Audience Doctor

Too many B2B media founders keep audience data too close to the chest. Their companies would benefit if more employees had access to it. What the biggest media companies do Two weeks ago, I was at the AMO Summit, a great conference for media operators. I loved the panel with Amanda Landsaw, CMO at EndeavorB2B, and Tracy Ziemer, VP of Audience Development at Hearst Newspapers. The former is one of the largest B2B media companies, the latter one of the largest B2C media companies.

Many founders dream of selling their media companies one day. Let’s take a look at how audience data can help with that. Tell buyers who is reading Buyers will want to know who your audience is. For two reasons. 1) Your audience is a central part of what the buyer gets. The quality of the audience determines the buyer’s ability to drive revenue. A) If the buyer runs a media business or wants to continue running yours.

Audience data is powerful. Publishers with audience data are the ones that thrive. Audience data helps with monetization, retention, content, and growth. Let’s dive into how B2B media companies make money with audience data. Case studies Industry Dive I’ve never seen a company that uses audience data better than Industry Dive. They are masters at using it to monetize their audiences. Nobody does it better. And that paid off: Sean Griffey sold Industry Dive for $525 million.

You probably have reader segments that you aren’t serving or monetizing well yet. Almost every media company does. Today we’ll explore how to grow your revenue by monetizing these segments better. Never miss an article! Subscribe to have all articles delivered to your inbox. Subscribe Recap of part 1 As you look through your audience, you’ll notice audience segments that you could provide a better experience to (= serving them better) and make more money from (= monetizing better).

You probably have reader segments that you aren’t serving or monetizing well yet. There’s huge potential in identifying them and serving them better. In this two-part series, we’ll cover how to do that. Audience segments Every audience can be broken down into segments. Segments are groups of people who read your content and share certain traits. Segmentation example Jacob Donnelly is the founder of A Media Operator, a publication covering the media industry.

Logo clouds are part of many media kits and newsletter signup pages. For good reason! They add social proof. They make people trust you. What logo clouds help with They show advertisers that you have the people they want to reach. They show potential readers that your content is worth reading. It’s crazy how much we, as humans, base our judgment on what other people think. Image source: CRE Daily

To make a media business successful, you need great content. Your content decides whether you succeed or fail. To stand out, you need insider information that nobody else has. Luckily, your audience data can help with that. How Matt Brown does it Matt Brown is the founder of Extra Points, a newsletter covering the business of college sports. The college sports industry is always changing. Matt, being the great reporter that he is, wants the latest information straight from the source.

Events are a great way to monetize a B2B audience. In this article, we’ll explore how to make your events great. Part 1 of this two-part series focused on the bigger picture, revenue, sponsorships, and getting attendees. If you haven’t read it yet, check it out first. Where to organize your events Host your events wherever your target audience is. If everyone in your industry is traveling to a big conference, consider hosting a dinner there.

Events are one of the best ways to monetize a B2B audience. Sponsors love them and are willing to pay A LOT for events. Media operators can earn a lot of money from them. This is the first part in a two-part series on how to organize events. Mostly metrics CFO dinners CJ Gustafson is the founder of Mostly metrics, a newsletter for finance professionals. A year ago, he launched a dinner series for CFOs.

What if you could sell 10 annual paid subscriptions to your content at once? Matt Brown from Extra Points has done it. Jacob Donnelly from A Media Operator has done it. The trick is getting companies to buy group subscriptions for their employees. Extra Points Matt Brown is the founder of Extra Points, a newsletter covering the business of college sports. When Matt sells group subscriptions, he sells to athletics departments and sports management departments at universities.

Let’s talk about a less common way for B2B publications to monetize. I have multiple clients at Megahit who use this revenue stream to make money beyond ads. Audience data helps them do it. What they have in common: They are B2B newsletters covering specific industries. Pain point: recruiting As those publications grew, they noticed that companies in their industries struggled with recruiting. Companies are only as good as their employees.

Your audience data is your most powerful weapon when talking to advertisers. Nothing else will help you close as many deals as quickly. Kurtis Hanni from SMB FinanceOS used audience data to sell $50,000+ in ads within just a few weeks. CJ Gustafson from Mostly metrics used audience data to double sponsorship rates overnight. CJ’s story Before CJ Gustafson had good audience data, he struggled to sell ads. His content was top-notch.

I know B2B media companies that have made $100,000+ using one technique. It’s so simple—anyone can do it. In B2B media, it delivers amazing results. The technique is based on the following observation: Your readers are your best advertisers. Why are my readers the best advertisers? Let’s imagine one of your readers. Someone who opens your newsletter every time you send it. A true fan. They know the value you deliver.