Insight revenue – Are publishers missing a trick?
Emma Thwaites, client services director, Alchemetrics, on how the growth of digital channels can help publishers monetise reader data.
Publishers, like many other businesses, are in trouble. The ongoing effects of the recession are having a direct impact on advertising sales, and as budgets remain limited, these media owners are faced with falling incomes and must look to other sources of revenue in order to survive. The fragmenting media landscape is compounding this issue even further, as what little budget there is available is spread across a variety of media platforms, while simultaneously making it difficult for a publisher’s brands to engage a consistent audience.
Arguably, and putting recessionary concerns aside for a moment, the rise of the internet and growth in digital channels and capabilities has become the single greatest threat to the traditional publishing revenue model. Yet digital also brings with it the most important opportunity for evolution in the media and publishing sector, if media owners are prepared to embrace a new way of thinking. If they do the benefits are there for the taking.
There is a huge opportunity to maximise revenue by collecting and monetising data on readers. This may seem nothing new; after all, publishers have been selling subscriptions data for many years. But the difference here is in expanding the information being collected, so a richer and infinitely more valuable asset can be traded.
Traditional subscription data has always been a core revenue stream for many publishers, but in recent years this income has come under threat. As marketing and communication strategies of brands have changed, so too has the kind of data they need to drive their campaigns. Put simply, recency is in, and tired old subscription lists are out. Here the growth in digital has meant that brands can access up to the minute data on customers and prospects from a variety of sources, so to stay relevant and be able to generate revenue from reader data, publishers also need to embrace a more immediate form of data collection.
So what is the solution? The most immediate approach, and one which can tap into fresh sources of valuable insight, is to improve and expand the collection of reader data. For example, as they interact online (either visiting the site to consume news and other content, or to engage with the brand via a competition) serve them dynamic questions based on what gaps are missing in the data already held on them. Creating a stock of questions which can be served up to each individual based on what you want to know about them next can fast become a prolific stream of new data, and can help to turn reader and subscriber data into an up to the minute, monetised resource. This approach also avoids asking the same individual the same question over and over again; reducing the annoyance felt by some when asked to repeat information.
Of course the data is immediately available for the publisher to use within its own business. Advances in technology mean data can be delivered back into the database immediately, so it’s readily available to enhance marketing and customer communication straight away. Data could assist with informed decision making, for example supporting the development of a new magazine or product launch with specific questions to potential readers within the existing audience. It could also aid subscription retention and acquisition through the ability to segment customers and target them with differing treatments and offers.
Increased insight on readers can also be a powerful draw for advertisers; the offer of improve demographic information, strong affinity partnerships can be built and general ad sales can be supported through more refined targeting. With this powerful asset readers can be better engaged by the publisher, with content and offers tailored and targeted to each individual.
Next is the opportunity to generate revenue by making the data available externally. Underpinning any data sales must be the correct permissions from each individual; something that can be generated from the outset of the relationship by asking them their communication and channel preferences. The dynamic questions served can also be set up to make sure permission is at the top of the list in terms of questions being directed at readers, so all data is appended with this important attribute.
Once the correct permissions are available, data can be sold to relevant third parties as it is generated. There is also an opportunity for partners and advertisers to utilise the dynamic nature of serving questions even further, by tailoring questions themselves to collect data bespoke data and insight. Because of its unique nature bespoke data can be sold at a premium, thus creating another rich revenue stream for the publisher.
The opportunity for publishers to engage their readers and increase the amount of data collected from them is unrivalled, and can easily deliver an ongoing cash injection into the publishing business model. What’s more, the technology behind the dynamic serving of questions doesn’t have to be based solely online; staff using PDAs at events and exhibitions could also engage with the audience to collect relevant information, and even a customer services and subscriptions line could be set up to instigate a similar form of dynamic data collection.
As long as all data that is sold adheres to data protection rules, through solicitation of the correct and necessary permissions, publishers should look to experiment and embrace reader data as a much needed monetary boost.