5 Ways to Bundle Your Inventory to Increase Sales

As consumer privacy and data protection laws continue to gain traction across the globe (GDPR, CCPA, etc), the death of cookie-based tracking has been looming for some time. While publishers search for a better way to collect quality data, audience-based selling continues to gain popularity.  

This is for good reason, says Tobi Elken, staff writer for MediaPost: "Advertisers are looking for the right audiences, and audiences are considerably more complex than merely accounting for demographics and age.” 

We could write pages and pages on how to track audience data – and many in our industry have done just that. But what’s next? Leveraging that data into increased sales requires creativity as well – and that’s where multimedia bundles come in. 

Why Bundle? 

Multimedia packages or bundles are one great way to take advantage of audience-based selling, especially if your inventory spans many titles and channels. Instead of selling a specific placement, you can sell inventory most likely to reach an advertiser’s intended audience – and charge a premium for doing so. 

Why package your ad inventory across multiple titles and channels? When it comes down to it, the answer is simple: better results for your advertisers, higher profit margins for you.

5 Package Examples & Why They Work 

1. The ‘All-In’ Package  

This method of bundling is especially popular because a truly “channel agnostic” approach is perfect for large advertisers who want the most bang for their buck. If an advertiser wants to target middle-class car enthusiasts who live in California, you can sell them print ads in “Car Magazine,” programmatic guaranteed inventory on carlover.com and partner sites, an event sponsorship to the annual car show in San Diego, email marketing and SEO services, and a 30-second radio spot during the call-in car show on local radio.  

Why it Works: Package this all together and provide campaign reporting, and you’ve provided a robust advertising opportunity with easy-to-calculate ROI. This is attractive to advertisers because it allows them to execute a complete campaign with a single partner rather than build a campaign with multiple publishers on their own. Do it right, and you will build long term relationships with advertisers that deliver returns again and again. 

2. The Brand-Based Package 

A more traditional approach to audience-based targeting, selling packages based on brand titles is especially popular amongst magazine publishers. If an advertiser wants to target moms in their 30s in the market for car seats, offer them a package that includes print space in parenting and lifestyle titles (in print and online). 

Why it Works: This is a simple way to venture into audience-based selling, because you likely have plenty of demographic info on each of your brands/properties. This robust demographic information is attractive to advertisers and makes packaging easy for you. 

3. The Digital-Only Package 

For advertisers who desire more transparency on the audience you’re reaching with their campaign, bundle website ads with marketing services. You can package digital-only offers across your entire digital inventory or bundle related brands together for more specific offerings.  

Why it Works: Combine programmatic guaranteed with native advertising and SEO services, and you’re not just offering traditional advertising – you're offering a complete marketing campaign. This means you can be a one-stop-shop for an advertiser, and they’ll pay a premium for the convenience. 

4. Event-Based Package 

Logo sponsorships, outdoor advertising space, video ads, digital inventory and print spreads can all come together in lucrative ways around events. The traffic leading up to, during and even after an event makes this an attractive opportunity for advertisers. Sell these as complete event packages and be prepared to report on the complete campaign. 

Why it Works: Events present an ideal opportunity to bundle multi-channel campaigns due to an increase in physical and website traffic. Whether your organization manages/hosts events (concerts, conferences, etc.), or is involved in an event like the World Cup or Superbowl, don’t miss out on these opportunities to create special advertising opportunities for your customers.  

5. Seasonal Package 

Higher consumer spending during the holiday season means ad spend rises dramatically and the value of publisher inventory can skyrocket. This makes it the perfect time to create broad, large package options for consumer brands. The same audience-based approach applies, but if you get ahead of the game by offering seasonal packages well ahead of time, you can book your inventory far in advance.  

Why it Works: Seasonal events like Black Friday are a boon not only for consumer brands, but also for publishers. If you learn to take advantage of this annual trend consistently and early, it can be a great opportunity to provide extra value to your advertisers and earn a revenue boost at the end of the year.  

Multimedia Packages in Adpoint 

You can bundle your inventory across any channel with Adpoint’s Multimedia Packages. Sales managers can dynamically update package options so that sales representatives can always see what’s available. Adpoint CRM presents a “single source of truth” for each customer so that account managers can use intelligence from past campaigns to help generate future sales.  

A case study with Lineup customer TI Media revealed the transformative nature of bundling inventory with Adpoint. Here’s an excerpt: 

“Today’s advertisers seek integrated, multi-channel experiences that include a rich mix of print, digital, broadcast, outdoor, and event advertising. They expect to be able to purchase audiences, not just space... As TI Media acquired new publications and media brands, it also brought new ad sales teams and their software solutions into the fold. Ultimately, this cycle of acquisition resulted in TI Media running four different ad booking systems simultaneously across its brands...  Today, TI Media has a streamlined sales department that can sell solutions across its entire portfolio of titles and platforms... Adpoint enables sales reps from TI Media to book advertising across multiple titles and platforms with a single interaction. As a result, TI Media can deliver seamless cross-channel advertising experiences to their customers.”