8 Things to Look for When Choosing an Outsourced Ad Operations Team

Outsourcing your ad operations function has a wide range of benefits. Partnering with the right experienced team will save you money, free up time, and draw on the expert knowledge, skill, and scale that can be incredibly difficult to replicate in your own in-house teams.

However, not all ad operations partners are created equal. Some teams will be a perfect fit for your company and others will struggle to deliver any meaningful results at all, harming your business. It’s difficult to know which partner will work well with your company at first, but there are some helpful rules to follow.

Let’s take a look at some of the factors that make a good ad operations team and how to ensure you pick the right one.

Ad Operations Challenges

Running successful ad operations is not an easy process. You can run into many issues when working with your chosen partner — here are some examples.

• They’re difficult to work with.

While communication times may not be as fast as with your own internal teams, you should still expect fairly reliable and clear communication with your ad ops partner. If they are hard to contact, share confusing information, or fail to deliver on promises, they are best avoided.


• Malicious ads slipping into the system.

This is a major challenge with ad ops. It can harm your users’ experience and damage your reputation with clients. Your ad ops team should be working hard to ensure all the ads associated with your brand are safe and relevant for your users.


• Damage to UX.

If you manage ad operations wrong, it could negatively impact your users’ experience by causing slow page load speed, irritating ads, and other annoying consequences. This could drive users away from your brand and cause more harm than good.

Here’s what to look for when choosing an outsourced ad operations team

1. Their expertise should match your company


The perfect ad ops team for one company might be a nightmare to work with for your company. Before committing to a relationship with any partner, you should spend time researching their areas of expertise and past clients to see if they are a good match for your needs.

Find out what your prospective team has worked on in the past. Is it the same kind of industry and niche as your business? What kind of results have they achieved? What do similar clients say about them? Getting the right fit for your company is priority #1.

2. They should be highly capable of coordinating with you remotely at any time


When you’re working with any third party, communication is essential. You need regular updates on progress, fast and clear answers to any questions you have, transparency, and visibility. This means your ad ops team should either be able to collaborate across time zones and be fully available for remote communication.

Today, of course, the vast majority of companies have extensive remote capabilities. Although, not all are easy to reach and communicate with. When talking to your potential ad ops team, take note of how they handle communication and how accessible they are before making a commitment.


3. They should have clear, relevant experience with your channels, tools, and platforms


Your chosen partner will be managing multiple aspects of your company’s marketing operation. This means they should have a solid understanding of how you operate and what tools and processes you already use. Make sure they are familiar enough with your existing methods to work with them and build on what you already have. Our teams at MediaMint are platform-agnostic, meaning we understand your expectations, adapt to your existing tools, channels, and platforms, and work to become fully integrated with your team.


4. They should be focused enough to be experts, but broad enough to address all your needs


There’s a balance to strike when it comes to ad ops partners. They should have a narrow enough focus that they have built a specialized, expert skill set in their chosen discipline and field, but not so narrowly focused that they are restricted in their abilities.

Your ad ops provider shouldn’t be a jack of all trades, but they should have the ability to handle all your needs effectively. Make sure you establish their capabilities before you work with them.


5. They have access to specialized tools and resources


One of the biggest advantages to working with an ad ops partner is the impressive arsenal of resources they often have access to. This can save you an enormous amount of money as you can simply draw on your partner’s tools instead of spending money on your own (some of which you may only use sporadically).

When choosing an ad ops team, make sure to check what kind of resources they have access to and clarify if you’ll have to pay extra for the use of certain tools.

6. They are cost-effective


Cost savings is one of the main motivators for companies looking to outsource their ad operations. However, if you choose the wrong ad ops team you could end up saving very little or even paying more than you would otherwise. Take some time to weigh up the costs and make sure you are getting your money’s worth in terms of quality and services.

7. They have proven success


Once again, the best way to predict how successful your ad ops partner will be is to look at their past performance. What did they achieve with previous clients in concrete terms?

You should push for this information and look at key metrics like conversion rates and ROI. Working with a completely unproven team is a huge gamble, and providers who try to avoid giving clear results from their previous work are waving a big red flag.

8. They click with you


One of the most important things to consider when working with any third party is simply how well you work together. Do they “get” your company, culture, values, and mission? Are you aligned on what you want to achieve? Are they the kind of people you can see yourself working productively together with on a long-term basis?

Ultimately, your chosen ad operations team is a group of people you’ll be working with on an ongoing basis — it’s important that you’re on the same wavelength.

Choosing the right team to outsource your ad operations to is not something you should take lightly. The right partner can drive impressive success with your advertising, while saving you costs, freeing up your internal team, and building a lasting professional relationship. It’s worth taking as much time and effort as you need to make sure they are the right partner for you.

To learn more about how MediaMint can handle your ad operations along with a whole host of other tasks from creative services to platform support, contact us.