Jelli launches “SpotPlan”

Jelli says SpotPlan is the first programmatic buying platform for radio advertising. In addition, the company announced the availability of demand and supply-side APIs to enable third-party buying and selling software to tap directly into Jelli’s ad platform.

API is an acronym for “Application Programming Interface.” With APIs, social media marketing has become easier, more trackable, and more profitable. Many of the social tools that people use every day rely on APIs—Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Google, Flickr, LinkedIn, Foursquare and more.

SpotPlan gives media buyers and planners the ability to analyze audience goals and plan radio campaigns dynamically, via a powerful web-based application.  It automates processes that are historically email or spreadsheet-based, and integrates with Jelli’s RadioSpot radio ad server, enabling end-to-end automation of buying, running and reporting of radio campaigns.

According to Magna Global research, programmatic buying of digital media inventory reached $7.4 billion last year in the US, of which $3.9 billion was  transacted through Real-Time Bidding (RTB), and another $3.5 billion through other programmatic/automated platforms (including social media). Programmatic buying is the automation of the buying and selling of desktop display, video and mobile ads using real-time-bidding. Programmatic buying involves how online campaigns are booked, flighted, analyzed, and optimized via demand-side software interfaces and algorithms.

Magna Global forecasts robust growth as more publishers, advertisers and agencies embrace programmatic technologies. As a result, the volume of transactions will grow to $17 billion by 2017 in the US, of which $10.5 billion will be RTB-based.

“SpotPlan disrupts how network radio has operated for decades, replacing inflexible network ‘vehicles’ and antiquated spreadsheets and email-driven processes.  Media buyers can now target audiences with SpotPlan and its powerful data-driven tools, buy optimized plans with dynamically generated lineups, and run ads automatically nationwide,” said Mike Dougherty, Jelli co-founder and chief executive officer.  “The availability of our new ad platform APIs will allow broadcasters, networks and advertisers to more easily move into programmatic advertising by allowing existing third-party systems to directly interoperate with our platform.”

Here’s how SpotPlan works: a radio ad buyer uses SpotPlan to set parameters against audience targets and campaign goals, dynamically creating plans including optimized station lineup, daypart, impressions, GRPs and audience targets. SpotPlan uses advanced algorithms in conjunction with Nielsen data to develop in real-time the best plan to achieve the goals of the buyer, based upon the inventory currently available in Jelli’s platform.

Once an insertion order is created, the audio creative is uploaded into Jelli’s cloud platform, and RadioSpot serves the ad on radio stations nationwide, strictly complying with campaign specs. Jelli’s real-time reporting platform, RadioDash, provides the buyer real-time analytics about the campaign, as the spots run in each market.

Jelli also announced the availability of its API program. The new APIs give Jelli’s partners the ability to integrate their enterprise-class media buying and traffic systems with Jelli’s programmatic advertising platform.  This will provide customers the power to buy and sell through RadioSpot from their in-house systems.

RadioSpot’s Demand API will allow media buying software and demand-side platforms to programmatically target audiences, plan campaigns and buy from inventory available through RadioSpot. Jelli’s RadioSpot Supply API will enable traffic software and supply-side platforms to programmatically price, package and sell inventory through RadioSpot.

More than 350 stations in 128 cities nationwide using the RadioSpot platform, reaching 44 million unique listeners weekly, with billions of radio ads served on an annual run-rate basis. Jelli has struck partnerships with radio operators and networks including Townsquare Media, Entercom, Emmis owned WQHT-FM (HOT 97) in New York City, Sun Broadcast Group, Focus 360.