How to Mitigate Lost Revenue from Unsold Ad Inventory

Broadcast ad inventory is a fixed and time-limited resource. Once it’s gone, it’s gone. The goal is to sell as much as possible at the best margins. However, that’s not an easy endeavor, especially without dynamic pricing technology.

As it becomes more challenging for broadcasters to maximize revenue, you also have to mitigate lost revenue. Doing so with the power of data and algorithms will set your sales team up for sustainable success and greater incremental revenue.

Why Is Pricing Linear Inventory Such a Challenge?

Ad inventory pricing has always been a conundrum. You’re usually at one of the two ends of the spectrum — open or tight inventory.

With available inventory, sales reps are digging into discounting just to get it sold. Unfortunately, that causes long-term issues with margins. Tight inventory has high demand, but it’s still hard to optimize it without creating more makegoods.

Fragmentation of Audiences Changed the Ad Selling Game for Broadcasters

Beyond the traditional challenges with pricing, there are other factors at play, including audience fragmentation. Consumers have many options for media consumption, and that impacts linear inventory sales. On one hand, it offers opportunities for broadcasters to sell third-party digital to complement radio and TV. Conversely, it may also be a driver of unsold inventory.

Thus, you want to maximize opportunities. Using spreadsheets or other manual processes isn’t real-time and won’t drive the results you expect. The best way to do that in the modern media world is by using technology that simplifies the complexities of the process.

Dynamic Pricing Improves Sell-Through Rates and Margins

The idea of dynamic pricing, or yield management, isn’t new. Airlines and hotels leverage it every day to align with demand. Broadcasters can now apply it to their ad inventory.

Dynamic pricing technology crunches the data around historical sellout rates, timelines and other factors. That provides real-time pricing for your reps to use, giving them the best opportunity to capture, not lose, revenue.

By using such a tool, you’ll be able to:

• Ensure the best margin available; the price is “just right,” depending on demand.
• Move inventory faster because you’re looking at it across markets.
• Eliminate time-wasting activities on pricing like meetings and constant back-and-forth.
• Rely on the data, not your intuition around pricing.
• Integrate dynamic pricing into order workflows.
• Deliver the more accurate proposals, orders, rates and reporting.