Global advertising investment surpassed one trillion dollars in 2024, but the distribution of that budget changed structurally. Programmatic buying already represents 72% of digital advertising purchases, and brands are increasingly buying directly from media companies instead of going through traditional agencies: 61% of CMOs say they want to reduce intermediaries in their media strategy over the next two years.
For media companies, this shift represents both an opportunity and a threat. The opportunity is a direct relationship with brands and higher margins. The threat is that most media sales teams are not equipped to run consultative sales processes with marketing directors who demand measurable ROI, not just reach.
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68% of programmatic buying is decided through auctions where the only visible criterion is CPM. In that environment, editorial value such as credibility, context, and audience quality becomes invisible to the algorithm. Media companies that depend on programmatic for 70% or more of their revenue are trapped in a race to the bottom. Those that have built direct-to-brand sales generate margins 3 to 5 times higher from the exact same impressions. The difference lies in who owns the commercial relationship.
The measurement standards established by digital advertising such as clicks, conversions, and ROAS are difficult to replicate for many traditional or content-based media formats. 73% of advertisers cite insufficient measurement as their main objection to increasing investment in non-digital media. Media companies that solve this with brand lift studies, proprietary audience panels, or integrations with advertiser measurement platforms close deals competitors cannot.
Media sales teams have historically been structured around responding to inbound demand: the advertiser calls, the media company quotes. That model worked when media inventory was scarce. In an environment of advertising inventory oversupply, waiting for advertisers to call means competing solely on price. Media companies that have developed proactive outreach capabilities generate between 30% and 40% of their revenue from relationships they initiated themselves.
Advertising investment in LATAM is heavily concentrated in Q4 (October to December), reaching up to 45% of annual revenue for some media companies. That seasonality creates a financial rollercoaster that makes planning and investment difficult. Media companies that have smoothed out that curve achieved it through two levers: annual contracts with non-seasonal advertiser categories (B2B, financial services, healthcare) and Q1-Q2 activations with value propositions beyond end-of-year awareness campaigns.
“Up to now, Siete has generated an average of forty-five sales meetings per month. As a result, Leaf grew 50% year-over-year compared to the first quarter of 2023. The team has delivered everything on time and flawlessly. The quality of the results, daily communication, and professionalism of their work are impressive.”
“Thanks to Siete’s efforts, Belia saw an improvement in the volume of qualified leads, weekly qualified meetings, and sales pipeline. The team delivered everything on time and paid close attention to detail and availability, communicating through virtual meetings. Their commitment impressed the client.”
“Siete has helped the Universidad de Monterrey secure growth in qualified leads, organize meetings with potential clients, expand the sales pipeline, and identify opportunities for the sales team. Overall, the team has met the client’s needs, and their fast and accurate responsiveness has stood out.”
Not by trying to imitate their metrics, but by positioning what digital platforms cannot offer. Attention is the scarce asset in modern marketing, and attention studies consistently show that curated media formats generate between 2 and 3 times more active attention than programmatic formats. The problem is that most media companies do not sell attention: they sell impressions and clicks that cannot be directly compared to platform metrics. Changing the metric of the conversation is the first responsibility of the sales team.
Because brands delegate media relationships to agencies precisely to avoid managing them internally. CMOs do not want to speak with 50 media outlets; they want their agency to bring them three recommended options. To bypass that layer, the media company needs a value proposition so specific that the agency cannot replicate it: exclusive editorial integrations, access to vertical audiences outside standard media plans, or formats requiring direct collaboration with the editorial team. Anything that can be bought programmatically will be bought through the agency.
Arriving with category data before asking for a meeting. The most effective media sales teams do not deliver a generic audience pitch: they arrive with an analysis of what the advertiser is doing in competitor media investments, what audience coverage gaps exist, and how your offering specifically closes that gap. That level of personalization transforms a courtesy meeting into a real business conversation from the first interaction.
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