By Kayleigh Barber

This week’s Media Briefing takes a look at how publishers’ sales timelines are changing as later fourth quarter ad spending pulls focus from 2023 campaigns.

• Publishers already feel the Q1 pressure
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Publishers already feel the Q1 pressure

The key hits:

• Publishers’ sales teams would normally be focused on selling 2023 campaigns by now, but many advertisers are stuck trying to offload their remaining 2022 budgets on quick and easy campaigns.
• As a result, revenue chiefs are divided on how much time their sales teams should dedicate to trying to capture more Q4 advertising revenue versus going after longer-term and higher-cost campaigns that kick off in Q1. 
• Given 2022 appears poised to be a lower performing year for some publishers than expected, any additional revenue could help.

Advertisers are still figuring out how to spend their remaining advertising dollars for 2022 — an unusual occurrence by at this point in the year — and publishers are very aware that there is still money on the table for this quarter. 

But given the fact that most sales teams would typically have turned their attention to selling Q1 campaigns by now, media executives are grappling with whether to try to make up the digital ad revenue deficit they’re facing this year or take a moderate loss in 2022 and get a head start for the coming year, which promises to be just as tough from an advertising perspective. 

“It used to be with planning cycles that you would be talking about next year at this time, and now because we just are so comfortable with not knowing [what next year holds], we’re just focusing on right now,” said a media executive who spoke anonymously to Digiday for this story.

The fourth quarter is not known for being a particularly easy time for sales teams, but after a year made chaotic thanks to shortened turnaround times between the selling and execution of campaigns, all of the stress has been compounded into the last few months of 2022.

“It’s always this very hard time in Q4, where you’re racing to the finish line, trying to get in every last dollar you can before the ball drops in Time Square. But you’re also setting up your entire year with your top 30 or 40 clients, doing upfronts and negotiations around rate cards,” said another anonymous media executive. They added that they’re going to be prioritizing selling Q1 campaigns versus Q4 after receiving a promising influx of requests for proposals already for the new year.

Changing timelines

Advertising budgets may still be available ahead of the holiday season, but the remnants of those dollars might not be as appealing as what next year could offer.

The campaigns being bought right now are more turnkey, quick to produce and generally shorter in length compared to campaigns that usually run this time of year.

Part of …read more

Source:: Digiday

Author: Aaron