Recently, Creighton Green, co-founder of Audience, joined the Branded Content Project's Big Branded Call to show media companies how Audience can help them manage and monetize their data effectively.
Green emphasized the importance of "owning" an audience, as social media algorithms make it difficult to reach followers. Audience specializes in incentivized data collection through tools like sweepstakes, quizzes, and polls, which help gather valuable data that businesses can use to better understand and target their customers. The company's goal is to consolidate tools and provide a comprehensive solution for media companies.
"Everything is built around that incentivized data collection. The tools we have that some of you use, it's constantly growing and evolving," he said.
Green also highlighted the value of zero-party data—information that customers willingly share—which enables companies to offer personalized content and targeted advertising. Audience's tools are designed to help businesses leverage this data and offer value in return, creating deeper customer connections and better marketing outcomes.
"The thing is, zero-party data, why it wins is because owning the largest database in a community gives you the ability to command those those higher rates. It it makes you more appealing," he shared.
He highlighted two key strategies for audience engagement and monetization that could work well for publishers of all sizes:
"Best of" Campaigns: These voting and nomination campaigns are highly effective for attracting new visitors who may not have previously interacted with your site. They provide a great opportunity to expand your audience and are consistently successful year over year, he said. Additionally, there are multiple ways to monetize such campaigns, making them a valuable tool for both engagement and revenue.
Keyword Contests: Originating in radio, these contests ask participants to listen for a keyword and submit it online, driving traffic to websites and encouraging signups. While radio is the traditional medium, this concept can be adapted for non-radio publishers through methods such as live video, social media, or scavenger hunts. The idea is that keyword contests work across different platforms and consistently drive engagement.
Green also shared examples of campaigns that collect user data and generate leads, such as:
Conditional Surveys: Used to gather insights on content consumption, such as what devices people use or when they consume content. These surveys are valuable for shaping content strategies.
RV Giveaway Campaign: Sponsored by an RV company, this campaign generated over 2,400 qualified leads by asking participants to answer questions before entering. The data collected was highly valuable to advertisers.
Fertility Clinic Campaign: This video submission contest engaged users by asking them to share their stories, creating months of content and educating the audience about fertility treatments. Even those who didn’t win received follow-up offers, creating additional value for the clinic.
"Pay Someone's Mortgage" Sweepstakes: A national campaign run by Salem Media that generated nearly $200k in revenue. Participants were asked for household income, providing valuable data for advertisers, and bonus entries were offered for app downloads.
Green discussed the importance of campaigns looking and feeling like a brand's own content rather than resembling third-party tools. He emphasizes that branded content should match the publisher’s style, colors, and fonts to increase user engagement.
"Any campaign needs to look and feel like your brand," he said. "It shouldn't look like Audience, and it shouldn't look like an other vendors you're using."
Campaigns now have the flexibility to live within different parts of a webpage, such as ad units, inline between paragraphs, or through location-based pop-ups.
Quizzes, surveys, or polls can be integrated naturally into articles, making them more engaging and increasing conversion rates. He stressed the value of gathering actionable data from campaigns, like demographics and user behavior, which can then be used for future advertising opportunities. Green provides examples, such as QR code campaigns tied to physical locations like car washes or conferences, and mentions the growing importance of branded content with integrated data collection methods.
Integrating data collection platforms like BlueConic, HubSpot, and Salesforce in media campaigns can add value. Many advertisers seek leads, opt-ins, and database building, and having ready integrations adds significant value to media companies. It not only ensures efficient, secure, and compliant data transfers but also allows real-time lead delivery, which is crucial to advertisers. This capability enables media companies to ask for higher fees since it’s something many competitors don’t offer.
Don't miss the next Big Branded Call, featuring Maine Trust for Local News! Register here.
The Branded Content Project is designed through a strategic partnership between the Meta Journalism Project, Local Media Association and the Local Media Consortium to help facilitate additional growth, engagement, and revenue success for more publishers of all shapes and sizes.
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