Sales Force Management

Online advertising is in transition. Performance-based pricing has surpassed CPMs as the primary revenue source and now accounts for 58% of online advertising revenue, according to the IAB. Does your sales team have the skills to conceive and execute programs that attract advertisers and deliver real results? Read on.

What your salespeople don’t know could kill you
The expectations of digital media buyers and advertisers are changing. If your sales team is not keeping up with the shifting dynamics of online advertising models, your future growth could be doomed.

Analyze this: A sales team’s guide to insightful analytics
Just a little bit of training to help your sales team use Web analytics can go a long way to providing the knowledge and confidence to make it rain on the digital side.

Four steps toward a better ad sales commission plan
Developing an effective commission plan requires media companies to take their eyes off their spreadsheets and think about how the business has changed. Here are four factors to consider when building your next commission plan.

6 steps to getting started with lead generation
Are your clients and hottest prospects demanding more cost-per-lead (CPL) campaigns? Here are six steps to help you adjust to this new reality.

5 warning signs that your cost-per-lead deal is a raw deal
Bad CPL programs can be a real liability for the publisher. How do you know when to walk away? Here are five clear warning signs.

Get your sales team ready for rapid RFP response
Five simple practices that sales reps can implement to better position themselves for a quick turnaround when the opportunity for precious online revenue comes a-knockin’.

Print/online integration: What’s the right mix?
Separate or integrated? There’s still no silver bullet for combining print and online operations.

Want better CPMs? Improve your audience metrics
Developing a more compelling ROI story for advertisers could help publishers justify higher CPMs once the ad dollars begin flowing again.

Are ad networks evil?
Many call ad networks an addiction that's sucking the life out of online media.

Building the ultimate online sales rep
What selling skills are publishers seeking?  We’ve scoured the job boards to find out.

Three free server platforms to kick-start your ad sales
If you want to just get your advertising operation off the ground without significant technological or financial investment, here are three options for bootstrapping your ad server platform.

Are ad salespeople doomed?
Many wonder if automated buying systems will replace the way advertising has been sold and purchased, supplanting the salesperson with a computer. Despite the "commodification" of media, however, salespeople and publishers will still thrive for the foreseeable future.

Publishers: It's time for an intervention
Ad networks aren't killing the publishing industry. Online publishers are using ad networks to kill themselves.

Targeting is not engagement
With all the recent talk about targeting and making use of data, our industry is missing something major: Brands need to engage the right audiences, not just reach them.