The Connection Magazine AIM MUTUAL Spring 2020 | Page 22

CONTENT MARKETING
HOW CONTENT MARKETING CAN
IMPACT THE MEDIA
BY: JOE PULIZZI, FOUNDER OF CONTENT MARKETING INSTITUTE
WHEN I started out in the B2B publishing business almost 20
years ago (working at business-to-business media company Penton
Media), sponsored content creation for our B2B advertisers felt
like a second-class citizenship: Sure, my company liked the revenue,
but sponsored content was not viewed as critical to our business;
rather, it was seen as ancillary. Actually, that was even the name of
our group: “ancillary media.”
When Penton Media was sold in 2006, its buyers barely even
looked at the revenues coming from content marketing projects and
sponsored content. They believed it was just “one-off” revenue and not
important enough to value in the deal.
Today, a very different story is being painted. In 2016, nearly
every media company on the planet is selling sponsored content or
incorporating native advertising into its offerings. In fact, Huffington
Post, which started their partner studio with around 10 people in
2014, has hired more than 100 people just to work on clients' content
projects; at The Atlantic, three quarters of its digital revenue is now
generated from sponsored content. And for some businesses (like
BuzzFeed, for example), sponsored content accounts for nearly all its
revenue.
As the traditional media model of advertising continues to break
down, publishers are increasingly turning to sponsored content as
their savior. And why not? It has led to some amazing turnarounds
– including those at The Washington Post and The New York Times.
According to research from the Native Advertising Institute
(in cooperation with FIPP), publishers’ price sponsored content
significantly higher than banner advertising, and, on average,
sponsored content comprises 19 percent of total advertising
revenues. Soon, this number is expected to jump to 33 percent.
Simply put, brands are buying this stuff…a lot of it. According to
Business Insider, native advertising and sponsored content spending
in 2013 was under $5 billion. That number has grown to over $20 billion.
So now, media companies that used to shy away from sponsored
content opportunities are going all-in.
Sponsored content has become the en vogue business model for
media.
But while this shift is certainly exciting, what it's doing is keeping
media companies from seeking out a real business model – one that
will help them achieve success over the long term.
And that's what has me worried.
Right now, it’s probably fair to say that the
content being produced at most media companies
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