We all know the four basic advertising models, Cost per Thousand (CPM), Cost per Click (CPC), Cost per Action (CPA), Directory/Classified advertising platforms. But what else is out there?
In today’s Strategy Spotlight, Don Nicholas, Chairman & CEO of Mequoda explains how niche publishers are boosting sponsorship revenues with one innovative strategy that advertisers love.
Quick Strategy Tip of the Day from Don
News pundits have said that “scarcity” is the only advantage left to media companies, and they’ll have to create it with their unique content or unique services to advertisers. Luckily for the niche subscription website publishers we advise, scarcity comes right along with being “niche,” unlike larger publishers competing for cost-per-click (CPC) dollars.
We have a session about building new sources of sponsorship revenue coming up at our May Digital Revenue Summit so I don’t want to give away the whole pie, but there’s one tip I’d really like to share with you today.
We refer to this concept as SEA, for the first letters of the three attributes.
Scarcity – Exclusivity – Alignment (SEA)
Scarcity: Subscription website publishers must create positions on their sites similar to the positions they’ve always been able to sell in print – back cover, inside front cover, inside back cover. For the most profitable websites, this coveted real estate might be on your home page, or next to your wildly popular columnist, or your expert analysis of the corn futures market.
Exclusivity: In Mequoda land, exclusivity on websites is created by selling that scarce advertising position to only one sponsor for an extended length of time – one month, six months, one year. This instantly creates competition for that position and adds value for the advertiser – and revenue for the publisher.
Alignment: Technology allows every advertiser to access positions next to highly relevant content. But it’s highest for the niche subscription website publishers we advise, because their tight focus on specific topics gives them an advantage over general interest publishers.
Mequoda believes the SEA strategy is superior to traditional strategies where you sell random banner ads to random sponsors. For example, combining the elements of scarcity, exclusivity, and alignment, you can sell a whole category page on your Portal about dental health to Crest. So the page itself, and every article in that category, displays their ad. The newsletter for dental health promotes Crest, and you’re writing native ads for Crest. It’s scarce because there’s only so many categories, it’s exclusive because nobody will ever see a Colgate ad to compete with the Crest ads, and it’s aligned because Crest is selling toothpaste to people reading about dental health. It’s easier to package, and creates more value for advertisers.
If you’re struggling with the solutions to “digital dime” syndrome, with advertising rates continuing to fall, leverage the SEA advertising strategy.
Want to learn more ways to increase sponsorship revenue with the SEA advertising strategy? Our session, 12 New Sources of Sponsorship Revenue You Must Consider at the Digital Revenue Summit this spring will fill you in.
In 12 New Sources of Sponsorship Revenue You Must Consider at the Digital Revenue Summit, you’ll discover the guidelines and step-by-step processes for leveraging your content expertise to create articles, posts, special issues, videos and live event content that sponsors really want and are ready to spend big dollars to get.
You’ll take away innovative case studies from Prime Publishing, Storm Mountain Studios, Backyard Poultry and Metro Parent that demonstrate the future of niche media sponsorship relationships. And you’ll take home our consulting framework for building highly effective multiplatform sponsorship packages that will immediately empower you to increase the spending of your largest sponsors by 20 to 50%.
Each session of the Digital Revenue Summit is suitable for use with either B2C or B2B audiences, and delivers multiple tested, proven techniques for improving your revenues.
Don’t wait to register. Read through the agenda. Read the testimonials from your fellow publishers. Check your calendar. When you’re through, I’m confident you’ll be ready to register.
I’m looking forward to talking with you. Let’s chat more about your publishing business over one of the networking breakfasts, lunches or the reception that’s included with the price of your seat. Register now.
