The Unsung Hero of Advertising: The Critical Role of Traffic Management

Marketing teams thrive on creativity, deadlines, and collaboration, but behind every successful advertising campaign is a meticulous process that ensures everything runs smoothly. Enter the Traffic Department, the backbone of campaign operations. While creatives and strategists often take the spotlight, traffic coordinators quietly keep the machine running. Without them, chaos would reign.

In my three decades working in traffic for agency, TV, and Radio vendor space, I’ve often heard questions like, “What is traffic?” “What do you actually do?” or “What is an ISCI code?” The truth is, if you don’t know the answers to those questions, your traffic department is doing their job. When something goes wrong in traffic, you know it, and so does everyone else. A single error can mean a critical placement didn’t run correctly or didn’t run at all. When traffic makes a mistake, it could be costly. Running schedules accurately is the ultimate bottom line, and traffic is the last line of defense in making sure it happens.

“Traffic is like air traffic control: unnoticed by design, critical to every successful landing.”

What is Traffic in Advertising?

In the advertising and media world, traffic refers to the workflow, scheduling, and coordination function that ensures advertising materials (commercials, spots, creative assets) are delivered, placed, and aired correctly and on time.

Traffic exists to prevent inefficiencies, thus ensuring media dollars deliver what was planned. There is even a holiday dedicated to this unique department. November 4th is Broadcast Traffic Professionals Day, a special day dedicated to recognizing the behind the scenes heroes of the broadcasting industry.

What do Traffic Coordinators Do?

A traffic coordinator manages the flow of projects, timelines, and resources to keep work moving efficiently.

As a traffic manager/coordinator, I’ve trafficked everything from local to national, across broadcast, OOH, print, and digital—but broadcast is where the pressure is real. Forget administrative support or “just scheduling.” Depending on client needs, on any given day, broadcast traffic coordinators could be:

• Writing or sending radio scripts and approving final spots before air.
• Translating insertion orders into flawless copy instructions: dayparts, markets, lengths (:15/:30/:60), rotation, “do not air” dates, competitive separation, and adjacency rules; knowing which clients and campaigns need which directive.
• Gathering the appropriate needed format/specs for creative: such as mp4 for streaming, mov for broadcast, mp3 for radio, artwork sizes and file types for print/logos, etc.
• Managing spot IDs and version control: Ad ID/ISCI codes (Industry Standard Commercial Identifier), slates, revisions, local tags so the exact right creative rolls in the right market at the right time.
• Preventing disasters before they happen by knowing and correcting bottlenecks early.
• Trafficking deliverables: coordinating with various asset delivery platforms, / vendors to ensure broadcast safe files hit every station on deadline and confirming compatibility.
• Monitoring and being ready to issue revisions as needed for creative swaps mid-flight.
• Staying up to date with the latest traffic management tools and software.
• Handling preemptions or revisions: confirming logs, managing preemptions and revisions, negotiating makegoods without breaking the flight or the GRPs.
• Closing the loop: reviewing air-checks and catching and reconciling discrepancies to align with billing.

If it’s on a log, a slate, a schedule, or an affidavit, the traffic coordinator owns it.

As one industry article puts it: “The impact of a traffic manager on an agency’s success cannot be overstated. By managing project timelines and resources, traffic managers ensure work is delivered on time and within budget.”

Why Precision Matters in Broadcast Traffic

In a world obsessed with digital, it’s easy to forget that broadcast traffic is still a powerhouse in advertising.

For a deeper dive into how traditional and digital strategies work together, listen to our latest episode of our Go Beyond podcast: Your 2026 Media Mix Playbook: What to Measure, What to Maximize

TV and radio spots remain critical for brand reach and credibility and unlike digital, where changes can happen instantly, broadcast traffic demands precision and foresight. Deadlines are immovable, compliance is strict, and mistakes can cost thousands in lost airtime.  A missed cutoff for a :30 spot at 9:16 p.m. in Dayton isn’t a tweak, it’s a lost spot.

1) Deadlines Are Hard Stops, Not Suggestions

Broadcast stations work on fixed clocks. Miss traffic cutoffs or deliver the wrong creative and you don’t get a mulligan, you get dead air. Digital can fix creative mid serve; broadcast changes require new traffic instructions and station confirmation.

2) Errors Are Expensive—And Add Up Fast

Digital A/B tests dozens of versions in hours; broadcast may run three versions across 50 markets for six weeks. Traffic ensures the right local tag hits the right DMA. A mislabeled spot ID can send the wrong message to millions of households. A missing tag can violate co op requirements. Traffic is the last line of defense and the one responsible in the end.

3) Makegoods and Reconciliation Require Real Strategy

Preemptions happen. Inventory shifts. While pixels track impressions, broadcast relies on affidavits and logs. Traffic coordinators reconcile the paperwork that keeps media, finance, and clients aligned.

The takeaway: both channels matter. Winning agencies will pair broadcast level rigor with digital collaboration. Explore how digital and traditional media work together in today’s marketing mix.

How the Traffic Department Affects the Bottom Line

Late traffic turns smart campaigns into reactive ones and that’s where budgets erode and ROI suffers.  

Real world example:

A client buys a premium, high dollar spot tied to a major event. The order is sold, confirmed, and booked as revenue. But a traffic error: wrong ISCI, missed rotation, or airing outside the contracted window causes the spot to run incorrectly or not at all. The client is owed a makegood, which typically runs in lower value inventory with no additional revenue. What looked like a win on paper becomes lost margin. Multiply that across multiple spots or clients and the cost escalates fast.

“Traffic doesn’t create revenue; it makes sure you get to keep it.”

Conclusion: The Glue That Holds It All Together

In an industry driven by ideas, traffic coordinators are the ones who make those ideas air on time, in spec, and at scale. In my experience, I’ve learned to be ready for anything—some days it’s chaos; some days it’s crickets.

Remember: Clients don’t care about excuses; they care about results. The next time a flawless spot hits prime time or a radio blitz lands across 30 markets without a hiccup, it’s often the result of strong traffic leadership working behind the scenes.

“Like an offensive line, traffic is only noticed when it fails—and that’s exactly why it has to be perfect.”

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About the Author:

Theresa Wood, Sr. Traffic Manager at Brandience, is a seasoned media and marketing professional with more than 30 years of experience across music research, continuity, direct marketing, focus group operations, auditing, print buying, and broadcast radio board operations. Known for her versatility and attention to detail, she brings a deep understanding of media workflows and creative production to every project. Her career is defined by reliability, cross disciplinary expertise, and a commitment to elevating the quality and efficiency of the work behind the scenes. Connect with Theresa: https://www.linkedin.com/in/theresa-wood-90b937247/