The line between content creator or aggregators and “publisher” is increasingly blurred, opening up the opportunity for nontraditional publishers to start monetizing their audiences.
With the ongoing explosive growth in online shopping— sales topped $1 trillion in 2022— advertisers are in the market for new avenues to capture consumers’ attention and spend. But many nontraditional publishers struggle with knowing how or where to begin.
Who Are Nontraditional Publishers?
Consider your media property. Do you have a consistent following and consumers who return for your unique content? Are these consumers spending a significant amount of time on your site? If so, you can likely consider yourself a publisher, albeit a nontraditional one.
Beyond the content you create, consider your site’s purpose. For example, deal-centric or “shopping resource” sites like ours are an emergent type of nontraditional publisher with significant traction over the years. We attract a specialized audience of deal-seekers who are already in a buying mindset.
Continued inflation brings an increased focus on comparative shopping, which has boosted traffic. Coupon sites and other similar shopping resources have helped shoppers save money, and helped brands survive during volatile times such as COVID and past recessions.
With a growing audience ready to buy, coupon or deal sites can be a precious asset to advertisers. However, nontraditional publishers often face off against early stumbling blocks as they develop a monetization strategy.
Challenges Faced by Nontraditional Publishers
For nontraditional publishers, recognizing their unique audience and value is only the starting line. Implementing new advertising solutions can be complex. Maintaining your site’s identity is important, as it is what your consumers expect.
However, for publishers that did not build their site with monetization in mind, finding ways to incorporate advertising, subscriptions, or eCommerce naturally can serve as a challenge.
Our ad network partner, SourceKnowledge’s co-founder. and CRO, Hector Pantazopoulos, says: “Nontraditional publishers have more avenues than ever to monetize their content — while maintaining the natural flow of their sites. When it comes to monetization, these publishers should keep their options and minds open, as the most widely utilized and recognized walled garden solutions may not be the best fit for your goals.”
CouponFollow has a highly engaged audience of consumers who are often ready to purchase, but initially we were not being properly rewarded for all of our traffic. Our main challenge was to fully optimize this traffic in a way that did not disrupt the natural flow consumers had come to appreciate.
Since partnering and optimizing with the SourceKnowledge Network, CouponFollow has exceeded our goals to fill more inventory and increase the returns on under-monetized merchants.
SourceKnowledge was recently acquired by mrge, the world’s leading commerce advertising platform, connecting more than 5,500+ publishers, 55,000+ advertisers, and 100+ networks – in over 160 countries. CouponFollow has worked with both mrge and SourceKnowledge for years. This acquisition gives CouponFollow a seamless end-to-end commerce advertising product suite with access to all mrge companies.
Nontraditional Publisher Opportunities
Nontraditional publishers help decision-making by helping consumers determine how and when to monetize. The unique purpose of their site can drive greater conversions. For example, deal-centric sites are specifically designed to attract consumers who are ready to make a purchase.
Your site has an edge in attracting marketing partners if they serve a specialized purpose, be it deal-seeking or information-gathering. For example, through our partnership with SourceKnowledge, CouponFollow saw an increase of 227% in available merchants.
“Deal-centric sites like CouponFollow offer a unique value proposition for consumers and a ‘ready to buy’ audience for marketers. They deserve to be rewarded for their ability to drive conversions!” said Pantazopoulos.
Also, nontraditional publishers have a wealth of solutions to pull from to determine the monetization strategy that will work best for them. Nontraditional publishers should take stock of all their options when considering their tactics and overall strategy. If your inventory is valuable and your audience is primed for conversions, you should drive competition amongst advertisers.
CouponFollow has seen a 184% YoY increase in monetized traffic directly attributed to the SourceKnowledge Network and an overall growth of 20% in revenue. Our partnership has driven an 85.5% increase in incremental monetized traffic since November 2021.
You work hard to curate your media property, and it’s past time to be properly rewarded for those efforts. Know your audience and keep your mind and options open. You’ll be able to build a powerful, personalized marketing mix and establish yourself as an in-demand partner for marketers.
Though nontraditional publishers face a steeper uphill battle in establishing advertising solutions, their unique positioning in determining how and when to monetize for consumers can give them an edge in the online marketplace.
By examining the holistic array of solutions available, these publishers can effectively drive competition and optimize their media property for their unique audiences.