The Weekly Bulletin | September 5, 2023

Catch up on your members' content, check out the community buzz, and browse through job opportunities

Author

Vahe Arabian
September 05, 2023

Hi SODP community,

Let’s recap on what’s been happening last week, the new content, industry updates, tips, and more.

EDITOR’S NOTE

The publishing game is far from easy. The sector has long struggled between audience building and monetization; even those at the top still strive to optimize and thrive.

Commercial viability isn’t up for negotiation, and even those publishers lucky enough to have the support of a generous patron with deep pockets eventually need to show they’re more than a money pit.

Understanding what does and doesn’t work as a publisher and not being afraid to switch up approaches is vital to unlocking commercial success. SODP has openly discussed its strategy review and the need to pivot toward a healthier mix.

But only some sectors of the publishing sector have had their woes so exhaustively covered as the local news industry, with the decline of the US industry, in particular, receiving frequent and in-depth updates.

Former Washington Post editor Martin Baron observed recently that while some news organizations are fortunate to receive the support of wealthy investors, the “future of our business has to be to be able to support ourselves”. He noted that news outlets need to make tough choices to survive.

Expecting for-profit organizations to turn an actual profit is hardly revolutionary thinking. Yet such a conversation does highlight the perpetual balancing act between business objectives and creativity that many find themselves trapped in.

Even The Atlantic, a publication that has been around since 1857, has struggled to stay out of the red for much of this century.

The publication turned a profit in 2010 after a decade of losses. Before the decade's end, however, it was back in the red following an investment spree. Despite projections two years ago that 2023 would be the year for renewed profitability, the publisher now expects to re-enter the black in 2024.

Getting to this point has required reworking The Atlantic’s advertising model to boost its ad deal margins. At the same time, the publisher has been tweaking its paywall — re-installed in 2019 after a decade of absence — to make it more flexible and attract a new audience.

The ad revenue downturn has forced many publishers to rethink their strategies following “traffic-war casualties” such as Buzzfeed and Vice. These digital natives embraced an open-door content policy, relied on ad revenue when times were good and hoped venture capital would bail them out when they weren’t.

However, the content sector's post-pandemic downturn has caught both tech giants and publishers napping. Both sectors have been forced to rethink how they plan to keep the lights on.

What captured my interest during media startup Puck’s second round of funding was that it has earmarked some money to fund the expansion of its subscription and advertising departments. While the company is still young, the fact that money is being used to improve its commercial prospects is a positive shift.

It’s important to note that rethinking monetization strategies doesn’t always need to be a seismic operational shift. Sometimes, it can start with something as simple as publishers reviewing their programmatic ad-tech stack. This idea was the subject of my conversation with PROG founder Miles Finlay last week, which is an interesting read for publishers wondering if they could be doing more with their existing ad inventory.

SODP POSTS

– – – SPONSORED – – –

Programmatic strategies

PROG Q&A: PUBLISHERS NEED TO EVOLVE THEIR PROGRAMMATIC STRATEGIES

Programmatic deals are projected to account for 90% of all US digital display ad spend in 2023

Programmatic advertising is a must for digital publishers committed to optimizing their ad revenue.

However, programmatic advertising has its challenges. After all, both advertisers and publishers use programmatic software to improve their ad campaigns. Advertisers are perpetually hunting for the highest return on ad spend (ROAS), meaning lower cost per mille (CPMs) and cost per click (CPC), while publishers are trying to drive those rates higher.

I spoke with the founder of independent programmatic lead agency PROG, Miles Finlay, to better understand what publishers must consider when shaping their programmatic ad strategies.

In this Q&A, you'll learn:

✅ Monetization via direct sales vs programmatic ad for publishers
✅ The biggest challenges publishers face
✅ How smaller publishers can avoid the risk of falling behind the curve
✅ How publishers can get the most out of their ad-tech stack

MASTERING CONTENT ENGAGEMENT: KEY METRICS AND STRATEGIES

Publisher success boils down to attracting, keeping and growing audience numbers. And that depends on producing killer content.

The publishing world is incredibly competitive, with audiences demanding to be wowed with each piece of new content. Successful content must be visible, memorable and shareable to stand a chance in an increasingly crowded content arena. Every new piece needs a catchy headline, stellar SEO, eye-grabbing visuals and compelling storytelling.

This makes content engagement a critical metric to understand, given that it defines how effective publishers are connecting with their audiences. Let’s take a closer look at the vital elements of content engagement, dissecting what it means, the best ways to measure it and techniques to enhance it.

JOB BOARD

➡️ FirstSportz is hiring social media executives to join its growing team (Remote). SEE MORE

➡️ News Corp Australia is looking for a marketing automation specialist (Sydney, Australia). SEE MORE

COMMUNITY BUZZ

INDUSTRY NEWS

➡️ Google has updated PageSpeed Insights with a new version of Lighthouse. The new version contains new audits, bug fixes and changes to scoring. READ MORE

➡️ A look at Pamplonews, a WhatsApp-only daily newsletter covering cultural news in Pamplona, Spain, started in May 2023 by a former CNN en Español managing editor. READ MORE

SOCIAL MEDIA DISCUSSIONS

➡️ Ali Mahmood on LinkedIn:

Unpacking Insights from ONA Philadelphia 2023 🌟

📧 Newsletter Optimization:
Establish well-defined goals
Implement feedback mechanisms
Leverage cross-promotion to maximize reach
More detailed post here: https://lnkd.in/exDibgni

📰 Tackling News Avoidance:
Cultivate daily consumption habits
Curate content that is both reliable and digestible
Uphold transparency as a cornerstone value
My post here: https://lnkd.in/eRbEnSPW

📊 Data Storytelling Workshop:
Canva has come a long way and has become a suitable tool for journalists.
Small newsrooms can do data journalism without high costs.
Look here: https://lnkd.in/emTm2hmH

🤖 AI in Newsrooms:
Exercise caution when placing trust in AI systems.
Recognize the ubiquity of AI in everyday tasks, such as Google searches.
Prioritize governance and transparency when integrating AI into your operations.

These are the highlights for last week.

Until next!

Andrew Kemp and the editorial team at SODP