Ad blocking. Decreasing CPMs. User fatigue. Slow page loads. The current state of digital monetization has left publishers, content owners and app developers wondering where to turn.
It’s no
wonder the retro 1990s-like return to walled gardens has led content
publishers to worry about their own digital futures.
But wait.
Messaging bots! Non-standard ad units! Interactive polling! Brand-curated radio channels! Massively increased engagement!
How can one segment of the online publisher market be facing this existential threat while another segment is thriving?
This won’t be a post about how publishers should beware of the
walled gardens. Or, how they should question the motives of the few, giant companies that aspire to control digital content distribution.
Publishers will either rally around those concepts or
not; variations of the pro-and-con arguments have been made for much of the last 20 years.
Instead, let’s examine some of the ways smart thriving content owners are declaring their
independence from old, outmoded ways of thinking about monetization.
Exploring New Frontiers
One of the most hyped growth areas of 2016 is the notion of messaging “bots,” which promise a new era of
interaction with an artificial intelligence and, for the purpose of this discussion, interaction with a brand.
What could be more “native” than a natural-feeling dialogue? Smart
publishers are increasingly leveraging the tech to create new avenues of interaction, engagement and monetization.
The Pioneering Spirit
In what is perhaps a more modern twist
on an older advertising strategy, content owners are experimenting with ways to
more naturally integrate promotional messages into the content itself.
“Stitching” content together with advertising can work across a variety of media, including standard display,
video, streaming audio and even (most notably) podcasts, which can be a way to achieve a more organic transition from content to ad, and back again.
A revolutionary concept: UX should never
be sacrificed
With roughly 20 years of data behind us, it is well established that alienating users with obnoxious ad experiences is never worth the potential near-term revenue that
such experiences can bring. Remember pop-unders?
Today’s youngest consumers may not realize why “block pop-ups” is a menu item on virtually all browsers, and that’s a
huge positive. It means the industry seems to have learned its lesson, more or less.
While engaging ad experiences are a good thing, the outright, inescapable blockage of a consumer’s
content consumption path crosses a line. Similarly, no one likes waiting around for a page to load, so avoiding latency caused by slow ad responses is a must.
Just as a poorly written line of
dialogue or a cheesy special effect can take you out of the movie experience, a badly executed ad can create similar frustration for users and defeat the purpose of the ad product.
Publishers and
advertisers should challenge their preconceptions of what an “ad” is, and dream up new ways to engage with their audience that are respectful and innovative. Doing so will help them
achieve true independence from the power of the few, and remain firmly in charge of their own destinies.