Image sourced from- http://www.guardian.co.uk/media-network/media-network-blog/2013/jul/19/mail-online-affiliate-marketing-publishers
Can affiliate marketing provide a new source of revenue for newspaper publishers?
The last 5 years has had a strain on the publishing of newspapers, forcing them to consider different commercial strategies. Although print advertising rates are declining, the original hard back print is still their main source of revenue.
Print publishing has become a struggle as social media sites like Facebook and Twitter have encouraged citizens to become their own journalists, posting personal versions of the news on their social sites. The need to look to a newspaper for the latest news and stories is declining. Why go out and buy a newspaper, when you can log online and get the information for free anytime and anywhere? How to monetise online publishing has become print publishing’s latest conquest. The biggest struggle with this is the fact that the publishers who ask for subscribers to pay for their information know that the same information can be found somewhere else on the web for free, and so do consumers.
To try and combat this, the Mail Online has confirmed they will be becoming an affiliate marketing partner. This means that along with the articles they post, links to third party websites will be attached. As an example, if a story was to be written about a celebrity with an image of an outfit, a link to the website where these shoes/dress/trouser can be purchased will also be provided with this. If it results in a sale, then the Mail Online receives the commission.
Although affiliate marketing has been a successful venture for a large number of companies for years, the Mail Online is thought to be the first national newspaper publisher to use this to monetise their content. Publishers have avoided this approach in the past as questionable editorial integrity has been viewed as a worry. “Can they keep the lines between commercial gain and editorial independence completely clear?”- http://www.guardian.co.uk/media-network/media-network-blog/2013/jul/19/mail-online-affiliate-marketing-publishers
I personally think this is a good move for the Mail Online as online shopping itself has become very popular. As long as the Mail Online continues to write content of value to their consumers then this approach can only be a success. The commercial links will simply be an add-on of the content, nothing more.
This will not completely fix the challenges print publishing face, however it is a step in the right direction.
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