Commentary

CPMs Still Work in Online Video, HealthiNation Finds as it Expands Programming, Ad Base

Online video publishers, vendors and analysts are often touting the benefits of cost-per-engagement pricing or cost-per-view pricing. And while many marketers benefit from refined pricing strategies, sometimes it pays to also sell on tonnage, as digital lifestyle network HealthiNation has learned.

The network expanded its programming lineup and retooled its pricing model and advertiser base in the last year. As a result, the media company grew the number of views from 1.6 million views in January 2011, according to internal metrics, to more than 15 million unique viewers watching 45 million streams in December 2011, according to comScore Video Metrix figures shared by HealthiNation.

That’s a massive uptick, and it’s driven largely by HealthiNation’s facelift from a programmer covering specific health and medical conditions to one also delivering healthy lifestyle content. And because of that expansion, HealthiNation has been able to attract a broader range of marketers, and has also found those marketers often still want to buy on impressions.

The company’s transition demonstrates that digital programmers should always be refining what works best for their brand, but also be open to using tried-and-trued marketing and distribution tactics.

“A lot of what we did earlier was sell campaigns on a cost-per-unique viewer. And now we deliver a product sold on CPM as well because lifestyle advertisers, like consumer packaged goods, are looking at branding and image awareness,” said Raj Amin, CEO of HealtiNation. The company moved from purely pharmaceutical sponsors to also include over-the-counter, retail pharmacy, health insurance, consumer packaged goods and other categories. Likewise, HealthiNation expanded its distribution base and is now carried online, on VOD and mobile, including on New York Daily News online, Comcast, Cablevision, Microsoft, Roku, US News and World Report, and more.

“If you are trying to move the needle, don’t back away from broad reach,” Amin advised. “You just need to make sure the quality of the broad reach is appropriate. Is the ad above the fold? Is the content high quality? What is the context of the placement?”

HealthiNation’s facelift is a good example of how CPM buying can still work quite well in online video, alongside cost-per-unique viewer. There are many instances where more nuanced buying will be the right pricing model, but brands and publishers would be wise to remember that CPM pricing, if done well, can still lead to growth.

Next story loading loading..