As 2021 draws to a close, companies start to think about their objectives for the coming year. For those in the advertising space, the name of the game for 2022 seems to be data. Companies are eager to incorporate more information to better personalize and position ads in front of the right audiences. Per one research study, 95% of advertisers intend to incorporate more demographic data, 94% plan to include more CRM data in ad planning, and 91% are going to utilize data management software.

The bottom line? The use of personal information to guide ad placement is more important than ever before, and that means leveraging the opportunities available through expert ad management.

Efficient ad management can maximize revenue and save a significant amount of time, but finding the right approach isn’t always easy. These are the five most common questions about ad management.

1. What Is Ad Management?

Advertising is, at its core, the process of presenting a product to an audience for purchase. However, this should never be handled recklessly or without a plan in place – and that’s where advertising management comes in.

Advertising management is, as the name suggests, the process of deciding what forms of advertising and what kinds of publishers are best for marketing a specific product. In order for an advertising campaign to succeed, it needs to target the correct demographics from the very beginning. Starting with the market research stage of development, marketing teams can work to build a media campaign from the ground up that is best positioned to achieve goals.

2. Why Should You Invest In an Ad Management Platform?

Without the right tools and processes in place, ad management can be wildly complex and easy to mismanage. Leveraging the right technology can eliminate some of the hurdles from the start, creating a platform upon which to build an effective campaign. The advantages include:

Productivity and Efficiency

With a full suite of tools at your fingertips, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel. Users can save time and streamline results by taking advantage of available options.

Live Campaign Optimization

Campaign not going as planned? Ad management software allows for live campaign optimization, providing a way to pivot as needed based on data.

Cross-Media Campaign Running Capabilities

Ad management tools are designed to accommodate a significant amount of data, including campaigns running across different forms of media. By keeping track of data across each element of a campaign, users can be sure all ads are performing to meet expectations.

Simplified Data Visualization

Advertising reports aren’t one size fits all. Ad management resources can let users customize reports to meet specific data analysis needs.

It’s certainly possible to manage advertising without software, but with so many affordable and effective options on the market, using manual solutions such as spreadsheets can mean a long, hard process.

3. How Does Ad Management Work?

Ad management works by ensuring an ad campaign is designed to accomplish all goals.

Ad management starts with market research, incorporating initial conclusions about the target audience, pricing, and branding to build an advertising foundation. By using all available information about a product or service, including who it’s for, how much it costs, what solutions it provides, and how to best access a target audience, companies can create an ad campaign intended to get ads in front of the right eyes.

Ad management guides the process from start to finish, including creative design, media, channel selection, and ad placement. This doesn’t end when a campaign goes live; ad management also ensures execution as well as performance and optimization.

4. What Are the Challenges for Publishers When Managing Ads?

Managing cross-media advertising campaigns is one of the most difficult aspects of ad management. It’s easy to get lost in the details when there are so many possible publishing opportunities. Furthermore, optimizing inventory revenue can be difficult, especially when there is an excess of inventory. Similarly, publishers have reporting challenges as they are under pressure from advertisers to produce accurate ROI and campaign success data across all channels. Privacy rules, such as GDPR in Europe, pose an additional difficulty for businesses operating in a number of regions since it is difficult to keep track of changing compliance requirements in different countries.

The right ad management platform can make navigating these common pain points easier, providing tools to manage large campaigns, customize reporting, keep all data in one accessible spot, and stay on the right side of regulations.

5. Why Is it Important to Streamline Your Ad Management?

Streamlining ad management effectively means improving scalability and improved efficiency without wasting time on redundancies or inadvertently causing double work.

Using the wrong kind of ad management platform, or no ad management platform at all can lead to wasted time and energy, repetitive manual processes, disparate software products that don’t communicate, inaccurate inventory analysis, imprecise measurements, and a lack of transparency. These challenges can hurt ad management in countless ways, leading to a campaign that doesn’t live up to its potential. A capable ad management software solution can ensure a smooth, comprehensive process that overcomes these kinds of complications for a streamlined experience.

Ad management isn’t optional; it’s a required part of ensuring a campaign performs to the best of its ability. That’s why an automated ad management solution can be so valuable. By understanding and taking advantage of the right resources, it’s possible to maximize revenue and see improved outcomes across the board, no matter the size and scale of advertising objectives.