rethinking media & marketing for the connected era
TRANSCRIPT
Rethinking Media & MarketingFor the Connected EraPresented by Adam OstrowChief Strategy Officer, Mashable
Introduction
• Joined Mashable in 2007 as Editor in Chief.
• Authored 2,500+ articles for Mashable.
• Oversee content, bizdev and monetization strategy at Mashable..
The consumption, distribution and monetization models of media are being radically disrupted.
The State of Digital Media: 2005Mashable’s Beginnings
• There was no iPhone
• There was no YouTube
• There was no Twitter
• Facebook was college-only
• Mashable’s traffic: 60%+ via search
• Online ad revenue: $12.5 billion (US)
Mashable and Adam in 2005A Different Time!
The State of Digital Media: 2013Mashable Is a Major Media Company
• Nearly half of mobile users own smartphones
• YouTube: 3 billion video views per day
• Twitter: 400 million tweets per day
• Facebook: 1 billion users, $60 billion market value
• Mashable’s traffic: ~ 30% via search
• Online ad revenue: $31 billion (US, 2011)
Connected devices are profoundly changing the way people consume content.
Connected Devices GrowthMobile Is Marginalizing the Desktop
Mashable’s Mobile AudienceThe Evolving Connectivity Ecosystem
Mashable is now access by more than 2,500 unique devices each month!
• Mobile traffic to Mashable has grown by 180% since 2010.
• Mobile now represents 1/3rd of Mashable’s audience.
• Rise of larger smartphones and smaller tablets = more screen sizes than ever.
Mobility and MashableA Rapid Growth Story
Mashable grew 7.5x faster on mobile devices than on desktop
in 2012.
Mobility Impacts EverythingConnected Devices and Consumer Experiences
TVs Cars Outdoor
KitchenHealthFashion
Social media is evolving to meet the needs of mobile consumers.
Mobile Is DifferentAnd It Has Major Implications
• Smaller screen sizes reward brevity and visuals.
• Device functionality = new social functionality (camera, GPS, etc.)
• Mobile as a second screen accelerates real-time media and marketing.
• The majority of Facebook and Twitter users are on mobile.
A More Visual Social WebVisual-First Networks
A More Visual Social WebTwitter & Facebook: Can You Tell The Difference?
Facebook Twitter
Visuals Drive Results on the Social WebHigher Engagement Than Other Forms of Media
Visuals Drive Results on MashableHigher Engagement Than Other Forms of Media
Photos lift engagement by 8x on Mashable’s Facebook!
Mobile and social have leveled the playing field for media consumers and producers.
Self-Publishing Goes MainstreamTechnology Lets Anyone Be a Content Creator
Low-Cost ProductionEveryone Can Be a Content Creator
When do you think we'll be able to shoot full movies on a cell phone in good quality?
“I think we're very, very close. The power of the computers inside your smartphone is incredible and can do tremendous things.”
-- Danny Boyle, Director
Financed By FansCrowdfunding Dictates What Gets Made
Movies Gaming
Rent vs Own ModelsContent Lives in the Cloud
TV Music
Pay What You WantThe Changing Relationship Between Artists & Fans
Demand-Based DistributionKnowing Where The Fans Are
Theaters
New Data SourcesForget the Traffic Helicopter
Local TV
Social and mobile have required Mashable to rethink its business.
The Mobile Monetization GapAd Dollars Have Been Slow to Catch Up
• Mobile: Both content and ads are optimized for every platform with responsive design.
• Social: Content is organized by social velocity and optimized for sharing.
• Visual: Social sites are going visual; images are shared 2X more than links.
The New MashableMobile, Social, Visual
• Ads live in-stream
• Ads are optimized for every screen size
• Ads are sold across every platform
• Infinite scroll eliminates “below the fold” placements
• Ads are content
Rethinking Display Advertising Mobile, Social, Visual
Delivering ResultsMobile, Social, Visual
• New traffic records in Jan. ‘13: 25MM unique visitors, 120MM pageviews
• Pages per visit on mobile up 85%
• Time spent on mobile up 30%
• Performance on mobile ads improved 2-3x
• Performance on desktop ads nearly doubled.
Brands are turning to content to win in today’s digital landscape.
Brands as Content CreatorsAn Old Idea Transformed for the Digital Age
THEN NOW
10M Livestreams
300K Likes
8M Video Views
Why Content?An Elegant Solution For Today’s Landscape
•Content lives in the stream with stories, photos, video, etc.
•Content gets shared by social media users
•Content helps build following and engagement on social sites
•Content + social is the future of search
•Content is inherently cross-platform
•Content + native advertising drives performance
Social AlgorithmsThe World Is Getting Reorganized by Social
• Organic Facebook posts by brands only reach 17% of subscribers.
• Search engines increasingly use social signals to rank results.
• Aggregators like Flipboard, Pulse and News.me use social signals to organize news.
Native AdvertisingThe Business Model of Social
SponsoredStories
PromotedTweets
PromotedVideos
Why Native?It’s the Winning Format on Social
"With Promoted Tweets, we've seen engagement rates from 1 to 3 percent on average. On mobile, the engagement rates are even higher."
“As measured by click-through rates, Sponsored Stories in News Feed perform multiple times better on both desktop and mobile than ads in the right-hand column.”
“What we find is that when you’re in that content, you get far superior click-through rates. We’ve seen three to five times as high.”
Mashable helps brands become premium content creators and optimize social distribution.
Female Founders Series Leaders in Digital Series Tails and Rails
What’s Inside Extraordinary EntrepreneursSeries
Global Innovation Series
A Win-Win ScenarioMatching Brand Interests With Reader Interests
The Publisher’s RolePublishers Help Brands Become Content Creators
To promote the launch of IE9, Microsoft came to Mashable to create the web series “Behind the Launch”:
•16 original episode docuseries + behind the scenes + supporting content + community events
•50,000+ video streams
•Average viewer watched 3 mins, 15 secs
•53,000+ social shares across multiple platforms
•4,200+ Tweets of custom hashtag #BehindTheLaunch
Integrated CampaignsContent + Community Lifts Overall Performance
Custom Content + Native AdvertisingDriving Audience and Engagement
Mashable Lift Units get 1.5-2.0% CTRs
Mashable Custom Content gets 50% more engagement than organic content.
Improves performance of display ads by 2-3x
… And Powering Brand-Owned ChannelsBrands Have Massive Distribution Platforms, Too
Real-time marketing is the next evolution of mobile, social and native advertising.
Super Bowl XLVIIThe Lights Go Out; A New Marketing Buzzword Is Born
Real-Time MarketingBeing Relevant In the Moment
Mashable Social LiftAmplifying Brand’s Social Assets
PhotoVideo
Vine
Here’s What to Do Next …
Keys For a Successful FutureHow to Future-Proof For Mobile + Social
•Design for an optimal experience on every device.
•Develop an expertise in speaking to your brand’s values; not its products.
•Create content that drives engagement across social platforms.
•Organize your teams to take advantage of real-time marketing opportunities.
•Amplify your brand assets with native advertising solutions.