Centro DSP Spotlight: Why Service Matters Now More Than Ever

Smith & Beta recently released a report on the state of advertising talent, which details the gaps in talent development. It’s always been a dirty little secret of the digital advertising industry: Without knowledgeable humans behind the technology, the promise of innovation and efficiency is not delivered. With only 7% of agency respondents saying they think they exceed client expectations, there is clearly a huge opportunity for training and education.

Why has the industry not addressed the situation? Well, there are three factors at play:

1. The need to assign responsibility for talent development.
2. Service, support, training, and education should not be used interchangeably, and outcomes must be clearly defined.
3. It’s difficult to schedule time in busy schedules for people to learn.

Let’s talk about responsibility first. In order to be effective, education must be a joint effort between agencies and their external partners. Agencies have typically outsourced education to vendors who may have ulterior motives or a vested interest in the status quo. Agencies have started to develop programs internally, but to stay relevant and up-to-date in a fast-paced industry they need to call upon publishers, platforms, and other players. But, it requires careful vetting to separate the pitch from the knowledge.

Next, let’s define service, support, training, and education. Service is an overarching term for all the people and resources available to an agency. Support generally means maintenance of the platform and technical assistance. Training applies to the specifics of working with the partner, conceptual topics, and industry context. Education is bringing the knowledge together to create context and holistic understanding. Setting goals and measuring results for each is vital to understanding the impact.

Making time to learn and absorb the complex subjects is a challenge. Encouraging and rewarding behavior is key, but people need to understand the benefits and rewards of learning. It will help them become more efficient at their jobs, and it will make the work more interesting and innovative.

Centro prides itself on partnering with agencies for best-in-class service. Centro DSP in particular is focused on demystifying programmatic advertising and lowering the barriers to entry. We’ve developed three learning tracks to give you a comprehensive understanding of the industry, the platform, and how to make the most of it.

Don’t underestimate service when considering a platform. Even the best tools are ineffective without smart people operating them.