By Dom Blacklock, VP International Digital Media, as originally featured in Marketing Procurement iQ

Corporate Trade, or media barter, is a business solution that allows an advertiser to part-fund media with cash alternatives, like its own products, services, or assets.

Corporate Trade is not a new concept – it’s been used for nearly 40 years across traditional media. It is commonplace for marketing campaign buys across traditional TV, print, outdoor, radio and direct digital.

However, Corporate Trade is now being used within the more fluid digital transactions or programmatic buys that use auction-based buying models – now even across, digital audio, digital OOH and Connected TV. Digital marketers use it for optimised budget allocation, business KPI optimisations, non-fixed volume delivery, dynamic pricing and mid-campaign changes.

But what if you are a brand who has decided to take your digital in-house?

In recent years, there has been a shift in the marketing landscape as brands choose to bring their digital operations in-house, rather than relying on external agencies. This is driven by several key factors.

Cost Efficiency – Brands sometimes have concerns over value. By eliminating agency fees, companies can significantly reduce their marketing expenses. Brands going this route claim to have created up to 40% more margin.

Knowledge of the Brand – Dedicated In-house teams have a deep understanding of the brand’s values, goals, and target audience.

Control, Accountability and Agility – Having an in-house digital team provides brands with greater control over their marketing efforts. This control extends to the ownership of data and the ability to make swift adjustments to campaigns. Agility is crucial in the fast-paced digital landscape.

How Corporate trade companies can help

Corporate Trade companies such as Active International UK offer a comprehensive suite of services designed to empower companies in this transition and, ultimately, allow them to pay for it in a different way – uncovering meaningful value.

Expertise and Insight – They bring a wealth of expertise and insights to the table, helping companies to navigate the complexities of in-housing CTV and programmatic. A deep understanding of the digital advertising ecosystem ensures that companies can maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of their campaigns.

Technology and Infrastructure – In-housing requires robust technology and infrastructure. Companies such as Active provide access to cutting-edge programmatic platforms and CTV solutions, enabling companies to take full control of their advertising efforts. By leveraging advanced technology, companies can achieve greater transparency, optimize their ad spend, and gain actionable insights into their audience behaviour. Corporate Trade companies offer extensive support to ensure companies are well-equipped equipage their campaigns.

Cost Efficiency – One of the significant advantages of in-housing is the potential for cost savings. Working with Corporate Trade companies helps you to achieve greater cost efficiency by eliminating the need for intermediaries and optimizing media buying processes. This allows companies to reinvest savings into their core business activities, driving growth and innovation.

How Corporate Trade maximises digital marketing ROI for client search and social buying teams

Running Corporate Trade mechanics within paid search and paid social is typically a bit different, namely due to the media supply owned by Google and Meta – who are obviously huge companies and not setup in the same way as standard media owners.

Companies such as Active International work in this space in various ways to enable a corporate trade benefit to client direct buying teams, even when they are buying in their own Google or Meta business accounts. The main area is increased ROI in product sales – corporate trade can enable a guaranteed product purchase amount for every pound put into search or social, this is typically when the client is using corporate trade across a wide mix of media (e.g. digital and also TV, radio, OOH etc). For example;

• £10,000 paid social spend expects to return 500 sales, at a cost-per-acquisition (CPA) of £20 (or an effective ROI)
• But when corporate trade is incorporated, the corporate trade partner would commit to buying, say, 20% of product on top of this. So now £1,000 Google paid search yields the same 500 sales + an additional 100 sales on top, paid for by the corporate trade company. This is now 600 sales in total, with a lower CPA of £16.80, and an improved ROI.

The above works in various ways across search and social, but can also also work with clients in helping with their hard digital marketing costs for search and social (like resource or technology) through using their product or service to part fund the costs, much like in using media supply, to bring benefits for the overall digital P&L.

Conclusion

To unlock success with Corporate Trade and digital campaigns, partner with a Corporate Trade company with a broad range of supply partners.

Look for strong communication from your Corporate Trade partners through the planning and buying process, ensuring no efficiency opportunities are missed.

Corporate Trade should never impede normal buying activities. It has the potential to boost engagement, clicks and sales and reduce cost-per-action goals.

Who are Active International 

Active International has over 40 years of experience bringing value and connecting businesses all over the globe. As the global leader in Corporate Trade, Active empowers brands to achieve more by optimizing their media investments, monetizing excess assets, and driving sustainable growth. Backed by a powerful global trading network, an award-winning culture, and a team of 600 professionals across 10 countries, Active generates over $1 billion in turnover annually.

About the author

Dom Blacklock, VP International Digital Media, Active International