Monetising digital audiences: Turning a marketing cost into a profitable business unit

Abstract

The fundamental changes that the comprehensive and transformational growth of digital has bought to almost all industries are resulting in the advent of brands and properties becoming media publishers/owners in their own right. This is the natural progression of investment in their digital platforms, content marketing and social media marketing, and there is a very real opportunity for brands to think like publishers to grow, engage and monetise their digital audiences, turning what was once perceived as a marketing cost into a profitable business unit in its own right. Doing so, as any media company (large or small, digitally native or not) can attest to, is no easy undertaking. This paper is a simple guide on how properties and brands can go about developing and monetising their digital platforms and audiences.