How to be effective at Ad Inventory Management: 3 top tips

Around your city, in busy areas, you will notice hundreds of advertising boards. They are referred to as out of home advertising (OOH). The ads are managed by a range of professionals, each with many ad spaces. These spaces are popular with large brands. They bring a steady stream of income for the companies. 

In recent years, digital out of home advertising (DOOH), has transformed the advertisement industry. These digital trends have made OOH advertising management even more challenging for media owners. 

The main challenge becomes how to manage Advertising inventory in such an environment. As a result, many ad companies experience low effectiveness.

Limitations to the management of outdoor media

Within ad inventory management, the issues below influence operations and increase costs.

Low technological skills

For some, ad inventory and sales software can be hectic. Yet, it is critical for team members at every stage (sales, finance, etc.) to know the back-end tech processes. It is because every element of the process from pricing, to costs, is driven by technology.

If the players in charge are not conversant with tech processes, it causes poor performance, avoidable errors, etc.

Poor user experience

The users are the backbone of advertisement campaigns. However, managers often fall into the trap of ignoring issues about user experience. As a result, the later campaigns register lower effectiveness.

This situation arises when operations progress too quickly. In this case, managers do not get to evaluate past work.

Too Many Repetitive Processes

Ad inventory management entails numerous repetitive activities. These include organizing and tracking order records, curating and updating inventory, managing customer relationships, etc.

These tasks can become redundant and create unnecessary exhaustion, error, etc. So, companies that cannot consolidate or automate these tasks are bound to suffer inefficiencies and massive wastage of time.

Top tips for managing ad inventory

Use automation software.

The best way to manage your outdoor advertising inventory is by getting the right management software. The right software makes the process much easier and faster.

It eliminates the need for media owners to keep the tedious spreadsheets. In so doing, software significantly increases data accuracy and accessibility.

The spreadsheets were popular for managing data across various delivery channels, ad servers, social platforms, etc. However, with software, you can have one reliable source of data. It reduces both time spent and the number of errors present.

Software for advertising inventory saves costs that arise from errors like double-booked inventory, or undervalued inventory.

Similarly, available inventory could change from time to time. Using the software, however, ensures that this data is up to date.

Most reputable programs provide an online booking and billing system. Indoor and transit management, automatic invoicing, etc., are also useful and can be tailored to your business.

Inventory management software can help make more data-driven decisions. The system can be a source of sales data and historical trends which you can use to create a competitive edge.

The software provides access to accurate data. Considering it eliminates repetitive processes, there is more time for your ad ops teams to review information in depth. Management of outdoor media thus becomes a smooth process.

Determine the value of the Ad inventory

To position your inventory to get the highest possible yield, you must determine the value. Higher value inventory dives higher CPM and CTRs.

Evaluating ad inventory ensures that it is not being undervalued. You can determine the value of ad inventory on the following fronts:

The size of the ad

Specific ad sizes perform better than others and get higher numbers of clicks. Since buyers typically prefer them, they, therefore, account for a higher value.

The location of the users

Most players in advertising consider US traffic to be the most valuable. Thereby inventory that caters to this category is considered more valuable than those catering to other markets.

Viewability rate

Ads with high viewability scores account for high-value inventory. When you make this information available to buyers, they are willing to pay more for those ads.

By accurately establishing the value of the ad inventory, you can maximize your sales and profits.

Conclusion

Outdoor media advertising is still very much in demand. However, you need to adopt appropriate advertising management software to maximize its effectiveness.

The software streamlines your DOOH processes and handles repetitive processes like pricing sales, etc. It thus enables you to put your resources to better use.