We have a big announcement from Distributed Media Lab, our content and technology fulfillment partner, that will be a benefit to media outlets selling and placing our 10 lifestyle branded content series!
During our Big Branded Call in June, Dave Gehring, CEO of Distributed Media Lab (DML), announced that they would be moving to a subscription service model this summer. This means instead of paying per ad campaign and per downloadable series, publishers will be billed monthly in a payment tier that matches your usage of the services. The only services that will not be included in the subscription plan are commissioned original articles and Facebook media buys.
"Really our goal with this change was to streamline the process, and hopefully reduce the payment for you all, as we try and grow this local media business," Gehring said.
As DML implements the new subscription service, they'll also make available new features in the DML marketplace including automated ordering, billing and ad campaign analytics. Over time more new features will be released, including a new CMS that will allow you to AMP your own content.
Most of the media companies currently selling our content series will have pricing reduced. For example, you will be able to take out two ad campaigns for the price of one. The simplified billing means DML will no longer bill ad campaigns based on impressions giving you a predictable and consistent monthly billing structure. Plus, you can order content easily online.
As you can see, there are several levels of subscription pricing detailed above. With the Basic level, if you've sold Finances FYI, you can sell a second content collection, like Parenting Today, and run two campaigns for $250 a month, cutting your cost in half! DML will continue to provide custom content when requested, and can buy Facebook traffic to the collection or article featured in your ad campaign.
In addition to this announcement, we also heard from the rest of the Meta Branded Content Project team on ways to secure new revenue the second half of 2022.
Peter Lamb reminded everyone that as a seller you need to always think like the customer and let them do the majority of the talking. He recommends asking your clients what their focus is on the second half of the year. Is it getting new customers or increasing customer spend from existing customers? However they answer, you've now got a roadmap to the remainder of 2022.
Lamb also recommends asking your clients how your media outlet is doing and what you can do specifically to better serve their needs. For those very good clients that you feel comfortable with, Lamb says ask them to grade you as a sales rep so you can see how you're doing.
"They grade you 7, 8, 9 - you're good to go. If they give you a 4, 5, 6 you know you need to do better," Lamb said.
We also did a sample sales role play so reps can get a better understanding of how to present one of our content series to a client. Check it out here!
Don't want to miss our next Big Branded Call? Corey Elliott from Borrell & Associates will be going over new content marketing research that can help you close your next deal. Sign up here.
The Meta 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.