This week, I write about why ad tech platforms increasingly win or lose based on how clearly they communicate who they are built for, how day-to-day operations change, and why those differences matter as products become more similar.

Many ad tech companies struggle to win deals because their messaging fails to create clear separation in increasingly crowded categories.

Across the industry, platforms are described using similar claims and familiar feature language tied to performance, automation (OMG AI!), and scale. Over time, this convergence makes it harder for buyers to understand what truly differentiates one solution from another. Even when meaningful advantages exist, they often remain unclear or understated, leaving buyers without enough conviction to move forward. In the absence of clarity, decisions tend to be shaped by price, existing vendor relationships, or assumptions about platform maturity, highlighting a communication gap rather than a capability gap.

As core functionality continues to converge across ad tech, explanation becomes a central part of evaluation. The way a product is framed increasingly influences how it is understood internally, justified to stakeholders, and prioritized against alternatives. Language plays a growing role in shaping perceived value and confidence throughout the buying process.

This places greater emphasis on moving away from exhaustive feature lists and toward the operational reality of using the platform. Buyers generally expect a baseline level of performance and tooling. What they need is a clear understanding of how their teams operate differently, where complexity is reduced, and how decisions become more reliable once the platform is in place. Effective positioning makes these changes explicit and ties the product to outcomes buyers already care about.

Clear definition of the intended customer further strengthens relevance and trust. Broad positioning can feel accommodating, but it often lacks precision. When an ad tech platform is anchored to a specific buyer profile, use case, or stage of growth, it becomes easier to assess fit and easier to believe the value being claimed.

Over time, differentiation in ad tech tends to come less from adding features and more from improving clarity. Platforms that help buyers understand the problem, the tradeoffs, and the operational impact with less effort create stronger alignment and more durable confidence as the category continues to mature.

This is the kind of work I focus on at Cedar Consultants. Helping ad tech teams clarify who their product is truly for, articulate how it changes day-to-day operations, and express that value in language buyers can actually use to make decisions. The goal is not louder messaging, but clearer positioning that gives buyers confidence, shortens evaluation cycles, and allows real strengths to stand apart in a crowded category. If you’d like to schedule a call contact me here.