Last week, our team hosted the Women in Media Meetup, sponsored by Dailymotion and AdColony. The event centered around creating loyalty for the modern reader and highlighted how publishers are finding innovative ways to attract advertising dollars while staying loyal to their core audiences. The panel was moderated by Sarah Sluis, Senior Editor from AdExchanger and featured speakers Erika Velazquez Alpern, SVP, Head of Brand and Product Marketing from Morning Brew, Gabriella Aversa, Director of Strategy and Planning from AdColony, and Ronak Patel, SVP of Marketing, PR, Research, Creative Services & Digital Revenue Operations from Trusted Media Brands.
I had the privilege of hearing for myself how these women are taking these challenges head-on and adapting to the changing media climate. Here are some of the key takeaways from the event.
Listen to your audience
Publishers have one goal: create content their audience loves. If your audience is offering feedback, listen to it. As publishers, Patel suggests you ask yourself if you are providing the right content for your audience based on their feedback. When the audience offers positive feedback on a certain topic or theme, work to find new and creative ways of delivering similar content. Finding new angles or mediums to deliver your content, such as newsletters or podcasts, keeps the reader coming back to your publication. Repeat readers create a larger and more engaged audience, which attracts advertisers.
Create engagement
Engagement is a key element in creating loyalty among modern consumers, while also attracting advertising dollars. Readers seek engaging content because it creates a sense of community between the publication and the audience. When a reader responds to an ad throughout a newsletter, they are creating a dialogue. In order to create engagement, ads should be organic in the space that they are occupying. They should not be invasive or take away from the content of the publication but rather, enhance it. As Aversa expressed, they create ads that are organic to the app in which they are appearing in. If the app is a game, then the ad will feature elements of a “game” environment.
Loyalty can create sustainability
In order to create something that can last, publishers need to shift their focus from short-term growth to long-term loyalty. When evaluating metrics, focus on what is really important: subscribers. It should be on how aware people are of your brand and how they engage with your content. Evolve with your consumers by prioritizing what matters to them at the moment. Consider becoming a part of their community through live events that are centered around the content they enjoy.
Podcasts are key
Podcasts are a new medium emerging in the digital sector that is becoming increasingly more popular. As Velazquez Alpern shared, “Podcasts require people to engage. They are immersive, and the audience has to commit to listening to the podcast.” In order to get your audience to commit, make that podcast stand out among competitors. Find your niche, as Patel advises, and make the podcast your own. Most importantly, find the right podcast strategy that works for your audience and your company.
- Kerriann Becker, Spring 2020 Intern