Resource allocation is the process of evaluating resources and distributing them across marketing campaigns to achieve business goals. Sound easy? It’s not. Effectively allocating resources is one of the hardest parts of digital marketing. But it is vitally important when deploying a full-funnel marketing strategy (see Pillar 1). It takes money, people, and time to plan, create, and execute compelling programmatic advertising campaigns for each phase of the customer journey.
In this, the seventh and final chapter of our series on programmatic success, we explore best practices for effective resource allocation across programmatic advertising channels.
Understand that time and resources are necessary
The skyrocketing growth of digital programmatic advertising has created a rapid expansion of what marketers are expected to be proficient in. From tag management to data management to reporting results, the list can go on and on. It is a challenging spot to be in, not only as a newcomer entering the programmatic advertising landscape but also for agency leaders looking to hire and train new talent.
In Pillar 5, we explained that programmatic campaigns need time to demonstrate results. After all, a robust media mix strategy includes many moving parts. Patience is often the key to successful campaign planning, execution, and reporting. The same principle holds true for resource allocation. It’s important to periodically review your resource allocation plans to minimize over- and under-allocation issues.
Here are a few tips for maintaining proper resource allocation for your programmatic advertising campaigns:
Assign resources to priority projects
- High-priority projects should be assigned more resources to keep their campaign milestones on time and on budget.
Encourage team communication
- You want team members to feel supported enough to communicate any unexpected problems.
- The more information you gather, the more effectively you will be able to distribute tasks.
Use different people for different tasks
- Creative Director: Develops creative elements; builds ads and landing pages; modifies creative based on campaign performance; assists with placing tracking and conversion tags.
- Campaign Manager: Develops campaign strategies and target audiences; sets up and optimizes campaigns; traffics creative elements and conversion tags; makes changes based on campaign performance.
- Billing Lead: Responsible for accounts receivable (A/R); accounts payable (A/P), and creating invoices for client ad campaigns.
- Data Analyst: Examines campaign performance reports; recognizes campaign performance opportunities; compiles campaign reporting into client-facing materials.
Bring programmatic tech in-house for more control
Most marketers appreciate having control over their work because it allows us to exert more control over outcomes. When you can directly influence the ROI of your next programmatic ad campaign you take back the control that has traditionally been held by managed service vendors. That also means taking charge of customizing your campaigns, reducing busy work, and having more time to focus on your overall mixed media strategy.
If having more control over your media mix strategy (and the resources needed for planning and deployment) appeals to you, it might be time to think about bringing those capabilities in-house through a self-service programmatic platform. This investment can generate tangible business returns and strategically position your agency as a leader in the digital media ecosystem. An effective transition from a managed-service provider to a self-service platform requires thoughtful planning and application of internal resources.
Using in-house programmatic technology allows you to diversify your campaign from the start across multiple tactics that will make for more agile optimization over time instead of starting over with new targeting.
Read Chapter Seven of The Seven Pillars of Programmatic Marketing: Resource Allocation for Effective Media Mix Strategies
