True Efficiency in Ad Ops: Clarity, Control, and Confidence

Author

Michael Alania, Executive Vice President, Business Operations at adops.com

Published Date

May 19, 2025

In the world of ad operations, “efficiency” is a word that gets thrown around a lot. It's the go-to mantra when margins are tight, leadership wants better numbers, or teams are asked to do more with less. But for many in ad ops, efficiency has become synonymous with sacrifice. Something that sounds good in theory but rarely feels good in practice.

Because too often, efficiency has meant trade-offs. Teams lose time, talent, or quality in the name of “doing more with less.” Senior talent is cut because their salaries look high on a spreadsheet. Quick-fix solutions pile up as teams struggle to keep up with daily issues instead of solving root problems. And before long, the entire operation is stuck in survival mode, mistaking chaos management for efficiency.

So if that’s the belief you’re carrying into this conversation, I get it. You’re not wrong for feeling that way, because it comes from your experience.

It comes from trying to MacGyver things together with duct tape, paper clips, and too few hands. It comes from being burned by bad outsourcing, by half-baked automation, and by short-term fixes that create long-term messes. Like you, I’ve seen it and I’ve lived it.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Efficiency shouldn’t come at the cost of what makes your ad ops run. It should enhance it. Think smarter systems, stronger foundations, and scalable processes that fuel innovation. In what follows, we’ll explore what efficiency looks like, how to avoid common mistakes, and how to make decisions that position your team for long-term success.

The Efficiency Myth vs. What Real Efficiency Looks Like

The efficiency myth in business operations persists through several common misconceptions, including beliefs that efficiency means cost cutting; technology alone solves operational challenges; and outsourcing is simply a means for reducing expenses. However, the reality is that true operational efficiency requires a balanced approach that prioritizes value creation, strategic technology implementation, employee autonomy, and thoughtful partnerships that optimize resources while enhancing core competencies and operational flexibility.

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To be sure, efficiency without effectiveness can be easily overlooked or misunderstood. Completing tasks rapidly sounds great, but what if those tasks are wrong or not a priority? What if a team is really efficient at rapidly executing complicated tasks (lots of moving parts) but has no contingency plans or head room to manage unexpected, complex events (unpredictable factors)? The team may be top performers as long as there are no interruptions.

But if contingencies and support systems aren’t planned out ahead of time, the once efficient team now finds itself underwater and thrashing about trying to get things back to regular order. In other words, firefighting time.

We’ve seen operations that look “efficient” on paper with automated workflows, repeatable systems, and lean teams hitting delivery deadlines. But under the surface, nobody’s thinking about what’s next. There’s no time to evaluate what’s working. No space to question the process. No margin to explore new tools, formats, or revenue strategies.

That’s When Innovation Dies

Not because teams lack ideas, but because they lack the space to act on them. And when that space disappears, something else usually disappears with it… your ability to see what’s coming.

Real efficiency, when it includes effectiveness, is not just about doing the right work with the right people at the right time. It’s also about building an infrastructure that can manage unpredictable factors without sacrificing quality or burning out your teams. This is just as true in the world of ad operations as it is with business operations.

Sometimes, getting efficient means fixing your workflow. Sometimes, it means freeing up your best people to focus on strategy instead of ticket-chasing. Sometimes, it means pulling in outside expertise because your internal team is stretched too thin to think past today’s fire drill.

And yes, sometimes it means automation. But automation without context leads to mistakes. Outsourcing without integration leads to chaos. Reorgs without clarity create confusion. The key point is that quality doesn’t have to suffer. In fact, when it does, you’re not becoming more efficient. You’re just burning trust, talent, and time.

Efficiency should create space—for clarity, for solving real problems, and for thinking ahead. Albert Einstein is credited as saying that if he only had an hour to solve a complex problem, he would spend 30 minutes analyzing it, 20 minutes planning to solve it, and 10 minutes executing the solution. So start by asking the tough questions: What are we doing out of habit, not necessity? Where are we stuck fixing the same issues again and again? And what’s keeping our best people from focusing on their highest-impact work?

Value Creation Through Operational Efficiency for the Win

Optimizing operational efficiency is essential for growth. But when organizations are under pressure to cut costs quickly, it’s not surprising that they turn to the line items that look the biggest on paper. That might mean letting go of a senior lead, consolidating roles, or pushing more work onto a smaller team. These choices don’t come from laziness or carelessness. They come from having to make fast calls in a tough environment.

The business may not even feel the impact right away. Things still technically get done. Orders still get processed. Campaigns still go live. But over time, cracks start to show. You lose institutional knowledge. QA slips. Error rates increase. Reporting takes longer. Execution becomes reactive instead of proactive.

And the team that was already running lean starts burning out.

To be clear, efficiency is not the same thing as productivity; the measure of output per unit of input. But when you’re short on time, short on staff, or dealing with a patchwork tech stack, productivity becomes the default focus.

But if that’s all you focus on, you’re not building toward anything. You’re just keeping the machine from falling apart. That’s when the short term cost savings start costing more than they’re worth.

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If you cut the wrong person or fill a high-level gap with less experienced talent, you risk losing a resource who knew what to look for before a problem started. Someone who could see around corners and save you from potential problems that nobody else even considered. That ounce of prevention now costs a pound of cure.

Technology can help. Automation has its place. But nothing replaces context. Nothing replaces human experience. And nothing replaces the ability to move fast and innovate because your people know and understand the risks and opportunities to look out for.

Being operationally efficient shouldn’t just help you survive the day. It should help you prepare for tomorrow. And that means creating systems that don’t just move faster, but that flex when the industry shifts under your feet.

So what do you do if you’re stuck in the output trap? You start by protecting space. Create some time every month for your team to reflect on what’s not working. Ask what feels inefficient and what they never have time to fix. Make one change. Then another. Build feedback loops. Track what improves.

You don’t fix this all at once. But you do start by shifting the definition.

Efficiency is not about doing more. It’s about making room to do better.

Smart decisions begin with a clear view of what you’re really trying to accomplish, what resources you need to do so, and what you may be giving up by cutting the wrong costs.

Because when you’re too focused on short term savings, it’s easy to overlook the value of what was actually working. And let’s be honest. Value creation through operational efficiency is what we’re really after. Organizations that prioritize true operational efficiency must recognize the interconnectedness of personnel, process, technology, and partnerships that are necessary for long-term value creation. When applied properly, these key factors contribute to improved productivity and morale, greater customer satisfaction, reduced costs, and scalability.

Strategic Outsourcing Gives You Clarity, Time, and Focus

One of the most strategic decisions a company can make is how to effectively outsource key operational functions. When your team is stretched or resources are tight, the stakes get even higher. Done right, outsourcing helps you scale while reducing costs and friction, and allows your internal talent to focus on what they do best.

But success depends entirely on choosing the right partner. This is once again true for both business operations and ad operations.

We’ve seen what happens when outsourcing breaks down. The wrong fit creates churn, miscommunication, and constant firefighting. You end up managing the partner more than benefiting from their work. At that point, efficiency is gone, and cost savings don’t matter.

But when outsourcing works, it doesn’t feel like outsourcing. It feels like seamless support. Problems get resolved before they escalate. Your team gains time, clarity, and focus. That’s real efficiency.

So how do you find a partner like that?

Start with asking important questions like:

Who owns outcomes?
How is continuity maintained?
How do they integrate with your team?
Is there a track record of success?

And listen to the questions they ask you. Effective partners dig into your goals, systems, and constraints. They want to understand where and how they fit in with your operations in order to create value. They don’t just do the work—they think with you.

The right partner brings continuity, insight, and execution that aligns with your business—not just your backlog. They stay proactive, even when things are smooth, because that’s when real optimization and innovation happens. With that kind of support, your internal team can focus on what matters most.

Achieving Efficiency Is a Process, Here’s How You Start

Let’s say you know you’re leaving money on the table.

You’re not sure where, but something’s off. Maybe your tech stack is a patchwork mess. Maybe your team is great but overwhelmed. Maybe you’ve outgrown the system you put in place two years ago and just haven’t had time to deal with it.

Here’s how you begin.

First, admit there’s a problem. That sounds basic, but it’s not. If you’re just going through the motions or following marching orders, you’re not actually solving anything. You’re reacting. Admitting there’s a problem gives you permission to look deeper. It creates space to question the systems, structures, and decisions you’ve inherited. That’s where clarity starts.

Then, figure out if it’s a people problem, a process problem, or a platform problem. Sometimes it’s all three. Get clear on that before you start throwing money at it.

What this looks like will depend on your size and structure. A smaller publisher with a one-person ops team will need different support than a national brand with dozens of specialists. But the questions you start with are the same.

From there, look at your gaps:

Are you missing expertise?
Are your best people stuck doing low-value tasks?
Are you seeing errors creep into campaign delivery or billing?
Where are things breaking down?

Once you understand what’s wrong, you can decide what makes sense to fix in-house and where you might need outside help. That type of clarity will prevent you from wasting time and money attacking the wrong problem.

The best advice I can give you is this: stop managing around the problems and start naming them. The publishers who win long-term are not the ones with the leanest team or the most automation. They’re the ones who stop managing around the mess and start fixing it. They’re clear on what’s working. They’re honest about what’s not. And they design their operations around what the business actually needs, not just what’s easy to keep doing.

You don’t improve efficiency overnight. But you can stop wasting time on the wrong definition. Ask better questions. Clear the path. And make decisions that will create value for your business.