• by Ray Schultz , July 8, 2021

Digital publishers have largely recovered from the stresses of 2020, judging by MediaAd Sales Trend Report 2021, a study by Boostr.  

Of the publishers surveyed, 67% say their revenue rebounded in the fall of 2020, and 94% claim it was stable by the end of the year.  

Moreover, the top 25% performers experienced 26% revenue growth for the year, compared to 2% for the median group and a decline of 21% for the bottom companies.   

But publishers faced challenges, including aggressive revenue targets (19%), working remotely (18%) and selling amid the cancellation of in-person events (16%).  

The top tactics used to address these challenges were: 

• Increasing operational efficiencies—45% 
• Added value—44% 
• Channel optimization—42% 
• Bundling products—41% 
• Reducing costs/tech costs—40% 
  
  Among advertising categories, travel suffered a 56% revenue decline and utilities a 32% hit. In contrast, tech and telecom had a 31% growth rate and produced a 16% revenue share.  
  
  CPG generated 25% of revenue and retail 15%. Both were flat.  
  
  The factors driving revenue recovery for publishers included: 

• Our ability to be nimble and react quickly—37% 
• We are in a category that lent itself to the changes in behavior brought on by the pandemic (increase in streaming activity, interest in news, etc.)—33% 
• We had offerings for election advertising which allowed us to gain revenue during the election season—29% 
• Other—2% 
  
  Overall, 32% of publishers sold 51-75 products defined as “unique media ad placements or sponsorship sold via IO or programmatically,” the study states.  
  
  The media types sold were: 

• Online (desktop, mobile, web, video, etc.)—59% 
• Email—49% 
• Streaming audio—47% 
• Digital Out of Home—45% 
• Linear TV—35% 
• OTT/CTV—31% 
• Linear Radio—30% 
  
  The most successful buying methods for advertisers were: 

• Programmatic Guaranteed—28% 
• IOs—27% 
• PMPs—25% 
• Open Auction—20% 
  
  Looking forward, here are the products they want to sell in six months not available today: 

• Video—56% 
• Digital Audio—47% 
• Sponsorships—46% 
• Digital Out-of-Home—45% 
• Linear TV—38% 
• OTT/CTV—34% 
• Other—2% 
  
  Meanwhile, 48% of publishers are very satisfied with client retention, and 25% are somewhat so. In contrast, 15% are neutral, and 10% somewhat dissatisfied. A minor portion are not at all satisfied.  
  
  On the sales front, 36% have a two-month cycle, with a 29-day spread between top and bottom performers.  
  
  Boostr analyzed 54 primarily digital U.S.-based media companies within its platform from January 2019 to December 2020. In addition, it surveyed 200 media executives across sales, ad operations, revenue operations, finance and marketing functions.  

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