Videos
Digital Ad Sales Foundations Curriculum For Hallmark Media - Proposal
Overview:
A six-part series designed to deepen understanding of Connected TV (CTV) and equip teams with the knowledge to sell, strategize, and innovate in the evolving video ecosystem.
  • Format: Six weekly sessions, 75 minutes each
  • Cohort Size: Up to 25 participants
  • Customization: Aligned to Hallmark go-to-market strategy, tools, and workflow
  • Interactive Delivery: Whiteboarding, role-playing, and Socratic-style dialogue
  • Session Recaps: Key takeaways and internal frameworks after every session
  • Weekly Quizzes: Reinforce concepts and benchmark knowledge retention
  • Add On: Role Playing and Application Session (See below for details)
Pricing:
Foundations Class: 50 students = $60,000
Role-Playing Add-On: 20 students = $15,000
Total Fee: $75,000
Session 1
CTV Platform Fluency
Goal: Build confidence explaining the CTV ecosystem, how inventory is created, and what buyers are actually buying.
Key Topics
  • OTT vs CTV vs FAST vs AVOD vs SVOD (clear definitions)
  • How CTV inventory is created (apps, publishers, distributors, devices)
  • Premium vs scalable inventory (what "scale" really means)
  • Ad experience fundamentals (pods, ad load, placements)
  • What impacts performance and price (content quality, context, reach, targeting potential)
Skills Learners Build
Explain CTV simply to a buyer
Describe where ads run and why it matters
Handle "how much scale do you have?" conversations credibly
Session 2
Data & Measurement Literacy (Part 1) — Metrics + Data Foundations
Goal: Build fluency in digital reporting and the data types powering targeting and measurement.
Key Topics
A) Core delivery + video metrics
  • Impressions, reach, frequency, CPM
  • Video metrics: quartiles, completion rate, VCR
  • Viewability (and why buyers care)
  • Reading a recap: what "good" looks like and what's unrealistic
B) First-, Second-, and Third-Party Data
  • 1P Data: subscriber/login data, viewing behavior, site/app activity
  • 2P Data: partner data shared via direct relationships
  • 3P Data: audience segments and what's changing in the market
  • Common pitfalls: overpromising precision, confusing 2P vs 3P, assuming "data = deterministic"
C) Data Platforms (plain-English understanding)
  • CRM vs CDP vs (legacy) DMP
  • Identity concepts (high-level): matching users/households across environments
  • How data gets "activated" into campaigns
Skills Learners Build
Explain reporting without vague language
Explain audience/data sourcing in buyer-friendly terms
Set KPI expectations early and correctly
Session 3
Data & Measurement Literacy (Part 2) — Proving Impact + Clean Rooms
Goal: Teach how measurement is validated, how proof is established, and how data is increasingly shared safely.
Key Topics
A) Measurement types (what they prove)
  • Brand measurement vs performance measurement
  • What CTV can prove well vs where it has limits
B) Attribution & outcomes (realistic version)
  • Site visits, conversions, ROAS (and the caveats in streaming)
  • TV attribution / online-offline impact (high-level concepts)
C) Incrementality & lift (the modern "proof" layer)
  • Why incrementality matters (beyond CTRs and vanity metrics)
  • Test/control, holdouts, lift studies in plain English
  • "What question are we trying to answer?" (and which measurement matches it)
D) Clean Rooms (what they are + why buyers ask)
  • What clean rooms are (privacy-safe matching and measurement)
  • Why they matter: proof, compliance, and cross-company analysis
  • How to talk about clean rooms without making it sound magical
Skills Learners Build
Confidently answer "how do you prove it worked?"
Position measurement options without overpromising
Speak credibly about clean rooms, data use, and privacy constraints
Session 4
Ad Serving + Forecasting (How It Delivers + Why It Breaks)
Goal: Build operational fluency in how ads are served and how delivery can be predicted and managed.
Key Topics
A) Ad serving fundamentals
  • What triggers an ad request (ad calls, tags, VAST)
  • Publisher ad server vs advertiser ad server (roles and why it matters)
  • Basic decisioning logic: priority, pacing, targeting, delivery rules
B) Forecasting fundamentals (seller-ready)
  • Supply vs demand and why forecasts shift
  • Audience scarcity and seasonality
  • Pacing models: even pacing vs ASAP vs flighting
  • Why campaigns underdeliver:
  • targeting too tight
  • frequency caps
  • bid pressure / competition
  • short flights and constraints
C) Troubleshooting delivery conversations
  • What questions to ask internally
  • How to explain issues externally without blaming "the system"
Skills Learners Build
01
Explain ad delivery mechanics without hand-waving
02
Answer "will this deliver?" with confidence + guardrails
03
Diagnose underdelivery and respond professionally
Session 5
Programmatic Basics (Marketplace + Workflow)
Goal: Make sellers fluent in programmatic buying so they can confidently engage agency and DSP-side buyers.
Key Topics
  • What programmatic is (and isn't)
  • Key players: advertiser, agency, DSP, SSP, exchange
  • Auction mechanics: bids, floors, win rate, clearing price (seller version)
  • Marketplaces:
  • Open Auction
  • PMP
  • Programmatic Guaranteed (PG)
  • Why buyers prefer programmatic: efficiency, control, automation, outcomes
Skills Learners Build
  • Explain programmatic simply and accurately
  • Understand how buyers evaluate inventory and price
  • Stop treating programmatic as "mysterious tech stuff"
Session 6
Programmatic Deal Strategy (Packaging + Pricing + Controls)
Goal: Turn programmatic knowledge into sellable packages and defensible deal recommendations.
Key Topics
When to recommend:
  • PMP vs PG vs open auction
Pricing drivers:
  • scarcity
  • targeting premiums
  • supply/demand pressure
  • floors and deal terms
Control vs scale tradeoffs (and how to sell them)
Troubleshooting programmatic performance:
  • win rate issues
  • CPM inflation
  • delivery constraints
Packaging framework:
  • premium placement + scalable extension
  • KPI plan
  • measurement plan
  • delivery confidence statement
Skills Learners Build
Build a package that buyers say "yes" to
Defend pricing in outcome language
Handle objections around delivery + measurement
Optional Add-On
1:1 Role-Playing & Application Sessions (3 Weeks)
This optional add-on is designed to reinforce learning through direct application and personalized coaching. Over a five-week period, each participant will receive three 30-minute, one-on-one session focused on reviewing key concepts from the core training and applying them to real-world client scenarios.
Session Structure
Each session will be highly interactive and tailored to the participant's role and account responsibilities. Time will be split between:
  • Reviewing and clarifying concepts from the training sessions
  • Role-playing live client conversations, including discovery, pitching, objections, and follow-ups
  • Practicing how to articulate Hallmark Media's value proposition in relevant advertiser scenarios
  • Real-time feedback on messaging, structure, confidence, and strategic framing
Outcomes
These sessions are intended to move participants from understanding the material to confidently using it in client conversations, accelerating adoption and improving on-the-job performance. Scenarios will be drawn from actual advertiser categories, deal structures, and challenges the Hallmark team faces today.