8MS was born out of the opportunity we saw in content monetisation. Coming from large network agencies, we saw a huge disconnect between content being created on behalf of brands, and the lack of integration and transparency of the performance of that content.
We are firm believers that any content created – whether it is for social, a creative campaign, a blog post or a product launch – should be accountable, and provide a return on investment.
The content monetisation problem starts when brands and agencies create content that has no real purpose. A good starting point before any content is created should answer these four important questions:
- Does it help solve a business problem?
- Does it integrate with a wider content and marketing plan?
- Does the audience want to see it?
- What actions will the content create?
Only when those questions have been answered should the content creation process begin.
CONTENT MONETISATION – BRANDS ARE BECOMING PUBLISHERS
Everyone is creating and distributing content these days. Brands, bloggers, agencies, social media managers, and freelancers are all jumping on the content bandwagon, creating a sector of mass publishers.
As such, we are seeing a shift from brands creating one or two pieces of content a month, to brands becoming regular publishers, often churning out many different pieces of content each week. As such, brands (as publishers) must take the time to evaluate their content – and indeed their audience – to segment, position and price their products and services effectively.
If planned correctly, content monetisation will help unveil opportunities to engage audiences and raise revenues in ways not previously possible, but the problem is that too many businesses are waiting for a magic bullet; the perfect content solution that will achieve outstanding success. The important point here is there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach. Different online content models will work for different publications, across different platforms, different devices and different audiences.
TEST AND LEARN
It is only by a process of trial and error that brands will build coherent and complimentary strategies for both print and digital media, helping connect offline and online customer interaction.
The early winners in the content monetisation race will be those who demonstrate the nerve to make a fundamental change, who are not afraid to experiment and who can translate their content into a profitable model. In fact as we mentioned in our Netflix corporate storytelling post, audiences are starting to demand greater choice, flexibility and interaction with content, and publishers must keep pace with digital platforms in order to deliver this.
So much so, we urge businesses to start experimenting with the same gusto as their customers. Learn what your audiences want, learn what they consume, when and where they consume it and build a content model that fits around your audience, whilst solving business problems and achieving KPIs and targets.
We are helping support our clients to reshape their thinking around content, ensure the content created is integrated with their other digital activities, and above all else, ensure that we deliver a clear ROI.
CONTENT MONETISATION SURVIVAL GUIDE
To help brands and publishers hit the ground running when it comes to content monetisation, we’ve created a very handy content monetisation ‘survival guide’, that includes our top eight survival tips to help navigate the jungle that is content marketing.
You can download or save the PDF booklet here, or feel free to get in touch with us by email or Twitter and we’ll send you a copy through the post.
Happy reading!