In today’s fast-paced world of regional digital advertising for SMB clients, the game revolves around scale, efficiency, and profitability. For local media companies, juggling a high volume of clients, while dealing with low margins, demands a blend of creativity, discipline, and often a little help from AI—though always as a co-pilot, not the main driver.

This year, Smartico hosted the Smart Ads Awards in 2024, bringing together 70 executives from over 60 media companies across Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and Liechtenstein. The goal? To recognize the outstanding achievements of media companies that have mastered this balancing act using Smartico’s Smart Ads technology. From creative ad bundling to driving significant revenue growth, the winners showcased what’s possible when regional advertising and cutting-edge tech join forces.

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Newcomers Taking the Spotlight

The first category “Newcomer” honored media companies who have  hit the ground running with Smart Ads and came out of the gates in the first 180 days of using the system quicker than others. Deister- und Weserzeitung, Medienhaus Die Harke, and Medienhaus Wimmer each stood out for their ability to produce over 100 monthly ads in just their first six months of using Smart Ads. Their strategy? Bundling print and digital offers as a package deal, refusing to let clients cherry-pick just one platform. Advertisers got full regional reach—print, mobile, and online—with a custom banner and landing page for every print ad.

For example, Kai Hauser from Medienhaus Die Harke highlighted how even a modest €100-200 print ad in a weekly free sheet could easily be upsold to a €59 Smart Ads package. That’s because the Smart Ads bundle included a banner, a landing page, ad impressions, prominent placement on the website, and a visual reporting dashboard based on attention—not just clicks. It’s the kind of data that resonates with SMB advertisers who need to see tangible results.

It’s for sure not about bundling a bad product in 2024/25 anymore to make more revenue short-term and lose trust and relationship long-term. It is about increasing performance for local advertisers, explain this story in details, measure the results and show the results at the end. It’s a lot about communication – internally as well as externally.

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Special Achievements: Game Changer, Innovator, and Comeback Champion

Some stories stood out for their  innovation and persistence. HAAS Media (Mannheimer Morgen) took home the “Game Changer” award for its bold decision to bundle not just B2B print ads but also specials, supplements, and magazines into its Smart Ads offering – but taking away the content of these print advertorials in online and rank with company profiles for each advertiser instead.

The “Innovator” award went to NOZ/mh:n Medien, which took Smart Ads beyond display ads and incorporated native  solutions, opening new doors for local digital advertorials.

And then there’s the comeback story—Mediahaus Aachen. After initially stepping away from Smart Ads with just 20 monthly ads, they quickly re-assessed the opportunity, analysed why it failed first and came back stronger than before. Before their contract even ended, they re-launched with a revamped bundle offer and soared to 100+ monthly ads. That’s why they were named this year’s “Comeback Champion.”

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Joining the Club 300

One of the event’s most prestigious honors was the creation of the “Club 300,” celebrating media companies consistently producing more than 300 Smart Ads per month. These companies have earned at least €250,000 p.a. in additional digital revenue through Smart Ads – taking the average upsell and bundle prices of Smart Ads into consideration. This year’s inductees included MADSACK Medien Hannover, Media Mitteldeutschland, and Südwest Presse Ulm—all heavyweights when it comes to leveraging the Smart Ads technology and methodology to drive serious revenue growth.

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The Big Winner: Schwäbisch Media

Finally, the overall winner of the 2024 Smart Ads Awards was Schwäbisch Media with an impressive 5,000 Smart Ads by the end of August – with only 8 months of the year done. Their flagship publication, Schwäbische Zeitung, led the charge, setting a high bar for regional digital advertising success.

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What’s the Secret to Success?

Whether a newcomer or a seasoned player, the winners all shared a few key practices:

• Transparently price your digital ad component – do not hide it in the print price
• Actively sell the advantages of the Smart Ads using the visual dashboards
• Always bundle Smart Ads with your print ads to offer the full regional audience to your advertisers and not let them get away with choosing “print-only” in 2024
• Just make the move and try it. Then iterate and use the best practises of 100s of newspapers successfully already using Smart Ads to make million of new ad Euros, Pounds and Dollars.

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We’re already looking forward to next year’s Smart Ads Awards in 2025, where more media companies will showcase how they’re making regional advertising profitable again.