Once upon a time, blogging was considered amateur. Trained journalists and editors viewed platforms like Blogger and LiveJournal as communities where ‘just anyone could write.’
Well, that was precisely the point.Continue Reading
From crumbling paywalls to the rise of ad blockers, the digital publishing industry in the midst of a turbulent time. From circulation to sales, every aspect of the business has seen dramatic changes over the past few years.
You’ve heard it a million times, native advertising is the next big thing. But what exactly is native advertising, and why is it causing such a stir for brands, agencies, and publishers alike?Continue Reading
Seemingly out of nowhere, Instagram took the world by storm and became a social media hub for hundreds of millions of people. As of October 2015, there are 400M+ daily active users, 80M+ photos per day, and 3.5B daily likes.
Sponsored content has recently come under fire from writers. Why? There’s an idea of sponsored content being lower in quality and integrity. In some cases, this is definitely true: there are companies out there that pump out slimy sales pushes. But there are also companies that provide a platform for independent, thought-provoking articles. These companies are literally paying journalists and media companies to have their own voice. It’s these pieces of sponsored content and native ad campaigns that are truly great.
Earlier this year, AdAge made a profound yet controversial statement that “no one trusts advertising or media.” Only 4% of Americans think the marketing industry behaves with integrity, and nearly half of consumers surveyed say that they don’t trust any news source.
So you’ve just invested time, money, and a lot of faith in a new publishing app. If all goes as planned, it’ll increase content consumption, give you a new channel for advertisers, and build loyalty among your readers. But what about getting people to use it in the first place? Just because you build it, doesn’t mean they will come.
You’ve heard it a million times, the publishing industry is changing. Print dollars are diminishing, paywalls are crumbling, and banner ads are being blocked. But, how is all of this really affecting publishers?
As you consider implementing a sponsored content offering, it’s important to remember that like any other type of ad inventory, sponsored content won’t sell itself. Rather you need to have a sales team well-equipped to sell inbound to new and existing advertisers who may be less familiar with the methodology or benefits behind it.
Almost overnight, native advertising has emerged as a viable revenue stream for leading media companies like Digiday, Forbes, Business Insider—the list goes on. But what about smaller, niche publishers? Is native advertising a numbers game, or is there value in helping advertisers reach a smaller, niche audience?
What’s the most viewable ad size? How does page position influence viewability? Is viewability affected by ad blocking applications? And what’s an average viewability rate, anyways?
These are the questions many were left with when the Media Rating Council lifted its Viewable Impression Advisory back in 2014. As a result of this change, marketers and advertisers switched their focus from served impressions to viewable impressions.
It’s no secret that many consumers are fed up with banner advertising. That’s one reason why ad blocking software adoption is gaining in popularity worldwide. It’s not just consumers, either. Many marketers complain about their effectiveness, too. Publishers are stuck in between both party’s complaints and many of them are reacting to this pressure.
You’ve heard it before: The web is a noisy, noisy place. People are inundated with content all day long, from every direction.
