Diversifying Revenue Streams for Your Digital Publication

Written by Matt Berringer

September 8, 2022

Advertising is the primary source of revenue for many magazines. While advertising has long served as a way to earn income, limiting yourself to this sole revenue stream can be ineffective and risky. If you’ve recently transitioned your publication to the digital space, you can achieve financial stability and boost revenue by diversifying your publishing revenue. 

Revenue diversification is the process of establishing more than one core source of income. By investing in different opportunities, you can better combat market volatility, reduce business risks and increase your publication’s visibility across markets. You can better diversify your publication’s earnings by leveraging new revenue streams for publishers.

Alternative Revenue Streams for Publishers

Constant economic changes have made it challenging to predict which revenue channels will be most successful at any given time. That’s why spreading your monetization strategies across numerous revenue streams is vital. Luckily, you have an endless pool of options to diversify your publishing revenue as an online publisher.

Consider the following methods if you’re looking to leverage new revenue streams for your digital publication.

Subscriptions

The subscription economy is currently valued at $275 billion and is expected to reach a market size of $904.28 billion by 2026. If your online magazine has a loyal following and produces a high volume of original content, subscriptions may serve as a valuable source of revenue for your organization. 

Most readers expect digital content to be free, so many digital publications have begun offering free limited access to their content to encourage readers to sign up for subscriptions to gain complete access. Some magazines even provide subscriber-only content to attract more customers. 

By consistently producing high-quality content for your magazine subscribers, you can better cultivate customer loyalty.

Video and Display Advertising

Display advertising is a digital advertising method where a magazine publishes ads promoting a marketer’s brand, product or service through videos, images and text. These ads can appear on any page across your publication, enabling advertisers to build brand awareness and target specific audiences.

Video advertising is a form of display advertising that uses video content to communicate a brand’s message. When readers click on one of these ads, they are transported to the advertiser’s landing page. 

Video and display ads are ideal for attracting advertisers to your magazine while boosting customer engagement.

Native Advertising

Native advertising is a form of paid advertising where ads fit naturally within an online environment, matching the page’s appearance, feel and function. Native ads do not immediately come off as ads, exposing readers to promotional content without disrupting their user experience.

Since native ads promote higher click-through rates, engagement and impressions, marketers are typically willing to spend more on these placements. As a result, publishers see a higher effective cost per mile (eCPM) — the amount of revenue earned for every thousand ad impressions. 

Affiliate Marketing

If you specialize in a niche category or audience, affiliate marketing may be a great alternative revenue stream for your publication. Through affiliate marketing, publishers promote an advertiser’s product or service for a performance-based commission. That means that as the affiliate, your magazine makes money for every sale, lead, click, conversion or referral the advertiser gets.

In addition to earning revenue, affiliate marketing also allows you to connect your readers with high-quality products that reflect their interests and fulfill their needs. You increase customer loyalty while building long-term relationships with your favorite brands.

Data Monetization

Data monetization uses data to generate higher revenue by measuring its economic benefit. You can monetize several data types, such as behavior, user intent, survey, subscription or service information. 

There are two primary types of data monetization strategies — direct and indirect. Direct data monetization means selling data directly to third parties either in raw form or translated into useful insights. Through indirect monetization, you analyze your data to reveal insights you can use to improve your publication’s performance or discover new business opportunities.

Get the Most Out of Your Publication at Nxtbook Media

If you’re looking to leverage new revenue streams as a publisher, consider transforming your online publication with solutions from Nxtbook Media. 

We offer two innovative platforms for creatively showcasing your digital content — nxtbook4 converts your PDFs into interactive, high-resolution content, while PageRaft allows you to build engaging content experiences for any device. With our state-of-the-art tools, you can engage your readers for over seven minutes per visit.

Request a demo of one of our solutions, or contact us to get in touch with one of our experts!