{"id":42520,"date":"2023-10-20T15:21:48","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:21:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/medium-continues-its-march-towards-native-advertising-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:21:48","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:21:48","slug":"medium-continues-its-march-towards-native-advertising-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/medium-continues-its-march-towards-native-advertising-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Medium continues its march towards native advertising – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
With over 20,000 people writing posts to the site each week, Medium is now looking for a way to help these writers make some money, while also monetising the business.<\/p>\n
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In an extensive interview with the Verge<\/i>, Medium CEO Evan Williams details Medium\u2019s plans for the future, including how they\u2019re preparing to incorporate native advertisers and partner writers with brands.<\/p>\n
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This will turn Medium into a \u201ctool for top-tier creative to get brand deals\u201d, and Williams says the \u201cbuilding blocks\u201d for this process are already on the platform.<\/p>\n
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\u201cOur vision is to connect quality creators with brands who may want to work with them,\u201d Williams tells the Verge<\/i>.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt\u2019s more than for us to necessarily sell ads and give every writer a few pennies.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Through this process, Medium would act as a go-between of sorts, helping to vet certain writers and then put them into contact with the brands.<\/p>\n
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\u201cTons of brands use it, there\u2019s tons published every day,\u201d Williams says.<\/p>\n
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\u201cFrom non-profits, to brands, lots of big brands, small brands, individuals obviously.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Williams stresses that this is all still in a very early stage, with the specific details yet to be announced, but the move towards partnered and native advertising is clear now.<\/p>\n
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The site boasts 25 million unique monthly visitors and has raised $US82 million over the last three years, but Medium has long been on the hunt for a viable and sustainable business model.<\/p>\n
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This year it moved away from producing its own original content, slashing its freelance budget.<\/p>\n
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In the interview, Williams also listed some other ways to monetise the platform.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThere\u2019s interesting things we could do around premium content and subscriptions,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
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\u201cA number of outlets are seeing success in that, even as stand-alone sites. Something like that is easy to imagine, and it\u2019s going to work a lot better on the platform.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Now that Medium has built a large following of writers, it\u2019s about making sure the best content gets unearthed, and making some money in the process.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of stuff you just don\u2019t see because you\u2019re not connected to it,\u201d Williams says.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe need to do a much better job ourselves of surfacing that. That\u2019s something we\u2019re spending more time on now.\u201d<\/p>\n
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