Media companies continue to miss the point as brand partners

A former colleague of mine reached out the other day to get my thoughts on building out client marketing services for a media company he’s beginning to work with. After years of working with publishers – both as an employee and agency partner – this is a topic that is quite near and (not-so) dear to my heart.

Far too often, I feel like marketing organizations within media companies don’t give their value proposition enough strategic thought, and jump straight into productizing advertising solutions like ad units, editorial sponsorships, and the formulaic, stylized editing of branded video into supposed "social media content."

Here, too, my colleague, while presenting an opportunity to help build a marketing services organization from scratch, started off with, “these guys could use some neat ad units, microsites, and lead gen. solutions.”

Sure, these are necessary “tools” of the trade – the tangible deliverables they have available to sell to clients. However, I feel that this line of thinking neglects a very basic premise for any publisher (OR brand): what is the media company’s role in the brand’s relationship with target audiences? In other words, why do brands need to work with publishers? What makes one publisher a more critical buy than any other publisher, network, exchange, or other type of media vendor? This is particularly true in the era of programmatic advertising, when virtually every publishers’ inventory is already available through exchanges.

Moreover, how can publishers solicit an investment beyond just standard media buys? How do they really grow as leaders in an increasingly crowded and incoherent (think social) media landscape?

Here is where I think there is often a fundamental problem with the way media companies approach advertiser revenue. Much to my frustration, these organizations are often run by sales people, not marketers. As such, they lead with solutions that can be easily productized, automated, and sold at scale (again, think slap-a-logo sponsorships, rich media ad units, etc.). Sure, this makes financial sense, but unfortunately, every other publisher is doing the exact same thing. From my experience, this often results in an arms race, of sorts in which publishers compete with each other to launch progressively disruptive/annoying/obnoxious “bright, shiny objects” ad units and placements that pop up, fly in, and increasingly cover up the page. Then they go out and push these upon advertisers with little notion (or care) of whether they’re the right solution for brands’ needs.

What value do these offerings really give brands? Is that tiny logo at the top of an editorial feature really addressing the brand's needs? Is that interactive ad unit convincing audiences that the brand has the capabilities they need to do their thing? Sure, publishers can sell these on a one-off basis here and there, but in the grand scheme of things, how much value are media companies offering to brands in the long-term?

What’s missing here is some basic marketing sense; a commitment to support brands with their business needs through smart, strategic marketing services: story-telling, in fact, which, coincidentally, is exactly what publishers do! When done well, the role of media companies in marketing can be elevated, and prompt brands to treat publishers like true, strategic partners.

Here’s how I suggest media companies do this: craft a series of story-telling narratives that connect brands to target audiences through the media company’s unique editorial or subject-matter expertise. In other words, create a role for publishers in the conversation between brands and their target audiences in which the publisher’s value and credibility can be leveraged to make those conversations richer and more authentic. This isn't necessarily a new concept, but what I'm proposing is more of a shift in mindset in terms of utilizing this approach as the core of a client services strategy.

Think of it like going to an auto dealership, and having the sales guy, who doesn’t know a thing about you, try and sell you on all sorts of features you may or may not need. Then think about bringing a friend with you who is familiar with both you and the car in question. This person can tie each of the car’s features to your personal needs and interests: “That built-in WiFi would be perfect for listening to audio books on the long drive you make every month to see your sister. If you’re still planning on having kids in a couple of years, the hands-free lift gate could come in really handy”

Sure, the sales guy - or the auto manufacturer, itself – could come up with these talking points, as well, but the fact that the friend is A) able to make these features relatable in a more personal way, AND B) the friend is trusted, would make you much more likely to consider buying that car.

Now, imagine the auto manufacturer could hire your friend to help sell you on their cars. This is precisely the role media companies can, and should, play in the relationship between brand and customer: serve as the trusted third-party who knows you, and knows why you might benefit from connecting with the brand.

To be clear, I'm not suggesting that publishers sell themselves out in a "pay-for-play" model in which editors are writing on behalf of brands. Not at all. I'm simply suggesting that the marketing services organizations within media companies borrow a page from their editorial colleagues' book to focus on the publisher's strength in story-telling to be more strategic in their efforts to support advertisers. IF done well, the brand experiences created for audiences should feel very similar to the editorial experience - and ideally offer the same value (without violating "church and state").

So how do media companies do this? Here are 9 basic steps I think publishers need to think about:

• Understand what your strengths are as a publisher – what is your editorial or subject-matter expertise? What sets you apart from other leading publishers?
• Understand why core audiences frequently visit your properties to engage with your content (if these are not aligned, you may need to rethink your editorial approach). What do you do that keeps them coming back for more? Do they consider you to be the leading authority on your topic? Do they value the tone you take with your content? Are you respected for utilizing video and imagery in a unique way?
• Based on the above, build a list of key target accounts you think would be a good fit. Distill these into categories
• Hire top-notch marketing professionals with experience working in these categories. These will be your front-line marketing professionals who can work hand-in-hand with brand partners
• Really understand your core audience: demographics, psychographics, buying behaviors, etc. Do a lot of research to build detailed personas against all of the brand categories you think could be relevant to your subject-matter expertise.
• Craft basic narratives in which your content, together with the influence your content wields over audiences, ties back to those brand categories. How can you leverage your knowledge of audience needs and interests (as they pertain to your content) to help brands tell THEIR story? In other words, how can you leverage your editorial chops to tell a story that helps audiences understand and appreciate your clients' brands and products?
• Build into these narratives an explanation as to why your publication is best suited to lead these conversations with audiences
• Have your category-specific marketing professionals use these narratives as the basis for developing content marketing concepts for specific brands. For instance, if you are courting a cloud project management software company, is there a narrative that can enable you to put the KSP's and value proposition of that company's software into terms your audience will appreciate based on their trust of your publication to give them insights into how best to manage a Millennial workforce?
• Drop the hard-armed sales approach. Begin engaging clients (and less media agencies) as a team of consultative experts with deep knowledge of their audiences, and how to influence those audiences to connect with brands (like, engage, consider, purchase from, etc.) through thoughtful content marketing experiences.

This may not be an easy exercise; it will definitely be harder than simply launching a new ad unit. However, if done well, it can open up doors to big partnerships with brands that maybe weren't possible before.