OAAA held its inaugural Independents’ Summit at this year’s OOH Media Conference in Boston. Sponsored by Blip/Adkom, the Summit focused on audience measurement, national sales, and programmatic. This Sales Tip is the third and final review of the three Summit panels.
The national sales panel was developed and moderated by Gina Stratford, VP Sales and Marketing of YESCO Outdoor, and below is a summary of learnings produced by her and panelists Matt Borders, Chris Farnkopf, Brittany Sadlouskos, Jill Schnitt and Kurt Tingey.
Session Overview:
The session included a combination of buyers from ad agencies that represent national brands and professionals representing online aggregation platforms which support national placements on Independent billboard inventory. The goal was to educate Independent companies on the “how’s” and “what’s” to do (and not do) when exploring national ad placement opportunities.
Key Takeaways:
The Importance of Partnership
National Buyers / Agencies are more willing to include Independent companies when they see them as a true and engaged partner. Focus on relationship-building.
Visibility is Critical
If your inventory is not readily discoverable, you cannot compete for national business. Many agencies rely heavily on buying platforms as a source of truth. If your inventory isn’t visible or found in those systems, you won’t be considered for RFP lists and buyers simply can’t buy your inventory.
RFPs
Pre-determined RFP distributions lists do not exist within most agencies. Instead, OOH companies receive RFPs solely based on the client’s KPIs. If you are included in an RFP, two key issues for further consideration are timeliness and precision.
Photos
Keep a current catalog of billboard inventory photos which you can quickly share with agencies, It’s critical the images accurately portray locations and site lines. OOH is a visual medium, so high quality and recent photos are important.
Proof of Posting (POP)
For static boards, buyers expect POP within five business days, and within 24 hours for digital. Utilize software tools to help streamline the process, so it is quick and seamless.
Make-Goods
Mistakes happen—and that’s okay. What matters most is transparency and responsiveness. Agencies are stewards of their clients’ investments, so trust is everything.
Payments
Everyone wants to be paid in a timely fashion. If there is an issue with timing, it’s almost always because the agency has not yet been paid by their client.
Conclusion
When fostering agency relationships, Independents should focus on a long-term strategy of a partnership. Ultimately, success in this industry hinges on visibility, trust and accuracy, and collaboration. When buyers and sellers work transparently and respect each other’s processes and goals, the entire ecosystem wins, especially the client, and that unlocks the full value of OOH.
OAAA members can read the complete Panel summary with additional details here.
OAAA is very grateful to our Summit sponsors, Blip/Adkom, for their important support of our Independent member community, and to Matt Borders, Chris Farnkopf, Brittany Sadlouskos, Jill Schnitt, Gina Stratford and Kurt Tingey for sharing their expertise and the time they devoted to producing the OOH national sales session.
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