One of the recurring trends in online media is the ability to create targeted content. Browsing through the web, this is true not only for websites, but also for multimedia content as well. However, is creating targeted content a roadblock for monetization? I recently spoke with someone at NBC Universal who is responsible for generating revenue for their dot com brands. And, according to this individual, big advertisers are looking for a large reach (70%+ reach in the top 25 DMAs) . For them, targeted reach doesn’t offer many benefits. Here are some of the advantages of national/global reach:
- Lower CPM
- Bigger volume
- Easy media buys
When an advertiser starts looking for a targeted audience, all three of the above factors are inverted, resulting in more research and execution resources.
When you approach this from a publishers perspective, it is important that publishers focus on large as well as niche advertisers. In the current economic situation, advertisers across the board have cut down their spending. While the cuts for big advertisers will only impact the poorest performing media outlets, many niche advertisers have nearly halted their spending. If, as an online media property, you can only attract niche advertisers due to a) targeted content and b) limited reach, it’s time to start growing your audience.
In the evolving media and advertising markets, advertisers are still looking for large advertisers. While targeted advertising will start emerging on the web, the process is going to be slow. Today, 50,000 uniques is not sufficient.
