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The Need for a Consultative Selling Approach in Today’s Advertising Landscape
The advertising landscape is experiencing unprecedented change, influenced by emerging platforms, evolving consumer behaviors, and tightening data privacy regulations. Success is no longer about selling ad space. Advertisers are seeking strategic partners who can deeply understand their challenges, anticipate their needs, and co-create solutions that drive measurable results. A recent study revealed that 86% of business buyers are more likely to buy when vendors understand their objectives.1
This evolution has made a consultative selling approach the cornerstone of effective ad sales. It’s not just a competitive advantage—it’s an essential shift in how sales teams engage with advertisers. A consultative selling strategy prioritizes understanding over transactions, collaboration over pitching, and long-term results over quick wins. It enables ad sales teams to position themselves as trusted advisors, providing value that goes far beyond simply fulfilling an advertising order.
This article delves into why consultative selling is crucial for ad sales teams and the changing expectations of advertisers.
Evolving Consumer Expectations in Advertising
The importance of consultative selling lies in its ability to address the evolving needs of today’s advertisers. Advertisers no longer just want access to advertising platforms—they demand personalized solutions, actionable insights, and measurable ROI.
- Demand for personalization: Advertisers expect their partners to provide tailored solutions that resonate with their target audiences. The decline of third-party cookies has complicated personalized targeting, making a consultative approach essential for understanding and leveraging the available data effectively. They’re seeking partners who can craft solutions tailored to their audience’s unique behaviors and preferences. With third-party cookies being phased out, personalization has become even more challenging. Advertisers increasingly rely on sales teams to help them leverage first-party data effectively, making consultative selling indispensable in navigating this new reality.
For instance, LinkedIn, which accounted for 47.2% of all B2B display ad spend in 2024,2 has emphasized how personalized solutions are driving success on its platform. Sales teams using consultative selling have been instrumental in helping advertisers target professional audiences effectively with campaigns that deliver results. - Results-Oriented Mindset: Advertisers are increasingly focused on return on investment (ROI) and measurable outcomes. They demand partners who can go beyond selling ad inventory to offer strategic insights on campaign performance and optimization. Consultative selling directly addresses this need by emphasizing collaborative goal-setting and ongoing performance evaluation, ensuring that campaigns deliver tangible business results.
The Importance of a Consultative Selling Approach
Adopting a consultative selling strategy emphasizes collaboration and understanding. Here’s how ad sales teams can implement this approach effectively:
Thorough Market Understanding
Sales professionals should stay informed about market trends, such as the growth of podcasts, gaming, and social media platforms. This knowledge enables them to offer relevant solutions and position themselves as trusted advisors.
Tailored Solutions Development
Instead of providing generic ad products, sales teams should engage in meaningful discussions with clients to uncover their unique challenges and needs. By doing so, they can develop customized advertising strategies that leverage the full suite of available ad products.
Building Strategic Partnerships
Frame relationships with clients as partnerships rather than transactions. This approach involves ongoing communication, feedback loops, and a commitment to adapting strategies based on changing market dynamics and client needs.
Data-Driven Insights
Use data analytics to provide actionable insights. Equip sales teams with tools to analyze campaign performance and share these insights with clients, ensuring that strategies remain aligned with their goals.
Continuous Training and Development
Invest in training focused on consultative selling techniques specific to ad sales. This training should enhance communication skills and deepen understanding of the unique nuances across different advertising channels.
The Key to Scaling Consultative Selling
As effective as a consultative selling approach is, implementing it across a diverse range of advertisers presents challenges. The vast differences in advertiser maturity, budgets, and goals make it difficult to provide personalized solutions at scale. This is where segmentation becomes essential.
To operationalize consultative selling, Concentrix developed the ADvantage framework, a segmentation strategy designed to address the unique needs of every advertiser. This framework ensures that the principles of consultative selling are applied in a targeted, efficient way, enabling teams to deliver personalized solutions at scale.
This approach not only strengthens relationships, but also unlocks new growth opportunities, helping advertisers achieve their business goals while driving revenue for ad sales teams.
Consultative Selling + Segmentation = Success
The combination of a consultative selling approach and segmentation is a powerful one. Consultative selling establishes the trust and collaboration needed to drive results, while segmentation ensures those efforts are scaled effectively. Together, they create a win-win scenario for advertisers and ad sales teams alike.
As the digital advertising landscape continues to evolve, one thing remains clear: advertisers want more than a vendor. They want a strategic partner who understands their goals, delivers measurable results, and helps them navigate an increasingly complex environment. With consultative selling and segmentation working hand in hand, Concentrix is leading the way in ad sales innovation.
¹ “State of Sales,” Sixth Edition, Salesforce, 2024.
2 “LinkedIn and Meta continue to dominate B2B social ad spending,” Kelsey Voss, eMarketer, October 9, 2024.
Louise Van Wyk
Director, B2B Sales Practice GTM & Sales Enablement
