Kelsey Smith of Tribune Publishing shares how her team is refocusing on direct sales relationships — and using AI to streamline workflows and free up time for strategy.
When you’re working across multiple local markets, patterns emerge — where campaigns resonate, where they stall, and where deeper audience knowledge can change the outcome.
That’s the vantage point Kelsey Smith holds as Senior Digital Ad Operations Manager at Tribune Publishing. Or, as she describes it, “I have a top-down view over multiple markets… we can see what works in one campaign and pass that information along to another.”
Re-centering Direct Sales
That perspective is reshaping how her team thinks about revenue. While programmatic has reshaped the industry, Smith is focused on bringing direct sales back to the center.
“We’ve seen a shift from direct to programmatic,” she says.
“We’re trying to figure out what we can show that is a bigger offer than what programmatic can do. And it really is that unique touch.”
Audience Knowledge as the Differentiator
For Tribune, the value is in audience connection and context — the kind of insight that comes from serving communities directly.
“They’re coming to us. We know who they are. Let’s leverage that,” Smith notes.
Can AI Actually Help?
But this isn’t a return to heavier workflows. AI is making the shift operationally possible.
After hearing examples at AdMonsters Sell Side Summit Nashville, Smith began exploring how AI could support fulfillment, particularly in building insertion orders.
“We have years of advertiser data… why don’t we utilize it for something that makes sense?”
Humans Make the Relationships Work
The goal isn’t to replace human relationships. It’s to create room for them again.
Direct sales isn’t dead. It’s just being redesigned for the present. It’s rooted in audience knowledge, supported by AI, and grounded in real relationships.