Monetization Tactics Every Media Publisher Should Implement

One of the most difficult parts of being a publisher is monetization. The age-old strategy of simply having people subscribe to your channel is, for most publishers, not a viable option. After all, most of the online content is free, or it at least appears so. Therefore, publishers need to look for ways to first hook their audience, and then introduce a monetization option that the audience will find acceptable. Let's now first outline different monetization tactics available for modern publishers, and then give you a couple of hints on how to pick the right one.

Different content monetization strategies

While we will try to provide you with an all-encompassing list, it is important to note that publishers can be quite creative when it comes to monetization. Modern technologies and online trends often change what people are willing to pay for and how publishers can gain revenue. So, while we will cover most, know that there are always more revenue streams for publishers to consider when trying to yield revenue from your audience.

Advertising

The go-to monetization option for many publishers is advertising. The main reason for this is that it enables the publisher to keep their content free to view. As such, the content is easy to share and can draw in a sizable audience. This essentially means that the customer brings you revenue simply by viewing your content and clicking on the ads when they find them interesting.

But, keep in mind that the only way to have a decent revenue from this type of monetization is to have a huge audience. If you factor in ad blockers, inappropriate ads, and general disdain towards ads, you'll soon realize why advertising often struggles with bringing in revenue. You can, to some degree, control which ads pop up on your website. But even then, it can be difficult to fund your platform solely through ads.

To further understand ads it is important to distinguish between display ads and native ads.

Display ads

These include banner ads, video ads, and pop-ups placed strategically on the website. Publishers can use ad networks like Google AdSense to automate the process or sell ad space directly to advertisers for higher rates. A great option is to use programmatic ads, as a way to better cater the ad content to your audience. This involves the automated buying and selling of ad space through platforms like Google Ad Manager. Here you essentially use algorithms to place ads in front of the right audience, maximizing revenue.

Native ads

These ads blend in with the content and are less intrusive. A great modern example of these is StorifyMe ads, where we've blended the innate allure of story content with ad format. If integrated properly, native ads don't appear as intrusive as standard ads. They often appear as sponsored articles or simple recommendations. This makes it far more likely that the interested reader will click on them, or at least consider what they have to say.

Subscription models

Subscription is another, quite common way of addressing monetization. It usually goes hand in hand with advertisement. Namely, if you simply opt for display ads, you don't really have to worry about them being annoying or intrusive. What you do is to give your readers an option to subscribe and not have to look at them. The old "create the problem, sell the solution" method. Not very nice, but it can be surprisingly effective. As long as there is a competitor that doesn't opt for one of the other monetization tactics.

Paywalls

From a technical standpoint, it is best to consider a subscription as a paywall. Namely, there is a different experience that your viewers get if they choose to pay a subscription fee. Keep in mind that not having to suffer ads is not the only thing you can put behind a paywall. When considering your options, it is best to first make the distinction between a hard paywall and a soft paywall. A hard paywall restricts access to all content unless the user subscribes. Meanwhile, soft paywalls allow limited free access before requiring a subscription. Viewers can check out small segments of content or have limited time on your platform. This relies on the premise that your content is interesting and informative enough so that your viewers will opt to pay for it.

Licensing and syndication

Both licensing and syndication are age-old ways in which publishers can make money. These options stem from magazines, where quality content wasn't easily available.

Content licensing

What this entails is allowing other publishers to republish content for a fee. If you are committed to producing informative, high-quality content this can be a viable option. By doing so you will expand your reach, generate additional revenue, and cement your online reputation.

Syndication networks

If, on the other hand, you are struggling with building your online reputation, you can look to join a syndication network. Doing this is a fairly simple way to monetize your content, but it does reduce the amount of control you'll have. Examples include Reuters and Associated Press.

Affiliate marketing

Affiliate marketing can be a great option, especially if your brand naturally relates to the brand you wish to market. The idea is that you market your partner's brand within your content, and then gain your share of revenue from doing so.

Affiliate links

The simplest way to handle affiliate marketing is through affiliate links. What you do is introduce promotions for products or services within articles and earn a commission on sales generated through these links. Amazon Associates is a well-known affiliate program, but you have full freedom to create your own. The trick is finding a brand that is both profitable and relatable enough to affiliate yourself with. Also, you need to know a thing or two about setting up a decent affiliation marketing agreement, so that you can get a decent chunk of revenue.

Recommending products

Some publishers can benefit more from integrating affiliate links within reviews and recommendations makes the content valuable and profitable. This works well for tech, fashion, and lifestyle blogs as product reviews are quite natural in their industry.

Sponsored content and partnerships

Niche publishers can sometimes gain revenue from sponsored content. What this means is that brands pay publishers to create and publish articles that promote their products. These articles are often labeled as sponsored or as a part of a partnership. That way can publishers maintain their online reputation. Sometimes, sponsors create content of their own, which leaves room for collaboration. Collaborating with brands to co-create content can provide value to both parties. Especially if parties have clear and complementary goals for their content. This might include joint webinars, eBooks, or a series of articles.

E-commerce integration

In the modern day and age, it is by no means uncommon for publishers to sell merchandise. If you manage to build your brand with a strong brand message, you'll find it quite amiable to sell products online. This can include books, merchandise, or digital downloads, directly from your website. Keep in mind that this essentially means that you'll be running an e-commerce store, which brings its own fair share of problems. One of the major ones is storage, as you'll need to find extra room for all the books and merchandise.

MTO (Make-to-order)

A way to solve this is to make items only per order. While this negates the need for large storage, it does bring the problem of fast shipping. Namely, if your customers need to wait for you to create their desired product, and only then ship it, they might lose interest. Introducing some form of personalization into their purchase can be a good idea, as it gives them a reason to wait for you instead of looking for alternatives with your competition.

Donations and crowdfunding

A viable way to monetize your brand is to simply ask for support. Publishers that focus on investigative journalism, independent publishing, raising awareness, or overall helping people can look for donations and crowdfunding as viable options.

As the name suggests, here you encouraging readers to support the publication through one-time or recurring donations. Here you explain how their donations help, and why they are important. Platforms like PayPal or Buy Me a Coffee facilitate this. You can also use platforms like Kickstarter or Patreon, to fund specific projects or ongoing operations. This model works well for

Data monetization

Data monetization is often considered the future of content monetization. No ads. No subscriptions. And no asking people to give you money. So what's the catch?

If you manage to gather quality reader data, you can look to sell it to third parties. Namely, there are likely numerous companies that would like to know the details about your readers. Their age, location, online habits... All these can be quite valuable for a company that wishes to do market research.

Now, keep in mind that data gathering and selling are complex processes. You'll need to be quite careful in how you set up your platform so that your readers are well-informed and protected. Any misuse of gathered data can lead to legal trouble.

Mobile apps

While developing and running an app can be bothersome, it does provide you with certain benefits. One of which is that it gives you more ways to monetize your content as a publisher.

In-app purchases

The amount of soft paywalling you can do within an app is staggering. Not only can you offer additional content or features within a mobile app for a fee. But, you can also limit the time a person can spend on your app, or how often they can share your content. This soft pay walling is quite common in news apps, where you need to stay free to download to get an audience.

In-app advertising

Similar to your website, you can display ads within the mobile app. Here you can even add the extra incentive where you reward users for watching ads. Theoretically, you can do this on your website as another form of paywall. But, people aren't as comfortable doing so as they are within an app.

Email Newsletters

Emails stand as a clear example that just because a technology is old doesn't mean that it is obsolete. Even though the online landscape is unrecognizable from what it was when emails first came out (the first email was sent in 1971), emails still have their use in online communication. As it turns out, this use also extends to publisher monetization.

It is important to note though that emails, like any other type of online content, need to be engaging and well-crafted in order for people to open them. Direct stories are a decent solution for emails, as they can be made to be quite attention-grabbing. But, direct stories need to be a part of a long-term email strategy. Things like content timing, headings, and presentation all play a role. If you do manage to set up an email newsletter that your readers will be happy to read, here is how you can look to monetize it.

Sponsored newsletters

Including sponsored content or ads in email newsletters can be lucrative. Advertisers pay to reach the newsletter's engaged audience. Unfortunately, putting emails into a spam folder is far easier than blocking ads on websites. So, you need to be careful that your emails are decent enough quality so that viewers don't put them away.

Paid subscriptions

Another, less intrusive way to monetize your emails is by introducing paid subscriptions. Namely, you can charge your readers for premium newsletter content, which might include in-depth analysis, exclusive stories, or early access to articles. This can be a part of an overall subscription model, or it can be a standalone feature.

Video Content

What we've listed so far are monetization options primarily focused on written content. Fortunately, modern technology has enabled even small-scale publishers to focus on video and audio content. With those came unique monetization opportunities like shoppable videos and podcasts. And if you are a publisher that focuses on no-written media, you should definitely consider some more modern options.

YouTube Monetization

If in your publishing you primarily focus on videos, your best bet is to head to YouTube. Out of all the platforms, it has pretty much cemented itself as the most dominant one. Ideally, you would drive people from YouTube to your website, where you'd have more monetization control. Going to YouTube is a must for any aspiring publisher.

Once there, you can either earn revenue through YouTube ads, including pre-roll, mid-roll, and display ads. The number of recent viewers will be the determining factor in how much revenue you bring. The other option is to ask for donations (which we've covered) or opt for sponsored videos.

Sponsored videos

This simply entails collaborating with brands for product placements and endorsements. If the brands you collaborate with are related to your standard content, marketing them won't be difficult. But, if you don't cover a specific niche with your content (for instance if you are a news publisher) it might seem a little intrusive. Platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok are all great options for sponsored videos.

How to start

By the time you've finished this article, you likely have an idea of which monetization tactics to try. If not, we would advise that you check out your competition and see what they are doing. Try to discern why they've chosen a specific monetization option, and see whether they've overlooked something. Perhaps they've misunderstood the target audience. Or perhaps they've not employed an important platform in their online dealing. Whatever the case, you'd be smart to look at your competition for inspiration and yield results from their oversight. Once you do that, don't shy away from integrating AI. Whether the future of content monetization will be like, AI will be an integral part of it, as well as publishing in general. And if you wish to tackle problems like marketing, customer management, and especially monetization, you'd best use AI from the start.