Mapping through the globe (incl. cities – Dubai, Monaco, Delhi, Bangalore & Chicago), building the publishers community and gathering insights, we hosted the final event of the year in Thailand.
Publishers from the APAC region got together in Phuket, Thailand for our in-person event ‘First Fold’. During a series of discussions, they hashed out steps and various strategies to optimise their monetisation strategies.
The event hosted over 20 ad tech experts from Times Internet, NDTV, Tribune, Essentially Sports, IndiaForums, to name a few. It presented an array of topical discussions around the current industry scenario, best publisher monetization strategies for growth.
Read More: AdTech Experts Share Ad Revenue Tips for Q4 2022
An open forum called ‘Publisher’s Perspective’ led by Shashank Mudgal, Manager- PubDev Representative at AdPushup outlined the importance of quality content, eCPMs and optimisation of monetisation strategies through external partners.
The event also served as a platform for a panel discussion moderated by Hitesh Datta, Publisher Development Manager at AdPushup on the current state of the industry and its future going into 2023 and beyond.
It came to a closing with a Fireside chat between Jaskirat Arora, Co-founder and Content Head at Essentially Sports & Dikshant Joshi, Director- Publisher Development at AdPushup.
We heard from leading publishers including:
- Savita Gupta, Senior Manager at Times Internet
- Bazam Jasim, Head of Business Operations at Meaww
- Shard Sharma, Chief Digital Business at The Tribune Trust
- Jaskirat Singh Arora, Co-Founder and Content Head at EssentiallySports
- Kamal Zafar, Strategic programmatic Business at Jagran Media
- Dinesh Joshi, VP at NDTV
- Vijay Bhatter, Founder and Owner at India Forums,
- Kodanda Raman, Head of Advertising Operations at OneIndia,
- Joshua Bell, Digital Operations at NRL,
- Christoph Eilers, Founder at Pricepony
- Kunal Singla, Business Head at Amar Ujala.
Attendees gained insightful recommendations to strengthen their monetisation and growth strategies.
Content is King:
“We must band together and change the ecology so that it works for us rather than the other way around. The secret to doing this is having high-quality content. The adage ‘Content is King’, is well known. ”
– Savita Gupta, Senior Manager at Times Internet
Adding to the discussion, Shard said:
Anyone can produce and create content, quality is what matters, that adds value to users’ consumption.
– Shard Sharma, Chief Digital Business at The Tribune Trust
Others also emphasised on the importance of quality, consistency and the distribution of content.
Tackling the Q1 Slump – Testing and Iteration:
After a successful festive season, publishers in every segment experience a revenue drop- a common but major impact for the first few weeks of January. Our experts shared their experiences with the Q1 revenue drop:
“There is no need to panic unless there is a significant drop in traffic.”
– Vijay Bhatter, Founder and Owner at India Forums
“Evaluate your industry and take risks accordingly. Something might work for one brand might not work for another. Focus energies in the right direction & Cut down liabilities.”
– Pankaj Kumar, Founder and CEO, AskPython
“January, February & March is the right time for A/B testing and setting the course for the rest of the year.”
– Savita Gupta
Diversification of Revenue:
‘Don’t put all your eggs in one basket’- a very famous and old saying. This lays the foundation of diversification- a process formed primarily as a safety net to reduce risks.
For publishers, this is an extremely useful tactic to cut losses as well as ensuring a sustainable cash flow.
“Apps are a good way to diversify your traffic but it requires separate app development teams for Android & iOS. Progressive Web Apps (PWA) is the solution to that. PWA is a good source to diversify your traffic as it is built to take advantage of all the native device features without having users visit the app store and download the app/software on the device.”
– Jaskirat Singh Arora, Co-Founder and Content Head at EssentiallySports
Highlighting the importance of distribution channels, Bazam said:
“A common practice that publishers do is monetize all their distribution channels in pretty much similar manner. Now figuring out the right data metrics and understanding how users behave across these channels can help monetize these distribution channels effectively. I think that is something publishers should focus more on moving forward.”
– Bazam Jasim, Head of Business Operations at Meaww
What’s Coming – the future of Digital Advertising?
2023 will be a tough year; publishers must focus on strengthening the relationship with their consumers as well as partners. Introducing new content strategies- find the alignment between what will help drive engagement and traffic.
During the fireside chat, Jaskirat said, “Every crisis is an opportunity. However, sticking to your core product is what will scale the growth.”
APAC publishers are predicting a slower growth period in the coming year rather than a recession.
Nevertheless publishers are hopeful that this slump period can be best utilised by diversifying and testing different things whether it is content, distribution channels or monetisation opportunities.
Shubham is a digital marketer with rich experience working in the advertisement technology industry. He has vast experience in the programmatic industry, driving business strategy and scaling functions including but not limited to growth and marketing, Operations, process optimization, and Sales.
