The Importance of Brand-Name Content in 2009

Registered users? Pageviews? Application installs? Forget about ‘em.

In the ongoing recession that will last well in 2009 (and quite possibly beyond), your metrics will mean far less to some advertisers than your brand. Sure, ad spend will still make it to publishers with huge audiences but in 2009, publishers offering brand-name content will have a measurable advantage over publishers who aren’t.

If you find yourself in the unfortunate position of being dependent upon advertising for the majority of your revenue and find yourself in the even more unfortunate position of being dependent upon display advertising, your content is likely to have a huge impact on how well you do.

Right now, it’s easier for many advertisers to justify cutting a $50,000 check to a publisher with 250,000 uniques/month who is offering brand-name content than it is to justify cutting a $50,000 check to a publisher with 1 million uniques/month who has nothing in the name of brand-name content. This, of course, favors bonafide media properties over social media properties.

Make no mistake about it: when it comes to ad spend in 2009, you’re going to hear a lot about “flight to quality.” Yes, expect PPC to hold up better than CPM and expect experimental budgets to be amongst the first to get cut. But don’t fool yourself into believing that it’s all about a “flight to quality.” Many advertisers will be fleeing to comfortability, plausibility and justifiability.

Properties that offer brand-name content have the benefit of less perceived risk, greater perceived exclusivity and higher perceived value. Operative keyword: “perceived.” Even if these perceptions aren’t entirely accurate, perception is reality and lower perceived risk, greater perceived exclusivity and higher perceived value may not necessarily reflect actual “quality”, they do create comfort and plausible deniability, often making it easier to justify a buy.

If you’re an online publisher and you have brand-name content, your brand, not your metric, may be your most important selling point this year. Use it. It may mean the difference between getting a piece of an existing advertiser’s smaller ad budget or not and the difference between getting a prospective advertiser to listen to your pitch or not.