If you’re advertising automobiles, real estate, or any other inventory-intensive items, what portion of your listings are posted on an internet listings service (ILS) versus your own site, or on Google? And more importantly, is this ratio—aka your media mix—by choice or by force?

So many companies don’t have control over their media mix. They choose third-party listings over first-party listings because it fits within the scope of their operations. While both ILS and first-party listings have their pros and cons, the important thing is this: Your media mix should be your choice based on what’s best for your business.

So how do you get to a place where your media mix isn’t driven by challenges, but opportunities? Let’s dive in. 

Operational Challenges Can Limit Your Media Mix 

For many companies, aggregator sites are a boon to their marketing efforts. Take real estate companies: ILS platforms like Zillow and Realtor.com are a valuable resource that can help you get your listings up even if you don’t have the scale to post every listing as a first-party Google ad. These aggregator sites let you access your audience easily and economically..

On the flip side, first-party Google listings can provide high-quality leads that you may not have been able to access via aggregator platforms. That’s not to say leads from ILS platform are inherently low value, rather that first-party listings shown directly to your audience takes out the middleman. 

This can look like a lack of headcount, no wiggle room in day-to-day operations, and an absence of process automation—all of which can make it impossible for your company to prioritize first-party listings, despite their benefits.

The point? Operational challenges can pigeonhole your media mix, but those obstacles aren’t set in stone. Even if you don’t have the human power to scale, there are tools at your disposal that allow you to pursue whatever listing source works best for you.

Listing on Aggregators or Google? Automation Makes It Your Choice

If you’re prioritizing listing aggregators, you might find that operational challenges and an inability to scale are keeping you from a first-party-forward listing strategy. Automation can bridge the gap for these obstacles.

Fluency’s robotic process automation for advertising (RPA4A) fully automates your processes, allowing you to achieve your desired scale without having to expand your human power.

If one of the reasons you’re putting more money in a certain mix of media is because of problems operationalizing your marketing strategy, Fluency will remove those barriers. While Fluency’s automation capabilities are endless, it can prepare, upload, and adjust Google ads and ad budgets for first-party listings. This allows you to directly connect with customers without the weight of having to scale.

Knowing this, consider:

If headcount didn't limit your ability to scale your digital advertising, what would your media mix look like?

It’s a big question, but the answer could shift your company’s growth trajectory.

Let Your Listings Work for You

Don’t feel pigeonholed by where you list. Envision how your brand could operate with an ideal media mix, and how that could enable future growth. 

Ask yourself these questions to figure out your ideal media mix:

• Where do you list your real estate, automotive, or other assets online? Categorize them into first-party Google listings and third-party ILS aggregators.
• Considering these two categories, which percentage of your overall media mix goes to each one?
• Is your media mix by choice or do you prioritize one over the other due to operational challenges?
• If your media mix is driven by operational challenges, what are those challenges? A small team, a lack of automation, and/or other obstacles?
• Think about what your ideal media mix would look like without those challenges preventing you from scaling.
• How could automation eliminate those challenges so you can pursue your company’s ideal media mix?

Whether it’s ILS, Google, or some combination of the two, don’t let your ideal media mix be a pipe dream simply because of a lack of headcount or other reasons you cannot scale—because Fluency’s robotic process automation is ready and able to get you there.

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