If you're a media publisher or an agency, you know how important it is to manage your billing operations efficiently and accurately. You also know how challenging it can be to handle converged campaigns that span across traditional and digital channels. Converged billing is the process of billing your clients for converged campaigns in a seamless and consistent way. It sounds simple, but it's not.
Converged billing involves a lot of complexities and nuances that can make or break your business. You need to deal with different formats, currencies, metrics, and standards for each channel. You need to reconcile your campaign data and invoice your clients accurately and timely. You need to adapt to the evolving advertising landscape and capitalize on new opportunities. And you need to do all this while maintaining your operational efficiency and revenue optimization.
That's why you need Audience Platform, the leading provider of converged billing solutions for the media industry. Audience Platform is a specialized billing engine that automates and simplifies your converged billing processes. It helps you manage your converged campaigns with ease and accuracy, reducing errors, saving time, and increasing revenue. It also helps you future-proof your business by supporting next-gen currency and metrics, allowing you to stay ahead of the curve and grow your business.
In this article, we'll show you how Audience Platform transformed the billing operations of a leading cable network that implemented our solution. We'll walk you through the challenges they faced, the solutions we provided, and the outcomes they achieved. We'll also share some tips and best practices on how to achieve converged billing excellence with Audience Platform.
The leading cable network is a major player in the cable TV industry, offering a variety of channels and programs to millions of viewers. They also have a strong presence in the digital space, with online platforms and streaming services. The leading cable network wanted to leverage their cross-channel reach and offer converged campaigns to their advertisers, combining both traditional and digital media.
However, the leading cable network faced several challenges in their billing operations, especially for their converged campaigns. Here are some of the main pain points they experienced:
- Manual and time-consuming billing processes for converged campaigns: The leading cable network had to manually enter and verify the billing data for each channel, which was tedious and prone to human errors. They also had to manually calculate the rates and discounts for each campaign, which was complex and inconsistent. This resulted in a lot of wasted time and resources, as well as inaccurate and delayed billing.
- Inefficient and error-prone campaign reconciliation: The leading cable network had to reconcile their campaign data from multiple sources and systems, which was often incomplete and mismatched. They had to manually compare and adjust the data for each channel, which was cumbersome and unreliable. This led to discrepancies in invoicing and reporting, as well as disputes and refunds with their clients.
- Limited support for next-gen currency and metrics: The leading cable network's billing system was not equipped to handle the intricacies of next-gen currency and metrics, such as impressions, viewability, engagement, and outcomes. They had to rely on third-party vendors and platforms to provide and validate these data, which was costly and inefficient. They also had to manually map and convert these data to their billing system, which was challenging and inaccurate. This prevented them from adapting to the changing advertising standards and expectations, as well as capturing new revenue opportunities.
These challenges affected the leading cable network's operational efficiency, revenue optimization, and future-readiness. They realized that they needed a better solution to manage their converged billing operations and stay competitive in the market.
That's when they turned to Audience Platform, the converged billing expert. Audience Platform offered a comprehensive solution to address the leading cable network's challenges and help them achieve their goals. Here are some of the features and benefits of Audience Platform's converged billing solution:
- Specialized billing engine for converged campaigns: Audience Platform has a dedicated billing engine that is designed for converged campaigns. It automates and streamlines the billing process for both traditional and digital channels, eliminating manual work and human errors. It also calculates the rates and discounts for each campaign based on predefined rules and logic, ensuring consistency and accuracy. This significantly reduces the time and effort involved in billing processes, leading to operational efficiency gains.
- Automated campaign reconciliation: Audience Platform enables automated reconciliation of campaign data, reducing errors and providing a real-time overview of campaign performance and financial health. It integrates with multiple data sources and systems, ensuring completeness and accuracy of data. It also compares and adjusts the data for each channel based on predefined criteria and thresholds, ensuring alignment and accuracy of data. This minimizes discrepancies in invoicing and reporting, as well as disputes and refunds with clients.
- Next-gen currency support: Audience Platform seamlessly integrates support for next-gen currency and metrics, allowing the leading cable network to adapt to new advertising standards and metrics. It connects with third-party vendors and platforms to provide and validate these data, ensuring reliability and efficiency. It also maps and converts these data to their billing system, ensuring compatibility and accuracy. This enhances their adaptability to evolving advertising landscape and opportunities.
Audience Platform implemented the solution for the leading cable network in a smooth and seamless manner. They customized the integration with the leading cable network's existing systems and workflows, ensuring minimal disruption and maximum compatibility. They also migrated and validated the data from the leading cable network's legacy system to Audience Platform's system, ensuring data integrity and quality. They also provided training and support for the leading cable network's end-users, ensuring ease of use and adoption.
Audience Platform's converged billing solution transformed the leading cable network's billing operations, paving the way for increased efficiency, reduced errors, and improved revenue outcomes. The implementation not only addressed the leading cable network's immediate challenges, but also positioned them as a future-ready player in the dynamic media industry. Here are some of the results and impacts of Audience Platform's solution for the leading cable network:
- Efficiency gains: The new converged billing system significantly reduced the time and effort involved in billing processes, leading to operational efficiency gains. The leading cable network was able to cut down their billing cycle time by 50%, from 30 days to 15 days. They also reduced their billing staff by 40%, from 10 to 6 people. This freed up their resources and allowed them to focus on more strategic and value-added activities.
- Revenue optimization: Automated campaign reconciliation ensured accurate and timely invoicing, minimizing revenue leakage and maximizing the revenue potential of each campaign. The leading cable network was able to increase their billing accuracy by 90%, from 80% to 98%. They also reduced their revenue loss by 75%, from 20% to 5%. This boosted their bottom line and enhanced their customer satisfaction and retention.
- Future-ready operations: With support for next-gen currency and metrics, the leading cable network was able to adapt to new advertising standards and opportunities, and grow their business. The leading cable network was able to increase their digital revenue by 150%, from $10 million to $25 million. They also increased their converged campaign revenue by 200%, from $5 million to $15 million. This diversified their revenue streams and strengthened their competitive edge in the market.
These outcomes were supported by quantifiable metrics and testimonials from the leading cable network's management and clients. Here are some of the feedback they received:
- "Audience Platform's converged billing solution has been a game-changer for us. It has improved our billing efficiency, accuracy, and revenue. It has also enabled us to offer more value and innovation to our clients. We are very happy with the results and the partnership." - The leading cable network's CFO
- "We are very impressed with the leading cable network's converged billing system. It has made our billing process much easier and faster. It has also provided us with more transparency and insights into our campaign performance and outcomes. We are very satisfied with the service and the quality." - The leading cable network's client
As you can see, Audience Platform's converged billing solution is the best way to manage your converged campaigns and achieve your business goals. It helps you automate and simplify your billing processes, reduce errors and discrepancies, and increase revenue and opportunities. It also helps you future-proof your business by supporting next-gen currency and metrics, allowing you to stay ahead of the curve and grow your business.
If you're a media publisher or an agency looking for a converged billing solution, look no further than Audience Platform. Audience Platform is your partner in revolutionizing billing for the future. Contact us today for a free consultation or demo, and experience the convergence with Audience Platform.