As any publisher will know, ad operations (ad ops; a/k/a revenue ops) is one of the most multifaceted functions across an organization.
The evolution of deploying monetization strategies and programmatic technologies to complement the traditional sell means we’re continually driving towards a more complex ad ecosystem. As such, ops teams need both streamlined processes and technical understanding to navigate a clear path to success.
Keeping up with today’s tech stack is only half the battle. It’s balancing direct sales vs programmatic monetization. It’s about working with sales teams, and collaborating with media agencies for both traditional and programmatic direct sales. It’s about understanding KPIs, how to work with ad creative, and how to best evaluate campaign delivery and performance.
Through every stage - from ad trafficking and inventory management, to campaign execution, reporting, and analytics - efficiency is key. But how?
1. Monetization: Managing multiple channels with ease
As the digital media industry has evolved, so too have the monetization choices available - e.g. direct sales, PMPs, programmatic guaranteed, open marketplace - requiring multiple platforms.
To keep all of these channels in check, there are the obvious monetization management tools. For instance, Google Ad Manager (GAM) provides access to AdX and Open Bidding, so you can benefit from the most possible functionality without needing multiple ad servers.
You may also need an OMS to input deals directly into the ad server at scale. And you might want to incorporate additional strategies, such as header bidding. However, it’s important to assess impression volume and growth trajectory to determine whether the incremental revenue from additional solutions is worth the additional management and technical overhead.
This is where you need to ensure your team has the expertise to run these systems efficiently and weigh the pros and cons of investing in upskilling your team, investing in engineering, or partnering with someone who can provide services or technology.
As operations expand, working with partners that provide automated and integrated ad tech can streamline implementation at critical thresholds, help you leverage your data in a privacy-safe way, and more, enabling monetization across platforms and campaigns while minimizing the need for constant manual oversight and integration. Lean on partners you trust to fill in knowledge gaps in your organization, help you grow as an organization, and increase your revenue.
2. Campaign Management: Keeping campaigns under control
From basic data entry and set-up to managing bespoke, dynamic campaigns and advanced analytics - ad ops professionals need to combine a whole range of skills to get the job done effectively. Running effective campaigns is challenging, and ad ops teams are typically working at, or beyond, their capacity, as there are so many tasks and touchpoints within an organization that require their involvement.
If you have 500 ad campaigns, each with 10 line items, that’s a dashboard of 5,000 active items at any one time. And it’s ad ops’ job to make sure they're delivering on schedule, that creatives are functioning as intended, that programmatic integrations are optimized, and that the publisher’s content (website, app, newsletter, video content, etc) is properly tagged to ensure impressions are targeting correctly.
Therefore, whether using GAM or another ad platform, you need to make sure you’re plugged into a centralized and stable solution to save you having to deal with constant headaches in an unnecessarily complex structure. You’re the pilot. You need to be flying the plane, not making the coffee.
3. Reporting and Analytics: Revealing real-time results
Once campaigns are live, having access to an automated dashboard that shows performance, not only in your own ad server but in third-party ad servers, will help you keep on top of delivery, expectations, and KPIs - and allow you to maximize revenue. If screenshots are required, using an automated tool can help save valuable time too.
You can either invest in development resources to build this, or you can utilize a reporting and management tool that handles everything in one place. If you decide to build instead of buy, you’ll also need to consider costs regarding the ongoing upkeep and maintenance of the system.
4. Human Resources: Employing a helping hand
All you need is that one email landing in your inbox that throws a wrench into your whole day, or week. So whether internal or outsourced, your ad ops team needs to have both the expertise and agility to respond to issues within minutes or hours, not days.
If you are leaning on an outside partner to handle some or all of your ad ops work, they should be like the electrical wiring in your house - built into the walls, with everything working as it should. When the light switch doesn’t work, you call the electrician to fix it; someone who’s available when needed, and can get the job done. When it comes to ops, your systems, processes and technologies can and will change, sometimes frequently, so you need a team in place you can count on, at the ready, and can handle the task at hand effectively.
As with any business function, there are HR-related considerations that go into managing an ad ops team, from dealing with out-of-office time, to fluctuating turnover, or acquiring a particular skill set. Leveraging a strong outsourcing partner can be a good way to give your team relief, gain expertise you don’t already have in-house, and free yourself up from the day-to-day HR components of the job to focus on delivering for clients.
5. Future-Proofing: Fueling the ad ops fire
Industry changes, e.g. diminishing cookies and tightening privacy laws, alongside trends such as contextual targeting, brand safety and curation, bring ever more complexity for already stretched ad ops teams.
For smaller publishers, working with an ad ops consultant can help drive efficiencies. For medium to enterprise publishers, an outsourced ops team can serve as an extension of your existing team, or more, and bring a level of stability - that all-important wiring throughout the house - to a typically maxed-out department.
And finally, publishers of all sizes can benefit from being part of dedicated publisher communities (such as Beeler.Tech), and content platforms (such as Substack and Reddit), that facilitate invaluable knowledge-sharing to support publishers as they build a foundation for future success.
If you’re looking for novel ways to drive efficiencies for both staffing and systems within your ops in 2025, reach out to the OAO team at adops.com.