The opportunity to profit from content has never been greater. Individuals around the world have built their empires by sharing unique details of their personal experiences for the world to see, all thanks to the internet. From food enthusiasts to entrepreneurs, fitness coaches to political figures, there are many new content creators across social media, video platforms, blogs, and email newsletters. Wherever there is a dedicated audience, there is a content creator ready to profit. In today’s industry, these celebrities are often referred to as “influencers.”
Key Ways to Profit from Content
In this article, I will outline the key ways that creators are earning from their content, and why one model might be superior to another. I will also reveal that the field of influencer marketing is not necessarily different from other types of content creation and marketing, highlighting the importance of partnerships to enhance your profit potential.
How is Profit from Content Achieved?
Content publishers – anyone who shares their content online, including influencers – can monetize their messages by partnering with brands. Brands want to understand the ways they can work with content creators, but it is not always a clear pathway to success for both parties. In fact, the term “influencer” eludes the majority. What exactly do they do, and how can brands initiate a relationship with them? How are they compensated? Well, the answers to these questions vary greatly, and in fact, there are several layers of content creators.
Content Monetization Models
The most common model for monetizing content is paid posts, where the content publisher is compensated with a flat fee for posting on behalf of the brand. This model aligns more closely with content creators who refer to themselves as influencers. The problem with limiting oneself to paid posts is that, much like roadside ads or television commercials, there’s no way to gauge how effectively the ad performs.
Unlike paid posts, performance-based models are built on a commission compensation framework, where the content publisher is paid a percentage of sales, or a bonus for desired actions – such as email sign-ups or app downloads. This model is more closely associated with affiliate marketing.
Common Monetization Mistakes Made by Most Influencers
To be a professional in this industry, you need to know how to distinguish yourself from others. As more people profit from their content, the competition for brands’ attention will continue to escalate. To win the hearts of brands and their money, here are three of the most common mistakes to avoid:
1. Media Kits and Vanity Metrics
Many content creators, especially those who refer to themselves as influencers, have what is called a media kit. However, the majority of media kits lack true substance. Media kits are meant to summarize what the creator offers to the brand. They are supposed to help the brand understand the partnership opportunity, but the majority don’t include the necessary information for the brand to understand the value of investing in the partnership.
A media kit includes models that portray the publisher’s value. The problem is that these models focus on what you might call vanity metrics.
Vanity metrics are things like average likes on a post, average engagement level, number of followers and readers, impressions on the blog, and number of visits. While this data can help the publisher understand their place in the industry, the brand only needs to know how effectively their ad spending translates based on both quantitative and qualitative data.
When
The content creator does not clarify the qualifications that the advertisement should know in order to appreciate the metrics of their investment, limiting the publisher’s work opportunities.
The advertisement wants to see data such as:
- Average click-through rate
- Average conversion rate
- Information about the target audience
- Behavioral data, such as audience interests and other brand links
It is also important to understand the needs of the audience, their pain points, challenges, and solutions that will improve their lives, whether that is in their daily lives, in business, in their profession, or on their upcoming vacation. The advertisement wants to see information about the types of brands and companies that the audience will respond to best. This level of analysis helps them understand the audience and how aligned they are with the brand and whether there is a strong partnership fit.
Ultimately, the advertisement is looking for one key metric: return on advertisement. This is not something that content creators can determine without an open line of communication with the advertisement they are collaborating with. However, it will help the publisher to be competitive among those who do not have this level of data.
Partnerships rely on a framework that includes giving and receiving, and it is important that both parties are accountable for performance. In light of this, sharing data before and after the campaign will enhance performance.
Understanding what the advertisement can expect from the exchange will move mountains in developing a profitable long-term partnership. There are other goals beyond sales that brands care about, and content creators can provide value in more than one way. Publishers can benefit from data that helps illustrate the value the brand will get from the partnership, such as the number of followers who become brand followers as a result of the promotion, the number of shares of the branded content, and the number of people who signed up for the brand’s newsletter.
Understanding how the audience interacts with the brand is crucial for building long-term partnerships and winning future clients. Including this level of data in the media package will be a game changer. Focus less on vanity metrics and more on the benefits that the brand can expect.
2. Defining Yourself as an “Influencer”
The second mistake content creators make is defining themselves as “influencers,” “affiliate marketers,” or anything in between. True, “influencer” sounds more appealing than “content creator with a large audience who monetizes the content they post on behalf of brands.” But “influencer” carries connotations that the publisher is only open to one specific profit model, which can be very limiting for brands, deterring them from engaging in any partnership at all.
In contrast, “affiliate marketer” has a reputation tied to a word that many cannot shake off. It does not carry the same power and means that the affiliate marketer is less focused on delivering content and more focused on promotional means, such as paid media marketing.
Nevertheless, affiliate marketing is a highly sought-after and profitable marketing channel that has an impact on the brand. But this has not always been the case, and unfortunately, the title carries some negative connotations in the minds of those who do not understand its full nature. For this reason, referring to yourself as an affiliate marketer may indicate that your work is not as valuable as the work of an influencer. The difference between the influencer and the affiliate marketer
To clarify, influencers typically collaborate for a flat fee for their content, and they are generally contracted by the advertisement to create brand awareness. This type of content tends to be more “above the table” in nature, and less accountable for business results.
In contrast, an affiliate marketer typically earns from their content through a performance model, where they are paid a pre-agreed percentage of the sales or leads or downloads they refer to the advertisement. This model focuses more on “below the table” marketing, where the publisher is encouraged to close the deal. The beauty of this model is that their unique tracking link helps the advertisement accurately determine its value, and over time, the relationship between the two parties can evolve into a highly profitable partnership. “Brands don’t care if you’re an influencer, an affiliate marketer, a brand ambassador, or something in between. The bottom line is that if you’re providing information, education, empowerment, or inspiration to the audience, you’re valuable to the brand, and they’re more likely to invest in you if you have the right data to show them what their advertising returns will look like.”
3.
Limit Yourself to One Model for Profiting from Content
Regardless of how you choose to define your profession, there are many different models through which brand partnerships can be achieved. What advertisers really want to know is whether they will meet their goals by investing in a content creator. Will the advertisement achieve its specified marketing objectives? Will they gain new customers, an increase in sales, new subscriptions, or app downloads? In the end, whether in the short or long term, will sales outweigh the cost of the creator’s content?
With the performance marketing model, advertisers only pay for the direct value they receive. With paid posts, advertisers pay to create content without knowing the value of the return. Moreover, it is much harder for brands to track the value from paid posts since they typically do not include referral links to the brand’s product page.
Brands are beginning to request more influencers. Although the industry is still at a stage where fixed fees are a common compensation practice, advertisers are increasingly turning to commission-based marketing models where publishers are compensated only when the desired action is taken by the brand. The performance model can be mutually beneficial.
So, why are most influencers hesitant to adopt the commission model?
- Paid posts remain the dominant style, especially on platforms where linking is difficult (like Instagram).
- Fixed fees are predictable and more comfortable for publishers who are often unfamiliar with other models.
- What influencers will earn is already defined in front of them. They do not know how much they will earn in commission from the post since they do not know their performance metrics or audience data. Content development takes time and in many cases money. It is easier to justify developing high-quality content when profit expectations are clearly outlined.
So how should you profit from content? The Power of Partnership
Working with brands as a partner rather than just a transactional deal will lead to better results. Identify what both of you need from the relationship and come to a pricing model that achieves the highest possible success for both.
It’s not just about choosing one model to profit from content or another, but about being open to both or considering the benefits of a mixed model. Mixed models allow for an initial investment from the brand, where your efforts are compensated upfront.
This initial investment will be less than the total usual fixed fee for a paid post because the remaining compensation will be in the form of commission. This means you can also reap the rewards of profiting from content in the long run, as there is no limit to how much your content can earn. The decision depends on your data, the brand’s goals, and the strength of the partnership between you. If you are publishing content, you can make money.
As a content creator, you can profit more from your content by understanding your metrics. Don’t pay too much attention to vanity metrics (number of followers, likes, impressions, etc.), but understand how you provide value to the brand you are promoting. If you don’t have solid data to boast about yet, focus on the qualitative benefits of your audience reach, their characteristics, their willingness to visit the brands you share with them, and the type of content they enjoy seeing.
Regardless of how you choose to define yourself, whether as an influencer, affiliate marketer, or content creator, if you are publishing content, you can make money. Great partnerships are built on providing a strong experience. This means you should consider the value you provide to your audience while understanding how you can achieve the goals of the brand you are promoting. It is up to you and the brand to determine how to best profit, and the only way to do this well is to understand your audience through the performance and behavioral data that you can share instantly.
Does
Does your content educate and empower entrepreneurs? Join Shopify’s affiliate marketing program!
Source: https://www.shopify.com/partners/blog/content-monetization
Leave a Reply