Partner perspective from LiveIntent
In some corners of the digital media industry, the idea persists that publishers must choose between advertising and consumer revenue when it comes to monetizing their audiences.
That’s a relic. Many publishers are now thinking like e-commerce companies and have more to sell than just eyeballs and clicks. They have events, they have physical goods, and – most importantly – they have subscription products. For many publishers, email is emerging as a powerful bridge between their advertising and subscription businesses, enabling each to thrive while helping to fuel growth for the other.
Sophisticated publishers are now using email to help inform their subscription approaches in four key ways:
Maximizing the value of registered users
Toolkits’ analysis of the value of registered users is a confirmation of the vision and strategy at LiveIntent. It’s becoming increasingly evident that publishers with logged-in user bases are more likely to build sustainable long-term businesses than those without, regardless of their monetization model.
But many publishers continue to face a key challenge: How do we bridge email readers to website and app audiences to enjoy as much addressable inventory as possible? That’s the quandary LiveIntent solves. Consumers may periodically log in to websites, but the emails they open amount to dozens of authentication opportunities every month. No publisher will ever achieve 100% registration, but with email opt-ins their overall coverage increases dramatically.
Paying, logged-in subscribers typically generate more revenue for publishers than anonymous ones, but the ability to bridge from email to website enables publishers to transform anonymous audience members into addressable targets for advertisers, driving up the value of their inventory in the process.
That creates a flywheel opportunity for publishers: to monetize email products with advertising while using the data generated to drive subscriptions and generate incremental ad revenue. It’s a win-win on both fronts.
Email engagement can fuel subscription and advertising growth
For many publishers, the data from email engagement is a powerful indicator of an audience member’s propensity to subscribe. Does a person open often? How many newsletters do they subscribe to? Do they click? How often do they run into paywalls?
Publishers can use newsletter engagement data to target offers and sell subscriptions far more efficiently. By introducing ad units to their email newsletters at scale, publishers can generate incremental revenue while planting the seeds that drive long-term subscription growth.
The right offers to the right users
For effective paywall approaches, understanding audience behavior is crucial. Knowing which users are most likely to subscribe and which need to be engaged further is essential for maximizing conversions.
Propensity scores – statistical tools that predict the likelihood of an event based on certain variables – have become invaluable for understanding user behavior. By using these scores, publishers can gain insight into user engagement, helping them create targeted paywall strategies. Incorporating propensity scores into dynamic paywall strategies also allows publishers to enhance user experiences and optimize revenue.
This data-driven approach enables personalized paywalls that align with individual user preferences, increasing the likelihood of conversion. And the best data to optimize propensity scores originates from email. Embracing these tactics not only helps boost revenue but can also foster stronger connections with subscribers, leading to long-term loyalty and growth.
Publishers can win in a post-cookie world
The demise of third-party cookies is imminent. While many feel that walled gardens will benefit from the shift most, publishers with robust first-party strategies are also poised to reap significant advantages.
Publishers that have prioritized a strong first-party approach are well-positioned to control their fate. By investing in email (first-party data royalty), publishers can foster direct relationships with their audiences and establish a foundation of trust and engagement. Moreover, building an email subscriber base enables publishers to enjoy addressability in a 1:1 relationship, and gives them a springboard for creating success in a post-third-party cookie world.
The data gained from email lies outside the reach of tech giants like Apple and Google. This data, natively cross-channel and cross-device, holds a unique value that empowers publishers with insights into their readers’ preferences and behaviors.
Sponsored by LiveIntent