Are you a publisher? Advertiser? Either way, digital magazines must think like both to succeed.
The publisher-advertiser dynamic has always been a fragile one, but it needn’t be a fractious one. After all, it’s a symbiotic relationship, and the success of each, in theory, depends upon the success of the other.
And the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Continued dominance of content in the Internet age, coupled with more parity in publishing and a wide-open audience pool online, has led brands to sense an opportunity: becoming publishers themselves. While some might never quite figure it out and will rely on traditional marketing rather than content marketing, or some combination thereof, others have done quite well.
In turn, an increasing number of digital publishers are attempting to become brands themselves, whether by shifting revenue models to a more evenly “distributed” multiplatform strategy via the Mequoda Method (subscriptions, events, ecommerce, etc.) and/or by creating in-house studios capable of producing native advertising content that matches up with exactly what advertisers want.
While digital advertising revenue, particularly mobile ad spending, is skyrocketing, the question for many publishers is how to get in on the gravy train and not let it leave them at the station, only picking up the biggest names in the business. In order to do this, they’ll have to work closely with advertisers, and compromise on metrics.
Ad Exchanger is all over this stuff in recent articles. Let’s start with them this week!
Publisher-Advertiser Gap Must Narrow to Maximize Revenue
Finding the middle ground in metrics between what publishers want and need as well as what advertisers want and need is at least in part a matter of language and education, according to a column in AdExchanger.
“The chasm between brand goals and publisher metrics will only further widen as cross-device usage increases, the Internet of Things accelerates and traditional media spend moves toward digital. The good news is that publishers and ad tech providers across the industry are helping close the gap with new and emerging solutions around attention, content engagement and motivation-based audience analytics,” Sticky President & Chief Revenue Officer Ephraim (Jeff) Bander writes.
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“But there’s still significant room to grow, and the digital media industry needs to take on a far more strategic approach. To date, the industry has operated on a more ad-hoc basis, almost like Whac-A-Mole: When a new problem arises, the industry assembles and beats down the issue with a new kind of measurement until the next problem appears. To close the gap, let’s first frame brands’ needs and focus on educating this industry’s growing infrastructure of people. Only with an informed, aligned community can we develop and accelerate real, actionable solutions.”
Going From the Pennies of CPMs to the Dollars of Dynamic Content
Some publishers are playing it safe with old metrics at their own peril and must branch out to reach better numbers in both audience engagement and revenue, according to a column in AdExchanger.
“As publishers put together their 2016 strategies, they must make the shift away from maximizing impression quantity and focus on new monetization strategies. To truly change their businesses, publishers should stop only looking at metrics like impressions per month and average CPM,” Bauer Xcel Media President Christian Baesler writes.
“Instead, they should be looking at the average revenue they earn per user per month and increasing their long-term average value per user, across all channels. By doing so, it is likely that they’ll develop more diverse business models and new advertising products.”
Cross-Device Targeting: Do Consumers Lose in Publisher-Advertiser Approach?
But in reaching those users, are advertisers crossing the line with cross-device targeting … and are publishers willing accomplices? AdExchanger covers this in a recent report.
“In comments submitted to the FTC on Dec. 16, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) summed up what it sees as the central problem: ‘Consumers lack meaningful control over this intrusive business practice,'” Allison Schiff writes.
“However, what EPIC sees as an intrusive business practice, the Interactive Advertising Bureau sees as bolstering ‘the benefits that consumers experience from interactive advertising by providing better access to content across devices.'”
How are your publisher-advertiser relations? Are you in sync? Share your experiences in the comments!
To read more about publisher-advertiser news, visit Ad Exchanger.
