September 12, 2017
How do you boil a frog? Slowly.
And in Facebook’s case, 14 months is the time it took them to get the pot of water boiling, with you (publishers) sitting inside.
Branded content is on fire, growing 35% year over year and is the key digital growth strategy for premium publishers. Branded content revenue growth has been higher than organic audience growth. To make up the difference, publishers heavily rely on paid distribution to deliver the reach marketers expect – and guess what? It’s mostly with Facebook.
Facebook’s recent announcement to allow brands to boost publisher posts they are tagged in has fundamentally changed the game.
Here’s a brief recap of Facebook’s activity over the past 14 months:
The water is now rapidly boiling and by next year, publishers will start to see the fallout from buyers reducing their direct spend on branded content and reallocating the distribution budgets directly to Facebook.
Given the complexities of the digital advertising ecosystem, it may take some time for the shakeout to fully surface. At any rate, premium publishers should start thinking about alternative strategies to grow their branded content business; one that relies less heavily on Facebook.
– Kunal
About the Author:
Kunal Gupta is the Founder & CEO of Polar. At Polar, Kunal leads a talented team transforming the media publishing industry with technology. He is passionate about leadership and finding focus in a modern era. Follow his leadership blog at findfocus.today. Connect with him on LinkedIn, Medium or Twitter.
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