World information writer the Related Press (AP) launched a newly redesigned model of its web site Tuesday morning, a part of a broader effort from the information outlet to diversify its income by attracting extra direct promoting.
The writer at the moment generates roughly 80% of its income from content material licensing, an unorthodox mannequin that has shielded it from the business headwinds buffeting the trade.
The redesign will assist the group double the quantity of income it generates from promoting, from 5% to 10%, over the subsequent two years, in accordance with chief income officer Kristin Heitmann. The privately-held firm wouldn’t share specifics.
“We’re going by means of a metamorphosis,” Heitmann mentioned, “and we’re glad to say that digital promoting is part of that technique.”
The writer hopes the replace encourages extra direct media buys from advertisers, it at the moment generates roughly 85% of its advert stock from the open programmatic alternate.
Amongst different modifications, the brand new web site will extra prominently function images and video, incorporate a reside weblog to showcase breaking information, current extra methods to seize first-party information and spotlight life-style content material, like sports activities and leisure reporting, in accordance with government editor and senior vp Julie Tempo.
The redesign doesn’t introduce any new advert codecs or focusing on capabilities, however AP has plans to introduce these within the coming months. The up to date format will increase digital promoting income by growing visitors and dwell time, along with creating extra video promoting stock.
“To ensure that the AP to stay important, we have to have a take a look at kitchen for creating digitally optimized content material,” Tempo mentioned. “All the things we create and study there by way of partaking a digital viewers.”
A redesign by itself is unlikely to draw higher advert spend, particularly contemplating the AP’s emphasis on arduous information, which advertisers typically keep away from out of brand name security issues, mentioned Brian Morrissey, a media analyst and writer of The Rebooting publication.
However the face-lift represents step one of a bigger technique, which incorporates hiring a direct gross sales workforce—roughly seven headcount in the mean time—for the primary time within the 177-year historical past of the publication. The AP additionally hopes its robust monitor document of client belief and its underutilized sports activities and life-style reporting might spark curiosity from manufacturers, Tempo mentioned.
Extra visuals, blogs and life-style content material
When drafting designs for the brand new web site, the AP checked out viewers information to grasp which sorts of its content material most resonated with readers, in accordance with Tempo.
