VP, Business Development at AdCellerant
It’s no secret that Americans spend more than half of their days on the internet. In fact, US adults are slated to spend an average of 8 hours and 23 minutes with digital media this year, 9 minutes more than last year. Becoming a digital-first world has shifted the focus of where an enormity of entities, businesses, and individuals are spending their ad dollars.
Digital doesn’t have to be scary.
While the world is moving to digital, there is still some hesitation and intimidation around digital marketing products among sellers. Many sellers have grappled with leveraging third-party digital marketing capabilities to help enhance their client’s campaign performance, deal longevity, and larger deal sizes.
Digital marketing is nothing to be afraid of. Let’s dive into the bigger picture of digital and how you can include it in your client’s product mix to increase deal size and revenue.
The bigger picture.
Digital media is meant to extend reach to an audience that is typically only reachable in one or two other areas. Expanding your reach to that audience can provide trackable performance and an easier way for consumers to connect with advertisers.
Clients are looking for digital products.
According to survey data conducted by Borrell Associates, 69% of local media managers try to include digital in every sales pitch. And from that same survey, 67% of customers only purchase digital products from media companies.
A study conducted by Borrell Associates asked, “What type of company or companies did you buy digital advertising from,” this was according to OOH Advertisers:
And OOH Advertisers were also asked, “Which of the following media types did your business buy last year (2021)?”:
The future of digital
Digital isn’t going anywhere. According to recent data from eMarketer, online digital ad spending will reach $248.72 billion in the US this year – up 12.5% from last year. And it won’t stop there; in 2026, online digital ad spending will reach $385.47 billion and make up 80.9% of total media ad spend.
Here’s how the spending will break down:
- Video will make up nearly one-third of digital ad spending.
- Streaming TV’s performance will eat into mobile ad spending, which currently accounts for 68.4% of digital compared to Streaming TV’s 8.5%.
- This year, Google Search will account for 40.6% of online digital ad spending.
- The online display will decrease due to social media taking an ad spend beating.
When thinking about performance and brand-led campaigns – eMarketer pulled together data from survey respondents who consider running programmatic and online digital alongside one another.
Adding Digital Increases Deal Size and Revenue
There’s a misconception that adding digital to your product mix is complicated – and it doesn’t have to be that way. Partnering with a vendor who can support your digital advertising needs should make things easy for your sellers and customers.
Here are a few ways adding digital can grow your pipeline and retain your business:
- Build a pipeline and revenue foundation that includes programmatic. Programmatic provides outstanding reach, comes with high targeting options (behavioral, content, and demographic targeting), creates strong brand awareness, and pairs well with other products. Programmatic can be customizable for the time of day, device type, browser type, A/B testing, and Geo Targeting.
- Hit the entire customer journey wherever they are in their purchasing journey. Wherever a customer may be in their purchasing journey, there is an opportunity to sell products. If they’re looking for overall branding and awareness – focus on Pre-Roll, Streaming TV, Display, or Geo Fencing. If they are aiming for interest, or consideration, have them focus on products such as Email or Retargeting. If the conversion is their goal, leverage Paid Search, Organic SEO, and Local SEO.
- Add Google products that are easy to use such as:
- Organic SEO – best for clients who want to permanently grow an online presence.
- Paid Search (PPC) – excellent for ensuring clients areat the top of the page.
- Local SEO – a solution for businesses with a physical location.
- Leverage case studies that align with your client’s needs and budgets.
Having case studies on hand specific to different areas of the sales funnel, budgets, and deal sizes can be helpful for your client to visualize what they can accomplish.
Digital is an essential element of any marketing plan. Blending it into your product mix can grow your pipeline, decrease churn, and help you craft a bespoke experience for clients looking hit the entire customer journey.
About AdCellerant
At AdCellerant, our revolutionary tools and technology deliver quality marketing results. We partner with media companies, agencies, local marketers, and channel sales organizations to offer compelling digital advertising solutions for your company. Contact us for more information on how our award-winning digital advertising platform can help your business succeed.
Published: February 2, 2023