• Publisher Strategies

12 Content Remarketing Playbooks For Editors

Last updated on Mar 28, 2024

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12 Content Remarketing Playbooks For Editors

Content = King.

Is it really though? I mean it did rule the media world for decades but how do you get along with the fact that 50%+ queries on Google Search result in 0 clicks today? And then for the rest 50, where the internet turns out to be that deafeningly loud cocktail party? With noises floating all over SERP, one can fearlessly admit that content is no longer the king. It has become a commodity that is so much easier to create than ever. And that, in a way, makes:

Distribution = Queen. 

dave marketing

Ever thought why the greatest geniuses of all times were left undiscovered? Or what makes any art, business or a service go viral? You can not afford to take the distribution for granted. For it is after all what converts your content into $s. Fun fact - approx. 96% of the visitors coming to your website leave without completing the action that you wanted them to take. Marketing content gives you a second chance to make that first impression! And the third! And even the fourth. You know what, you get to engage the audience till it enters and completes one full cycle of your visitor’s flywheel:

Visitors-flywheelSo where do you start marketing? Can not simply post it under the umbrella of the  Duopoly for obvious reasons. But if not Facebook and Google, what else can help a publisher keep the show running, but this time, with sustainability?

Owned Audience = Queen’s newborn who's about to rule the media world. 

Each time a new user lands on Google, it is prompted to share the “identity and permissions” with the platform in order to access its content. This sole difference places the audience ownership (most premium asset in the publishing ecosystem) right in the palms of these platforms. 

But wait. Who called audience ownership the most premium asset? And, why the heaven, should you take my word for the truth? You might be foreseeing other trends as the priority and audience control might not be one of those. So, how about I prove it to you that the platforms targeting the same audience - your audience - with data personalized enough to be considered clearly out of your reach, are going big after this “audience control”?

Alright. 

Fan Subscription, a tool owned by Facebook Inc, takes 30% revenue share from publishers and allows them to put a paywall on their content. Fans pay recurring payments on a monthly basis and are rewarded with perks such as exclusive content, personal interactions, and badges. The subscription process is simple - there will be a subscription prompt. It will take the fans to the publisher website from Facebook and the publisher will enjoy the audience ownership where Facebook gets its preset 30% cut. Life is good.

Now here’s where I find things getting gloomy or amusing, if I may. A few months back, Facebook announced a new tool that will essentially be identical to Fans Subscriptions. But, the key difference would be that it’ll convert a Facebook user into a paying subscriber directly on Facebook. 

Let me get this straight, Facebook is rolling out a new paywall tool that is identical to the last one and doesn’t bring any $s home. Wondered why?

The subscribers collected by News Funding will be owned by Facebook. And, life won’t be so good after that.

BTW, it’s not just Facebook, there has been a 20% decline in the organic clicks of the Search in the last 3 years. 50% of queries get answered on SERPs itself, and out of rest 50%, Google is sending 12% to its owned platforms - YouTube, GMaps, Photos, etc. It has also reduced the number of ads shown on Search to 2 which was 4 earlier. Why is Google trying to keep its audience on its owned platform? 

Google and Facebook want to own your audience using the content that you own. Knowing for the fact that both platforms are after audience ownership, it’s high time publishers get the hint and think about...

How to Maximize Visitor LTV (Lifetime Value) on the Website Itself.

Maximize_visitor_LTV_Vivek

12 Ready to Use Playbook Templates That Can Help

These templates have been created to show you how playbooks are leveraged for different engagement triggers. I made sure of covering as many triggers as possible. You can use these for free and customize them as per your own campaign requirements

Form Abandonment

Form-Abandonment

A web push notification can be sent to visitors that dropped off from the subscription page and reminds them to complete the registration. 

  • Title: You were sooo close to our premium insights
  • Copy: Click here to complete your registration!
  • CTA: Register Now

When

 - The notification will be sent in the next 15 minutes, an hour or a day later

Why

 - To increase paid subscriptions

Who

 - Users who landed on the subscription page and left

How

 - Channels can be web push notification, email, chat

 - Device type - Mobile, Desktop

 

Snippet Abandonment

Snippet-Abandonment

A web push notification for visitors that checked out the snippet of the content page but didn’t click on read more. It can display the featured image and the title (or the tag) of the content page. Also, because the user was clearly interested in the topic, you might also consider sharing similar content under that category. 

  • Title: [article_tag] has been trending on [website_name]!
  • Copy: Read now to know what’s really happening
  • CTA: Read More

When

 - The notification will be sent in the next 15 minutes, an hour or a day later

Why

 - To increase the session duration and engage subscribers

Who

 - Users that read the snippet but didn’t click on read more

How

 - Channels can be web push notification, email, chat

 - Device type - Mobile, Desktop

 

Chat Update

Chat-UpdateA web push notification that updates users on the comments on threads that they were a part of. The notification can display the reply that the user’s comment got along with a CTA button that is linked to the comment section on the website. A normal update on the other comments can also be shared. 

  • Title: Guess what! You are trending in our chat section
  • Copy: See what has been discussed after you left!
  • CTA: See The Comments

When

 - The notification will be sent immediately a reply is received. For other comments, the notification will be sent 15 minutes, an hour and/or a day after the trigger.

Why

 - To keep the user engaged and the discussion active

Who

 - Users that have participated in a chat discussion

How

 - Channels can be web push notification, email, chat

 - Device type - Mobile, Desktop

 

New Content Alert

New-Content-AlertYou can send a web push notification that will fetch the featured image and title of the content through an RSS feed every time some new content goes live.

  • Title: Woot! We have just published: [article_name]
  • Copy: And it is already trending!
  • CTA: Read Now

When

 - The notification will be triggered basis the publishing date. It can be sent immediately or a day after publishing giving it some time to get indexed

Why

 - To get more eyeballs on the new content and engage users

Who

 - To all the users that have subscribed to the web push notifications

How

 - Channels can be web push notification, email, chat

 - Device type - Mobile, Desktop

 

Daily/Weekly Digest

Daily-Weekly-DigestYou can send a web push notification displaying the featured image and the title of the content that received the maximum traction. 

  • Title: Hi, here’s your customized daily/weekly digest/ Hi, here are the daily/weekly hits for you
  • Copy: Click to know what all the buzz is about
  • CTA: Check out the list

When

 - The notification can be triggered every month or every week

Why

 - To build more engagement for loyal users

Who

 - To all the users that have subscribed to the web push notifications

How

 - Channels can be web push notification, email, chat

 - Device type - Mobile, Desktop

 

Watched a Video on Mute

Saw-Video-on-MuteYou can send a web push notification to users that clicked on a video but didn’t unmute it. It can display the thumbnail of the video along with a catchy headline and a CTA button that says “watch now”. 

  • Title: Oops… this video that you saw was on mute :(
  • Copy: Click here to continue watching it 
  • CTA: Watch It Now

When

 - The notification can be triggered 15 minutes or an hour after the trigger

Why

 - To get another chance at delivering the real content value

Who

 - Users that watched a video without turning the sound ON

How

 - Channels can be web push notification, email, chat

 - Device type - Mobile, Desktop

 

Low watch-time is a burning problem in the face of media publishers today. Learn how publishers are recovering their lost video watch-time using a Playbook. 

Incomplete Read

Incomplete-ReadA web push notification with the featured image and the title of the content reminding them about the incomplete read.

  • Title: Hi, people have been talking about [article_name] lately!
  • Copy: A perfect read for a lazy [day]
  • CTA: Read Now

When

 - The notification can be triggered 15 minutes, 2 hours, or 24 hours after the abandonment

Why

 - To increase the session duration and engage users

Who

 - Users that left the website after consuming a portion of the content

How

 - Channels can be web push notification, email, chat

 - Device type - Mobile, Desktop

 

Tab Abandonment

Tab-AbandonmentA web push notification can be sent whenever a user closes a tab. The notification can have the page featured image and title asking the user to read more. Read about the recover abandoned tab Playbook in detail. The copy can also be something relevant that could make the user click.

  • Title: Half knowledge is a dangerous thing!
  • Copy: At [website_name], readers get every facet of the truth
  • CTA: Read What’s Trending

When

 - The notification can be sent 15 minutes or 2 hours after the abandonment

Why

 - To increase the session duration and engage users

Who

 - Users who closed the website tab

How

 - Channels can be web push notification, email, chat

 - Device type - Mobile, Desktop

 

Content Remarketing

Content-RemarketingA web push notification will be sent after 15 minutes of user leaving the website. It can display the featured image and the title of a trending story or a poll on a political/environmental issue or a catchy headline.

  • Title: Today a reader, tomorrow a leader!/ Oh! You thought you explored it all?
  • Copy: Here are more interesting reads for you
  • CTA: Read More

When

 - The notification will be sent in the next 15 minutes of the trigger

Why

 - To increase repeat visits by bringing the user back to the website

Who

 - Users that came to the website 15 minutes back

How

 - Channels can be web push notification, email, chat

 - Device type - Mobile, Desktop

 

Content Recommendation

Content-RecommendationA web push notification will be sent to users that went through a content page but didn’t go through recommended/related content. The notification can display the featured image and the title of the first recommended content. It works great for blogs that produce lifestyle content as the session isn’t time bound, unlike news content where you click only to consume the live events. 

  • Title: Psst… we saw you reading about [category_name]
  • Copy: You’d love what we have for you next!
  • CTA: Check it out

When

 - The notification will be sent in the next 15 minutes, an hour or a day later

Why

 - To increase the session duration and engage users

Who

 - Users that consumed the entire content but didn’t click on the recommended snippets

How

 - Channels can be web push notification, email, chat

 - Device type - Mobile, Desktop

 

Dormant Reader Activation

Dormant-Reader-ActivationA web push notification for users that didn’t visit the site in the last 7 days. The notification can display the blog featured image and a preset text that prompts the subscriber to open the blog. It can also be a new story or a poll on a trending debate that will drive the clicks. 

  • Title: What’s tempting and totally worth it? 
  • Copy: Recent, authentic, and viral news!
  • CTA: Read what’s new

When

 - The notification will be sent on the 7th day of abandonment

Why

 - To reactivate the dormant users and increase website traffic

Who

 - Users that came to the website 7 days ago

How

 - Channels can be web push notification, email, chat

 - Device type - Mobile, Desktop

 

Homepage Abandonment

Homepage-AbandonmentA web push notification for users that visited homepage but didn’t click on any content. It can display the brand logo or the homepage featured image along with the preset text that prompts a subscriber to open the website. It can also be a new story or a poll on a trending debate that drives the clicks. 

  • Title: It was about to get interesting, and you left :(
  • Copy: Here’s what is in store for you
  • CTA: Read More

When

 - The notification can be sent in the next 15 minutes, an hour or a day of the trigger

Why

 - To increase repeat visitors and recover brand abandonment

Who

 - Users that landed on the homepage and left

How

 - Channels can be web push notification, email, chat

 - Device type - Mobile, Desktop

 

You Need More Than Just The Engaging Content

All said and done, publishers need to realize that premium content isn’t their absolute objective anymore. It simply can’t be knowing content is facing challenges getting discovered. If not the content, a well-distributed quality content served to a regularly engaged owned audience has to be the new milestone. Best practices to get there have started to emerge. Playbooks to engage the reader in its most marketable moment have certainly become one.

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Neha Tanwer
Neha Tanwer
Neha is a Product Marketer @iZooto who works with a single focus of helping publishers grow faster and better. Coming from the lap of Himalayas, she is a theatre artist, who loves dropping gears to travel the mountains. When not in office, she can be found roaming in the streets of Delhi finding next good cafeteria to eat at.

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