Smarter Digital Ad Sales for SMBs

Business owners are allergic to boring banner ads and ineffective digital offerings, which is why a newer, smarter option for small businesses and publishers to work together is a necessity in 2025.

The local publishing is always in search of effective ways to monetize digital advertising. On this episode of the podcast, I sat down with Christian Scherbel, CEO of Smartico, to discuss how his company is helping small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) transition from print to digital advertising in a way that is both efficient and profitable.

From Aviation to Local Ad Tech

Christian’s journey into the media and advertising space took an unconventional path. Originally trained as an aviation engineer, he discovered a passion for digital media and advertising early on in his career.

His early ventures led him to launch Smartico, a company that now works with over 500 publishers across Europe, the U.S., and Canada. His focus is on unlocking the potential of SMB advertisers and turning their long-standing relationships with local publishers into scalable digital revenue streams.

The Challenge Facing Local Publishers

Many local publishers continue to rely heavily on print revenue while leaving their digital ad inventory underutilized. Even when direct digital advertising is offered, many SMBs find the process too complex or intimidating. A lack of digital assets, an over-reliance on social media and Google Ads, and the low CPMs generated from programmatic advertising all contribute to a model that isn’t maximizing revenue potential.

Local publishers are often stuck trying to convince SMBs to shift their advertising budgets toward digital, only to face resistance due to confusing metrics, unfamiliar processes, and a bad taste in their mouth from previous experiences.

Christian saw an opportunity to bridge this gap by simplifying digital ad sales and execution for local businesses. Instead of requiring advertisers to provide polished digital content, Smartico extracts and repurposes existing assets, whether they come from print ads, social media posts, or a business’s website. By doing this, they eliminate a key barrier to entry and make it easier for SMBs to participate in digital advertising without having to start from scratch.

A Smarter Approach to Digital Ad Sales

Smartico’s approach hinges on using AI-powered automation combined with human oversight to create effective digital campaigns. The company’s technology gathers information from various sources, including existing ads, business websites, and social media profiles, to craft compelling banner ads and landing pages.

AI helps automate the process, suggesting images, text, and slogans, while a team of human designers ensures the quality and accuracy of each campaign before it goes live.

Unlike many programmatic ad solutions that prioritize clicks, Smartico emphasizes attention metrics, measuring how long users engage with an ad or a landing page. This shift in focus allows advertisers to better understand the effectiveness of their campaigns, rather than simply relying on misleading click-through rates.

As Christian explained, the time users spend on an ad or landing page can be far more indicative of its success than the number of clicks alone. By leveraging these insights, Smartico ensures that SMB advertisers see tangible value from their digital marketing efforts.

The Value of Direct SMB Sales Over Programmatic Ads

One of the biggest takeaways from our conversation was the importance of direct ad sales over programmatic ads. Many publishers struggle with digital monetization because they rely too much on networks like Google AdSense, which generate minimal revenue compared to direct sales. When publishers take a more active role in selling digital advertising to SMBs, they can command significantly higher CPMs while simultaneously strengthening relationships with local businesses.

This direct engagement also benefits the reader experience. Programmatic ads often result in an influx of low-quality, irrelevant content, whereas direct SMB advertising provides locally relevant, high-quality ads that resonate with audiences. A digital ad promoting a local restaurant’s weekend brunch is far more valuable to a community than a generic, spammy ad promising quick wealth or miracle cures. By focusing on direct sales, publishers can enhance the credibility and user experience of their platforms while increasing ad revenue.

Making Digital Ad Sales Simple for Publishers and SMBs

Despite the clear benefits, some publishers hesitate to embrace solutions like Smartico. Many believe they already offer digital advertising, but struggle to convert SMBs into buyers. Others assume that small businesses prefer Google and Facebook for their digital marketing needs. Additionally, some sales teams are reluctant to sell digital ads due to perceived complexity.

Christian emphasized that the key to overcoming these barriers is to make digital sales as simple as possible. Smartico’s model allows publishers to offer digital ads as an easy add-on to existing print packages, with minimal effort required from SMBs. The entire process—from extracting content to building banners and landing pages—is handled by Smartico’s team, ensuring that both publishers and their advertisers receive a seamless experience.

Rather than charging publishers an upfront fee, Smartico operates on a revenue-sharing model. This means that Smartico only earns money when the publisher does, ensuring that both parties have a shared interest in maximizing digital ad sales. By removing financial risk for publishers, this model encourages them to fully integrate Smartico’s approach without hesitation.

Looking Ahead: The Future of Local Digital Advertising

As the digital advertising landscape continues to evolve, publishers must find ways to compete with Google and Facebook while making better use of their own ad inventory. Smartico presents an opportunity to do just that, providing a scalable solution that allows SMBs to embrace digital advertising without the usual barriers. By focusing on direct sales, attention-based metrics, and an effortless sales process, Smartico is helping publishers turn their digital ad inventory into a profitable revenue stream.

Whether publishers are looking to scale digital ad business or simply explore new monetization strategies, Smartico offers a compelling approach worth considering.

This conversation was packed with insights, and I highly recommend listening to the full episode of Small Press, Big Ideas for a deeper dive into local advertising strategies. If you’re enjoying the podcast, don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review!