Brands are increasingly attempting to directly monetize the content they produce and publish, turning what was previously a marketing activity into a source of revenue in its own right.
For companies that have invested meaningful resources in publishing operations – and in many cases hired journalists and borrowed strategies and approaches from “traditional” media companies – monetizing their content more directly may seem a logical next step. For some, the desire to explore monetization is underpinned by a need to diversify revenue streams, while others are attracted by the opportunity to offset their costs. In some instances, media might even offer more attractive margins than the core businesses companies operate.
There are a few other benefits to monetizing content initiatives directly:
- The tighter economic climate of the past few months has put many publishing endeavors in a precarious position. In many cases, content teams are often the first to be laid off when companies try to reduce costs and find efficiencies. It can be difficult for many companies to figure out exactly how and to what extent content efforts are driving actual business results. Figuring out revenue opportunities from publishing can be a way to change that conversation, putting the focus directly on dollars earned vs. other marketing KPIs. It can also enable companies to offset marketing costs, letting publishing teams “earn their keep” and keep their roles and the size of their teams intact.
- Revenue affords autonomy and independence. If a content and publishing team is self-sufficient and able to contribute meaningfully to a company’s bottom line, they also are better placed to demand independence from the wider company, and able often to produce content that is truly in their audiences’ best interests, vs. necessarily their companies. A well-monetized content team can often break free from being purely part of a marketing function and can get more leeway and flexibility in how it operates. This becomes particularly critical as content becomes a core priority for many companies.
- Monetization may help legitimize brand content in the eyes of audiences. Brand publishers that have successfully sold advertising on their websites or within their email newsletters, for example, report that audiences now put them in the same category as other news publishers, lending them a degree of credibility and legitimacy they did not have before.