Digital Ad Traffic Academy

The conversation threads in this online classroom have now switched to a private classroom only accessible for teams taking part in training programmes in this area. If your team are interested in this type of training, workshops or strategy development then simply email Admissions@DigitalTrainingAcademy.com to find out more.

Lucy,

You can use the website (http://www.whatismyip.com) to get the client's IP (they would have to go to the site and tell you what it says) so that you can target the campaign to show them their ads automatically. This way they won't have to refresh repeatedly until they see their ad.

Alternatively, you can target it to your IP address so that you can see it first time and get a screenshot.

Hope this helps!

Hi,

Chris mentioned yesterday about using a website called www.whatsyourip.com to get scren grabs. Can you let me know how this process works exactly as it would be very useful and free up my time.

Thanks,
Lucy

GETTING STARTED WITH KPIs

In small teams simply start by recording the number of ads that are trafficked, the number of forecasts that are requested. Use Digital’s five ‘Vs’ of traffic data to explore other ways to make records of the resource used in the team. This is a great way to prove the value of ad ops and how things change over time: get commercial directors familiar with the data and then as the audiences and campaigns grow, so too does your ability to justify head-count increases. Remember that all ad ops teams will need to grow significantly over the next few years, so part of your role is about managing resources and planning for that future.

WORKING OUT AN SLA?

Use an SLA to manage expectations within the sales team or the agency planning team (whichever side of the industry you are in).

For an agency team having a transparent workflow queue, showing what the requests are, and then having an SLA or code of practice will help manage expectations.

HOW DO YOU APPROACH THE ISSUE OF DISCREPANCIES?

Learn about the different causes of ad server stats discrepancies

Clarify exactly what is being counted and how the counting is taking place

Do a check at 48hrs into the campaign; use this to check on variance from the planned delivery, then a check at the midpoint of the campaign to be sure it’s still on track, and ideally one just before the end

Remember that a discrepancy in the counting of and doesn’t mean a discrepancy in the delivery of an ad

MANAGING WORKLOAD IN AN AD OPS TEAM?

Putting in place an SLA with a sales team to manage their expectations of what an ad ops team can deliver

Setting up different mailbox queues for key topics like running inventory forecasts or getting final artwork delivered. This can turn email into a workflow management tool.

…lots of questions from participants on the Digital Ad Operations Academy here in London this week, about:

TIPS FOR SELLING ONLINE ADVERTISING?

In the Digital Ad Operations and Trafficking Academies we’re looking at the theory of trafficking, the role ad ops teams play, how to structure workflow and a bunch of other issues. We've been running the Academy for several years and although the syllabus is constantly being updated, we don't cover the role of selling. Effective online advertising sales is such a big topics that it needs more than an hour on an Ad Traffic training programme, so to help firms build up their internet ad sales skills, several newspapers and magazine groups asked Digital’s team to create a training course for online advertising sales teams.

If you’re completing this Digital Training Academy then you can benefit from seeing some of the bigger picture stuff about Digital Publishing by looking at the management coaching activities we run there: http://www.digitaltrainingacademy.com/publishingstrategyclassroom/

Similarly, if you have specific questions about internet advertising sales, then take a look at the Digital Media Sales Academy pages in their online classroom. That Academy has ten days' worth of lessons and exercises that we’ll select from depending on how advanced the internet sales teams are, and the sort of challenges they are facing. The key thing for us is to learn about what’s holding your advertising sales growth back, a nd then bridge the gap. Take a look here and find out what some of the sales managers have been saying to us on recent Digital Media Sales Academies… http://www.digitaltrainingacademy.com/digitalmediasalesacademy/

Simply ask your Academy Manager about what other training we have and when the next courses are.

DO YOU HAVE COPYRIGHT FOR THE IMAGES AND AUDIO IN YOUR WEB ADVERTS?

This was a question that came up on today’s Digital Advertising Operations Academy. Answering it will take more than a few lines here because the complexity of copyright law is vast, and, frankly, applying it to web advertising is often a shambles. That’s because each legal team take their own view about what matters, why and how. They also take their own view about how rights are actually applied. So our advice here at Digital is simply to get legal advice behind you. And in the meantime get yourself up to speed with what matters, how, and why.

To help you get there, here’s a few words and a useful short video that can explain some of what you need to know (even if you didn’t know you needed to know it!). Here’s the link: http://www.digitalstrategyconsulting.com/articles/2007/10/copyright_challenges_models_and_getting_up_to_speed_with_the_tensions.html

(Just remember that nothing we say is intended to act as legal advice, and it’s only in good faith. Many media owners and agencies tell us they’re taking risks with Copyright, and we say that you have to take some proper legal advice. It’s the law and a big deal.)

NEED MORE ON ANALYTICS AND DATA?

We spend days at a time here at the Digital TraininG Academy working through the issues around data and analytics. In Ad Traffic it's easy just to focus on the immediate campaign data and miss out on some of the bigger picture. For Ad Ops managers and commercial directors, why not check out some fo the issues in advertising counting that we touch upon in the Digital Analytics Academy. Here's a link tot he classroom, and there's a video lecture in there that you can watch too...

http://www.digitaltrainingacademy.com/analytics/2007/03/digital_classroom_questions_ab.php

Remember that there are dozens of tools on our Digital Training Academies that can help you put into practice the ideas we disucss here. If you missed the last Digital Training Academies in your country, then check the termtime pages to see when the next public access courses are in your areas: http://www.digitaltrainingacademy.com/termtime/
... and remember that most of the time firms invite us inside their company to train the whole team in one go! Email me for details of how we could do this for you and your team. We're waiting to help boost your group's output straight away!

Frequency capping – a premium price?

If the campaign is capped at 2 views per person, then shouldn’t you be charging a premium? Discuss with the sales team and see if there are other ways to approach the problem of frequency. Capping will become more important over time.

Sequential messaging?

If you have the opportunity for a series of creative executions to be run in the campaign, then ensure the media planning and creative agencies are working side by side to maximise the available inventory. Watch out for disconnects: they flag up massive potential opportunities that have been lost.

Sign-off processes for creative?

Watch out for extra delays in the finance sector or other regulated sectors. Those clients may have several people that the artwork needs to be legally ‘cleared’ with before it can go live.

Guaranteed inventory?

If you are guaranteeing inventory to a client should there be a premium on the space (or less flexibility in discounting?). Introduce the ideas with sales teams and look at this as a way to boost revenues and boost yields, or simply as a way of managing the expectations of clients who are not getting guaranteed inventory.

Inventory policies?

Set one up. The ad ops team need to execute a business process and a set of business rules, they don’t need to be creating them. Talk through with the commercial directors what their processes and expectations are and what they feel is needed to deliver effectively.
Agree with sales directors what happens if you don’t hit target and how to get around it. Agree which campaigns can take priority and ensure that this is communicated effectively to all of the stake-holders. Set a prioritisation rule for each campaign: all your campaigns won’t be equal, and if something isn’t going to be delivered in time then don’t leave it to the ad server to randomly make the decision.

Inventory booking tips?

- “I keep 20% of my inventory spare, running remnant inventory instead of premium. I might use up the space with premium on the day, but I give myself the option.”
- “Create a buffer zone of 10% for all campaigns, just to be sure you reach target”
- Upweight the volume of inventory you plan to deliver during the first week of a campaign; this can help you reach target more comfortably

Adserver forecasting?

Remember that the ad servers are (probably) trying to predict the traffic for the next week or month based on what happened in the previous month. That means that it’s easy for there to be a mismatch. Unless your audience is stable month on month, be cautious about booking up 100% of your inventory – it may not be there!

You can use this space to post your questions to tutors and guests. We'll answer them within two weeks of the end of your Academy.