For media companies, online video publishing can drive digital revenue, but some wonder whether it might be a mirage
Online video publishing, especially when taken in tandem with mobile advertising, is arguably the most alluring revenue opportunity to come along for digital magazines in a long time.
But, like any other opportunity, it must be seized and maximized, not squandered with poor practices and a lack of strategy. Coincidentally, establishing best practices and tactical standards is exactly the sort of thing we do here at Mequoda, so if you have any questions about implementing a system and creating robust but flexible content, give us a call.
But in the meantime, check out MediaPost‘s coverage of online video publishing and more. We’ll start there on this Monday!
Online Video Publishing: How Magazines Can Succeed
With the proliferation of online video publishing, you might find yourself overhwhelmed with the the options and which direction to go. Not to worry: MediaPost has six strong suggestions for video publishers.
First, be compelling, but don’t go broke doing it.
“Despite the flashy releases at each year’s NewFronts, today’s Internet isn’t about cinematic production value – especially as mobile video consumption rises. Unless you are VH1, HBO or Netflix, and long-form content is your strength, stick with snackable, shorter-form videos so you can experiment with what resonates,” Matt Minoff writes.
He also recommends a niche strategy.
“YouTube owns the general video ecosystem, so new entrants must carve out spaces that are natural extensions for their current audience. BuzzFeed’s Tasty, with food-focused video shorts, is a great example of niche content that is performing well, while Mitus’ focus on the Latino community attracts an impressive 2 billion video views per month.”
But Is the Hype Behind Online Video Publishing Just That?
Also writing for MediaPost is Ari Rosenberg, who believes online video publishing is a fool’s gold for digital magazines.
“So buyers are not spending more money on digital video ads because there isn’t enough quality content worthy of a premium price, and the quality of the video content matters only 44% of the time a video ad buy is made,” Rosenberg writes.
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So if “exceptionally high quality video content” is not driving this soaring digital video ad spending, then what is? Simple. Auto-play pre-roll ads. If revenue is soaring, then what is inhibiting the creation of exceptionally high-quality original video content? Simple. Auto-play pre-roll ads. This accepted industrywide practice makes users hate our ads even more. Even more perversely, it creates an incentive for publishers not to produce higher quality video content, because money is made before engagement with any content needs to occur.
Digital Publishing Personnel Now Outnumber Old-School Newspaper Staffs
The Bureau of Labor and Statistics recently released employment data indicating a major shift in the world of publishing, MediaPost reports.
“In February, the total number of employees in U.S. digital publishing reached 197,200, per the BLS, up from 193,500 the month before and 178,900 a year previously. Total employment in the newspaper industry dipped to 184,800, down from 196,100 during the same month a year previously. It’s worth noting these figures, first reported by Bloomberg, aren’t precise,” Erik Sass writes.
“The digital publishing figures actually refer to total employment across ‘Internet publishing and broadcasting and Web search portals’ (including Google), while the newspaper industry’s figures include employees involved in digital publishing, and therefore probably overlap with the former to some degree. Still, the numbers are stark reminders of the general trends; they are even more impressive when viewed against long-term comparisons. Newspaper employment has fallen by half over the last decade, from 365,200 in February 2006, and employment in digital publishing has risen almost three-fold from just 70,500 over the same period.”
NYT Cooking Will Partner With Chef’d for Ecommerce Content Strategy
The Times is getting into cooking kits, reports MediaPost.
“Select recipes from NYT Cooking, an interactive recipe site, will be curated by food editor Sam Sifton and licensed to Chef’d, which will take care of the ingredients, deliveries and other logistics, according to a Quartz report,” Sara Guaglione writes.
The multiyear partnership will launch this summer. Consumers will be able to order recipes from NYT Cooking; Chef’d will deliver the ready-to-cook ingredients to homes within 48 hours, according to a statement. The two companies will split sales from the initiative, Bloombergreports.
Is online video publishing part of your multiplatform publishing strategy? Tell us all about it in the comments!
To read more about online video publishing and other industry news, visit MediaPost.
