Historically, advertisers would plug in a new piece of software designed to make a single workflow problem easier to manage: a budget pacing tool, a multichannel reporting tool, or an AI copywriting tool. Even though these point solutions can make isolated tasks easier or faster, they can’t talk with each other.
We call this the "Frankentech" trap. While the intention is good, it causes data latency and "swivel-chair campaign management.” Strategists are stuck manually copy-pasting data from one platform to another, consolidating information from different places, and still doing redundant workflows on individual channels.
Fixing individual workflows doesn’t fix end-to-end campaign efficiency bottlenecks. Advertisers need to move away from isolated AdOps tools and start managing their advertising strategies within a unified multichannel system. But before you can make these operational shifts, it’s important to understand exactly how a fragmented AdOps approach holds you back.
Fragmented AdOps workflows limit scalable growth
Consider the average day of a strategist in a "Frankentech" environment:
- They log into a reporting tool and see a CPA spike on Google Ads.
- They log into a budgeting tool and see that the same client is under-pacing.
- They open a new tab, log into Google Ads, and manually adjust bids or keywords.
All this work…just for one client. With the average strategist managing ~30 accounts, it’s clear why this "insight-to-action" gap is creating a major crisis for AdOps teams. Campaign insights live in one place, but acting on these insights requires different tools. Humans become manual data bridges, wasting time and fueling mental burnout.
Why point solutions fail multichannel advertising operations teams
The fundamental flaw of a single-point solution is in the name: it solves a single problem. But advertising is more than just a series of isolated tasks. Your teams are trying to run fluid, interconnected strategies across different channels, audiences, locations, and consideration stages.
Let's look at some of the most common single-point advertising tools and how they create operational roadblocks for your team every day.
Standalone advertising reporting tools: insights without action
Advertising reporting tools are one of the most common third-party tools. They help advertisers view performance data from multiple channels (like Google Ads and Meta Ads) in one place.
But operationally? Many advertising reporting tools are passive. They provide your team with a stunning view...in the rear-view mirror. Knowing what happened yesterday, last week, or even last month does little to help your teams improve performance—especially when they're managing campaigns for dozens or hundreds of accounts.
For example, let's say your team is using a third-party reporting tool to review campaign performance across multiple channels over the past week. With the tool, they can easily see that a programmatic campaign has a high Click-Through Rate (CTR) but low conversions. They understand that the ad piques interest but the landing page or the offer isn't landing.
In a point solution world, the reporting tool has done its job. It's shown them what they need to know. But they still have to do the work: close out of the reporting tool, log into the channel platform, find the impacted ad group, and then pause or revise the ads.
Simply put, the time between seeing the problem and fixing the problem relies entirely on how fast your human teams can switch between tools and make manual changes.
Closing the "insight-to-action" reporting gap with unified AdOps management
But what if reporting insights were built into execution workflows? A Digital Advertising Operating System (DAOS) makes this possible. In a DAOS, you can visualize multichannel advertising performance data and act on it from within the same system.
You can even set automated rules that take specific, automatic actions based on real-time performance data. For example, you can configure automation rules to pause any ads with a high CTR and a conversion rate under 1% instead of bouncing from tool to tool every time this scenario arises. It’s like an instant shortcut running through the exact steps an ad strategist would typically take to synthesize, interpret, and rectify multichannel performance trends.
Your teams are still in charge of what happens with specific multichannel campaigns (and more importantly, why different things happen). However, with AI and automation managing the task execution, they can cut their workload by five months over the course of a year.
How to move from advertising spend insights to real-time budget optimization
Budgeting tools are another common Frankentech stack player. Standalone advertising budget tools often tout centralized dashboards and automated pacing alerts. However, few (if any) of these tools also enable you to make live budgeting changes that can be pushed back to individual ad platforms.
For instance, most budgeting-only software can monitor ad spend and alert you when a campaign is overpacing, underpacing, or drifting off target. But few (if any) advertising budgeting tools give you the ability to make live changes within the campaign. These tools function more like a “check engine light” rather than giving your team better budgeting control.
Single-point advertising budgeting tools still require human labor to execute solutions: teams must manually log into each native ad platform to pause campaigns or shift budgets between ad sets (or channels, for that matter).
A Digital Advertising Operating System (DAOS) comes with the same valuable features you’ll find in point-solution budgeting tools, like automated pacing strategies, overspend protection, and notifications about key budgeting events. The difference is that a DAOS enables ad strategists to act upon these features because the DAOS can read and write ad channel budgeting data.
This gives your teams control to orchestrate multichannel budget changes in real-time. They can even automate budget reallocation across entirely different publishers. For instance, if a programmatic campaign is outperforming a search campaign, the system can automatically shift the budget to the winner based on rules defined by your company's strategies—no manual permission required.
For leaders, this is incredibly valuable because it means your strategies (and performance, for that matter) are not limited by physical human capabilities. Making teams manually log into channel platforms just to move funds between keywords is a waste of time and skilled labor. A DAOS monitors multichannel campaigns 24/7, reallocating funds day or night to help you hit specific goals.
The financial and operational risks of fragmented AdTech stacks
Single-point solutions rarely interact with each other (Zapier literally built an empire around this all-too-common SaaS problem). Using multiple isolated tools means teams are, for instance, exporting leads from Facebook to uploading them to a CRM…or vice versa.
You’re basically paying them to be expensive data entry clerks, moving numbers instead of improving performance. This volume of manual data entry introduces a ton of risk to your business.
Plus, advertising moves in real-time, not via batch processing. By the time you move budget data to your reporting tool, the numbers have already changed. That means strategic decisions aren’t made based on real-time trends, the latest performance insights, or updated budget adjustments.
All these problems—adtech bloat, error/risk reduction, and data lag—can be solved with a DAOS. A Digital Advertising Operating System requires one login for all your multichannel budgeting, reporting, and campaign management needs.
There’s no lag between what’s happening on individual ad channels and what you’re seeing within the DAOS. You can pull the latest performance metrics, get real-time budget updates, and make decisions based on what is actually happening right now instead of what happened yesterday.
How to shift your AdOps from a tool-first mindset to a strategy-first mindset
Odds are, if you work in a typical ad agency, employee roles are defined by the tools they use: SEM Specialist, Social Media Ad Strategist, Performance Analyst, Programmatic Media Trader, etc. This channel-isolated structure creates artificial ceilings that limit each person’s potential.
Moving from a "collection of tools" to a "unified operating system" is more about changing your teams’ operational mindset than it is about technically learning how to use a new tool. Once you make that shift, the practical benefits of a unified AdOps system are clear.
Workflow-specific silos collapse in a DAOS because you can automate the busy work (compiling data sources, building monthly reports, pacing budgets). Instead, teams have time to focus on why things are happening and make the right optimizations to drive better results.
The impact this operational methodology has on your AdOps efficiency isn’t theoretical; it’s measurable. Our latest data shows that using a DAOS to manage all aspects of multichannel campaigns saves advertising teams nearly 39% of their work week.
Imagine if every strategist on your team had almost two full days per week to do high-value work! That’s a lot of time they could put into talking with clients, revamping campaign strategies, or taking on more accounts without extra stress.
Ultimately, this is how you scale your growth and your margins.
Summary: how to optimize your AdOps for maximum efficiency
Ready to leave your Frankentech AdStack behind? Here are four mindset shifts to make:
- Operational consolidation beats channel/workflow specialization. A single system that performs 95% of everything well is infinitely better than five disconnected tools that each excel in one area but fail to integrate with one another. The friction generated by manually filling gaps between tools eliminates any marginal feature gains.
- Actionable data is better than passive reporting. If your reporting tool can't execute changes, it's just a rear-view mirror. Your team needs
- Eliminate "swivel chair" AdOps for actual time savings. Look for tools that reduce logins, tab-switching, and manual data pulls/uploads. This is one of the fastest ways to improve employee satisfaction and operational efficiency.
- Scale followers operational simplicity and codified workflows. You’ll never scale if every new client requires setting up multiple software accounts or building custom ad campaign playbooks. Your team needs a way to rapidly implement best practices, industry-specific strategies, and integrated operational workflows to scale.
As an advertiser, you have two paths. You can continue using the tools you’ve always used, running campaigns as you always have, and continue seeing the same results (with the same challenges) you’re seeing today.
Or, you can lean into the operational complexity of multichannel campaign management and adopt a new way of working, with new tools that give your team the power to manage advertising as a single, fluid process. If you’re ready to lean in, let’s chat.
