Custom Content Distribution: Is your strategy sticky or just clicky?

It's not a secret that publishers, small and large, look to monetize content programs by distributing custom content off-platform or on non-endemic network URLs. Is this a sound approach to a client's ROI?  

We can strategically create better value for brands by leveraging publishers that build scaled programs around context, great content, and first party data to deliver a more engaged consumer and a more relevant consumer journey.

Context Primarily Drives The Consumer Journey

As a consumer, if I’m in the market to redesign my home office and I’m reading an article or watching a video about home office design on a home and garden website, I’m engaged with the content because it has direct context for my product search. 

But, if I’m in the market for a desk and served custom video while on a social platform, or one of the non-contextually relevant URLs inside a “big publisher network”, it stands to reason that I’m less likely to engage. Why? No context.

Context + Branded Content 

Many publisher’s off-platform distribution channels are limited to: social media sites, content discovery engines like Outbrain/Taboola, or non-endemic sites within a larger owned and operated network aimed specifically at meeting the client’s distribution goals. 

 Each makes sense from the publisher's stand point.  

Why? Buying targeted clicks and views on social media, or through off-platform content engines is both scalable, and a significantly less expensive option compared to using the publisher’s own video and display inventory which can be sold at premium CPMs to in-market brands.

Often, endemic publishers are limited in scale, so to fulfill a program without taking a loss on their own inventory, some publishers entice retargeted out-of-context users. Although the users may be a CRM match for the product, isn’t that user less engaged than they would be if they were on the publisher’s site itself?  

Context + 1P Data Drives Engagement

If the advertiser’s content is distributed in a scaled, contextually relevant environment, it’s also important to consider more granular targeting options inside these walls.

Assuming the publisher has strong 1P signals to help better guide viewership of this campaign, use this to reach audiences with even more elevated intent. The addition of these targets will only help the advertiser’s conversion and multi-touch attribution both during and after the campaign.

Content

Build and distribute great custom content. 

Use content tools from research mainstays like Quantcast and Parse.ly to determine your users interests. Researching beforehand will make your approach more successful. Be sure to optimize the campaign in flight, using data to deliver the niche audience the advertiser is targeting. 

Afterall, branded content isn't art for art's sake or some kind of razzle-dazzle. It is results driven.  

Across the industry, custom content studios spend weeks with clients refining creative and making it perfect - only to earn out the vast majority of impressions outside of the site the client bought. The original theory of publisher owned creative studios was that they were necessary to create work best suited to appeal to their own audience.

So, as we move away from 3P data targeting, let’s keep a renewed focus on context, 1P data to further drive conversion, and smart content creation. This trifecta will yield a better outcome and experience for consumers and brands alike.

Randy Saperstone is the Vice President, Media and Brand Partnerships for News Corp’s Realtor.com. Realtor.com reaches more than 65 million monthly uniques and is often considered one of the best real estate educational tools in the market.