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While many publishers have begun the journey of transitioning to digital sales, advertising still remains their core revenue stream.<\/span><\/p>\n This is problematic, as the social media giants and Google continue to innovate and find more ways to gobble up ad earnings typically enjoyed by media players.<\/span><\/p>\n The good news is that, given their reputation and resources, publishers are well-placed to branch out and monetize new revenue streams, and decrease their reliance on any one method.<\/span><\/p>\n But what are those alternatives? And how can we execute them well? In this article, leading media analyst and Founder of <\/span>Borrell Associates<\/span><\/a> Gordon Borrell<\/span><\/a> shares valuable insights on how <\/span>your media business can capture its slice of the <\/span>$94 billion <\/span><\/a>opportunity in U.S. local <\/span>digital advertising<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n WATCH the on-demand webinar: The Publisher\u2019s Gambit with Gordon Borrell<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.17.6″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n According to Borrell, most media companies are taking a 3\u20134 year approach to their revenue modeling and strategic planning. He suggests they need to be looking further ahead in the future to effect change, setting their sights on what to expect by 2032.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWithin 10 years, 90 percent of advertising revenue will be digital. Today, it\u2019s 65 percent. Just before the pandemic, it was 55 percent, so the pandemic caused an acceleration of the trend for digital advertising,\u201d Borrell says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Newspapers, radio, and television broadcasters are best positioned to capture their share of the digital advertising market by taking a wider view of their role as an information provider. By looking beyond the confines of your publication, website, or app, you\u2019ll be able to take advantage of new opportunities on multiple platforms, instead of just your own.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYour salaries are being paid by it. It\u2019s more about advertising than it is subscription fees. The advertising portion is the greatest opportunity for any type of company that wants to call itself a media\/marketing company because advertisers need it. They need help,\u201d says Borrell.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Borrell describes local businesses as \u201cdeer in the headlights\u201d when it comes to their marketing, but says \u201cthe deer now have the guns.\u201d The digital age has armed them with their own websites, social media accounts, and other platforms, without the ammunition and knowledge to market effectively.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt really is important that you help those entrepreneurs, the backbone of your communities, market themselves. That\u2019s part of your role,\u201d Borrell continues.<\/span><\/p>\n According to findings from recent Borrell Associates Inc. research, local media companies are clawing back market share from <\/span>pure plays<\/span><\/a> for the first time in 15 years. According to Borrell: in the early 2000s, before the birth of Google and Facebook, publishers and media providers were responsible for selling as much as 60\u201380 percent of the local digital advertising in their markets. Since then, it has been shrinking dramatically.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cTwelve percent of all the money that businesses spend in the local market on digital advertising stays in the market, because it\u2019s being sold by a newspaper, a TV station, or a radio station, etc.,\u201d he says.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cA year and a half ago, [that share] suddenly started increasing again. This year, we think it will be at about 14 percent. That\u2019s a very significant finding and when we looked deeper, we discovered it was video,\u201d he continues.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Borrell views the evolution of the internet in three waves:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Unlike search and social marketing that advertisers can easily purchase online, the complexity of video production and storytelling is not so accessible. The nuances of script writing, proper lighting, camera operation, audio engineering, and editing place media companies as the execution experts that local businesses need to get it done.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c[Video advertising] is complicated. It\u2019s not as easy as search where you go online and enter a credit card. This is why we are seeing such an increase in video advertising. People love it, and they\u2019re getting their local media companies to help them with it.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n According to Borrell, 67 percent of businesses say they purchase their video advertising from a local media company, hammering home the importance of positioning yourself as the expert who can fulfill the need.<\/span><\/p>\n Over-the-top video or OTT, as defined by the <\/span>Interactive Advertising Bureau<\/span><\/a>, is video content transported from a video provider to a connected device over the internet outside the closed networks of telecom and cable providers. Hulu, YouTube TV, Prime, and Disney+ are examples of OTT services.<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s one of the greatest opportunities for media companies in Borrell\u2019s view, but you shouldn\u2019t position it that way with local businesses. Instead of getting into the nitty gritty of online video advertising, sell it to your clients instead as a TV or video commercial. It\u2019s something that they\u2019ll immediately recognize and want to find out more about, locking up the sale right then and there. He also suggests broadening the format. It\u2019s not necessarily about producing 15- or 30-second spots anymore. Media companies can assist in the production of how-to style content, positioning their local business client as the expert in their field.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNewspapers, in particular, seem to be really good at how-to and instructional or explanation videos, producing the videos for [advertisers], then helping them with the distribution. Then you can actually trim some of those videos down into commercial spots and put them up onto YouTube channels, which some of the best practice companies are doing,\u201d explains Borrell.<\/span><\/p>\n Sales staff in media and publishing need to position themselves as the person to call with any marketing question or concern.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cImagine your toughest advertisers,\u201d Borrell says. \u201c [They\u2019re] sitting there at [their] desk saying, \u2018Gosh, you know, I\u2019ve got questions about TikTok, I wonder if that is a viable means. I wonder about this OTT stuff. I don’t even know what OTT means. I know, I’ll call\u2026\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Borrell says they need to be picking up the phone and dialing your number; otherwise, it\u2019s a big missed opportunity.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIf they see you as a marketing partner but you only come in the door selling newspaper advertising and the only stuff you can sell them in digital form is [website banner ads], that doesn\u2019t answer a lot of their questions. Once they see you as marketing experts, then it opens the door to [many] other things you can help them with,\u201d shares Borrell.<\/span><\/p>\n1. Long-term planning will be essential for organizations that want to survive\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n
2. Make the move to video\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n
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What is over-the-top video (OTT) ?<\/span><\/h3>\n
3. Become the go-to marketing expert to support local businesses<\/span><\/h2>\n