Video is among the most preferred means of storytelling, education, and entertainment for content consumers worldwide, with viewers spending an average of 17 hours a week.

This format is not new to digital media publishers. Seven or eight years ago, news publishers, for example, lost their heads over a supposed “pivot to video” after Facebook pushed live and other formats with the promise of monetization. Many hired expensive video teams only to row back after interest waned.

But now social platforms are going “all-in” on video again as they increasingly compete for attention in a more fragmented and uncertain landscape. According to IAB’s Video Ad Spend And Strategy Report, digital video ad spend is growing nearly 80% faster than overall media.

Reuter’s Digital News Report 2024 highlights how video has become an important online news source, especially among younger groups. Two-thirds (66%) of the respondents accessed short news videos, while longer formats attracted around half (51%). 

Online platforms have become the main focus of news video consumption (72%) rather than publisher websites (22%), increasing the challenges around monetization and connection:

Proportion of global viewers that say each is their main online news video platform by age group
(Source: Reuter’s Digital News Report 2024)

When done right, video content can be a medium for storytelling and a goldmine for generating revenue, whether through ad revenue sharing, tiered subscriptions, or innovative video monetization models such as in-video shopping.

In this blog, we look at high-level strategies that digital media publishers can use to maximize their cost-per-mille (CPM) revenue.

Strategies for driving CPM revenue

1. Balance User Experience with Monetization 

Whatever monetization approach digital publishers adopt, it is incumbent on them to showcase their value to audiences, demonstrating why they are worth paying for. Publishers must:

  • Ensure content quality is non-compromisable when balancing video monetization and user experience. Only good content quality ensures viewers are receptive to accompanying ads.

  • Place video ads strategically within the content flow. This is crucial for a positive user experience. Non-intrusive ad formats that do not disrupt the viewing experience are more likely to be well-received by users.

  • Most monetization platforms allow publishers to set frequency caps, ensuring users are not overwhelmed by repeated ad exposure. This helps maintain user engagement while still effectively delivering ads.

2. Drive efficiency and value with SPO

Supply Path Optimization (SPO) is already important and becoming increasingly critical to publishers, but it means different to every company, and there is no one-size-fits-all approach. 

Publishers' challenge in SPO is evaluating return on investment. Every organization on either end of the ad tech supply chain measures its efficiency by understanding what makes it achieve its goals faster, cheaper, and more effectively.

Working with trusted partners and offering quality inventory access creates more revenue opportunities. SPO’s benefits for advertisers positively affect publishers, especially when it comes to profits, as the vessels in the AdTech industry are connected. 

SPO means that intermediaries who do not bring any value will be excluded from the delivery path. So, publishers who offer premium inventory will receive more direct paths to advertisers and earn more ad revenue as advertisers change their spending strategy. 

Publishers who care about the quality of their audiences and relationships with buyers are bound to be competitive and attract more ad dollars. Because SPO eliminates low-quality or substandard publishers, resellers must improve quality or face extinction. This, in turn, means that the overall market will improve.

3. Stop Relying on a Single Network

Relying on a single advertising network leads to sub-optimal returns, as no single advertising network can achieve 100% fill rates. The idea is to work with a few providers at the same time. This way, if the ad call from one of them does not bear fruit, you will always have a backup. 

Publishers can use the following parameters to select the right Ad Network:

  • Size of advertiser network: extensive networks offer better opportunities for advertisers, increasing the likelihood of better revenue for publishers and ensuring better fill rates.

  • Quality of ads in the network: Assess the quality of ads within the network. High-quality ads enhance user experience, leading to higher engagement and conversion rates. Publishers must also ensure the ads align with their content and the target audience.

  • Ad formats variety: ad networks that offer a diverse range of ad formats let you choose formats that best suit your website’s layout and user experience. Having various options gives you the flexibility to experiment and optimize ad performance.

  • Compensation and payment terms: Revenue share, payment frequency, and minimum payout thresholds should be considered to ensure they align with your financial goals and requirements.

  • Stability and User-Friendliness: Ad networks should be stable, reliable, and have minimal service disruptions. Prioritize user-friendly interface and intuitive, easy-to-navigate tools. This will save time and effort in managing your ad campaigns.

  • Underlying technology: Robust and advanced technology infrastructure can enhance ad targeting capabilities, improve ad delivery speed, and provide comprehensive reporting and analytics tools. 

When seeking an ad network partner, it’s important to prioritize relevant industry experience, expertise, and reputation. Additionally, ensure the ad network maintains transparency, high-quality standards, and compliance measures. Consider their approach to handling fraud, privacy, and data protection to make an informed decision.

4. Leverage AI to Transform Production and Monetization

Video ads have traditionally commanded higher CPMs than banner ads, but the substantial time and resources required for video production have often discouraged publishers from embracing video. Now, Generative AI promises to revolutionize how publishers produce and monetize content.

It addresses these challenges by enabling publishers to reduce production costs and time significantly. AI-based services like Aeon, for example, help publishers convert their text-based articles to videos using AI workflows that follow their brand guidelines, match their style, and retain their journalistic voice. 

Aeon makes it easy for publishers to:

With Aeon, publishers can rapidly A/B test multiple video edits, study analytics to see what performs best, apply lessons to optimize future videos, and seamlessly run experimentation for better learning. The underlying generative AI models are trained to create engaging videos that drive session length and RPMs while following the updated IAB instream guidelines. 

AI's true advantage lies in its ability to perform repetitive tasks at scale without fatigue. Because almost 84% more incremental inventory and revenue comes from sites with video, this presents a significant opportunity for publishers to boost revenue.

It is also important that publishers continuously monitor and optimize performance metrics, such as fill rates, CPMs, and viewability, to identify areas for improvement and make data-driven optimizations to their video advertising strategy. Publishers can use AI to track these metrics. 

5. Use Smart Tiered Subscriptions

Tiered subscriptions allow viewers to pay higher or lower recurring fees to access different content levels. They can indirectly affect CPM by enhancing the overall quality and engagement of the audience. 

Publishers should consider this strategy when they have diverse video content that can be categorized into different value propositions. AI algorithms can be used to analyze viewer/reader data and segment them into groups based on preferences, behavior, and demographics. This helps tailor subscription offerings that offer more personalized and relevant content according to each group's needs.

NYT, for example, uses “The Dynamic Meter,” a prescriptive machine learning model that learns the causal effect of assigning different meter limits on each user’s engagement and subscription likelihood. It serves the dual purpose of supporting the newspaper’s mission to help people understand the world and its business goal of acquiring subscriptions.

Likewise, AI-assisted churn analysis (churn refers to the rate at which customers cancel their subscriptions) can help publishers analyze customer data and identify patterns and factors contributing to churn, such as the lack of engagement with certain types of content, pricing, and subscription plans. These insights help improve content offerings, pricing, and customer retention strategies.

6. Optimize Video Metadata for Organic Search

Video metadata is the textual description of the relevant information associated with a video, such as title, creation date, description, author, and more. It enables better search, sorting, and video discovery, making it easier for search engines to locate the video.

Search engines use metadata to understand the video context, relate it to particular search queries, and show video results. Metadata can be directly embedded into the video or as a separate file. YouTube, for example, combines video metadata with other video viewership data to determine when to show videos among its top results.

Broadly speaking, search works because bots (web crawlers) crawl every single page on the Internet to determine its suitability for search results based on two inputs: text content and backlinks. Because bots cannot automatically crawl videos, and backlinks are irrelevant to video search, search engines must rely on text data associated with the video. 

This is where metadata becomes important to determine which videos provide the best results for a search query.

7. Utilize Social Media Platforms

At the beginning of this article, we discussed how publisher websites contribute to only 22% of the viewership. Social media has already become the most popular medium for news consumption. 

For publishers, simply posting a link isn't enough. Here is what they need to do:

  • Stand out from the crowd: repeating the same information will not pique anyone’s interest. Publishers must use compelling storytelling, solid hooks, credible information, and engaging visuals to stop the scroll.

Source: Instagram (NYT and The Economist)

    • Competing content: Establishing a competitive edge against well-established social media pages can be challenging for emerging publishers.

      If you want viewers to pause the scroll and watch your content, you must go beyond the age-old practice of merely sharing article links or using clickbait. Post engaging creatives, concise tweets, and visually captivating short videos paired with compelling hooks.

      Each snippet or visual should be carefully curated to resonate with the audience and leave a lasting impression, compelling them to delve deeper into the full content.

  • Leverage social media features: Most platforms provide exclusive features such as story reactions, polls, highlights, broadcast channels, etc., to help users engage with content quickly. Publishers must leverage these features to build an active follower base or community and engage the audience.

  • Active users are more important than the number of followers: prioritize building a community of active users who engage rather than merely increasing followers. During the initial stages, focus on building professional relationships with fellow content creators, expanding your network, and engaging with your audience in the comments. Users will likely become loyal followers when you value their efforts and contributions.

8. Experiment With Different Ad Formats

Test various ad formats, such as pre-roll, mid-roll, and post-roll ads, to see which ones perform best with your audience and yield the highest CPMs.

Image source: Adpushup

Linear ads can be displayed between videos suited for sports and beauty brands, entertainment, EdTech, and FinTech. This is the preferred choice of marketers and can be further categorized into pre-roll, mid-roll, and post-roll ads.

Non-linear video Ads run along with the video content without any interruption. Clicking pauses the video content and redirects the user to the target website. These also suit most business verticals because they are unobtrusive, which makes them perfect for live event streams. 

Companion ads are another type that offers both linear and non-linear features. They come in different sizes and can be text, static image display ads, or rich media. Learn more about video ads.

Summary

With online videos reaching 92% of all internet users worldwide, it's no surprise that this format is set to dominate information consumption. As advertising budgets outpace other media forms, publishers have a prime opportunity to capitalize on the power of video. Now is the time for publishers to streamline workflows, refine monetization strategies, leverage AI, and scale their online video presence.