Seven digital publishing experts give their advice on managing changes from Coronavirus.
Coronavirus (COVID-19) has spread to over 146 countries and has disrupted the global economy, education system, and international travel. Life as we know it has nearly come to a halt as nations urge citizens to practice social distancing to slow the spread of the virus. Additionally, Ezoic is doing an industry-first by posting live updates to track how Coronavirus is affecting ad rates.
Today we’ll hear from these long-time publishers on how their businesses have been impacted.
CORONAVIRUS AND ITS EFFECTS ON REVENUE MODELS
Survey question: We have already seen major publications lift their paywalls to openly cover COVID-19 topics. Do you think the effects of COVID-19 will cause a shift in the types of revenue models websites use?
“No. Any time revenue or traffic falls, I’m concerned, but in the long run, I’m not. This is a temporary situation in my opinion.” — Jon Dykstra, Founder of Fat Stacks Blog
“Yes, because businesses will do whatever it takes to survive.” — Ron Stefanski, Founder of One Hour Professor
2020 REVENUE GROWTH VERSUS PREVIOUS YEARS
Survey question: Which form of revenue do you see growing most in 2020 compared to previous years?
There was an even split between publishers who see either programmatic advertising or affiliate links growing most in 2020.
While subscription models are becoming more common, in general, programmatic advertising and affiliate revenue are the two most popular ways for publishers to earn revenue.
Additionally, our top digital content trends in 2020 survey found that mixed-revenue models were the number one trend for publishers this year.
CORONAVIRUS CHALLENGES WITH DAY-TO-DAY BUSINESS
Survey question: How are you changing your day-to-day business to cope with Coronavirus challenges?
“I’m putting less emphasis on the travel part of my business.” — Sharon Gourlay, Founder of Dive Into Malaysia
“Attempting to hire people who are in lockdown or out of work. These people have more time and limited income.” — Ben Adler, Founder of Affiliate Niche Builders
“Actually, I’m trying to not change. I think people appreciate some amount of normalcy.” — Spencer Haws, Founder of Niche Pursuits
CORONAVIRUS AND ITS EFFECTS ON TRAFFIC AND REVENUE
Survey question: Are you concerned about how Coronavirus will affect traffic and revenue on your site(s)?
Six of the seven publishers said they were concerned with how Coronavirus will affect their traffic and revenue.
CORONAVIRUS AND ITS EFFECTS ON THE DIGITAL PUBLISHING INDUSTRY
Survey question: Are you concerned about how Coronavirus will affect ad rates for the digital publishing industry as a whole?
Over 50% of the publishers said they were concerned about how Coronavirus could affect ad rates for the digital publishing industry as a whole.
Our data has shown so far that ad rates for the first few weeks of March 2020 are only slightly lower than they were in 2019.
Source: EZOIC
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