A realization is sinking in for publishers as they look ahead to 2024: The era of organic distribution appears to be drawing to a close, and those wishing to drive traffic to their owned and operated properties should expect to pay for it.
Platforms and tech companies have made clear in recent months that they have little desire to distribute content from publishers unless they’re paid to do so, or it’s posted natively to their platforms where they can monetize it directly and vacuum up audience data.
INMA’s researcher-in-residence, Greg Piechota, wrote last week that publishers should “rethink” or “revamp” their distribution approaches in the face of these changes, but the reality is they may have little choice in the matter. Publishers looking to reach new audiences (and most likely large segments of their existing audiences) are increasingly being forced to pay for the privilege and will need to find the budget to do so.
That’s easier said than done. Few publishers currently have business models in place that can support the cost of paid distribution, and the additional overhead could make their current approaches unsustainable. Still, publishers that fail to find paid approaches that work for their specific products and audiences could struggle to survive if organic distribution disappears entirely.