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Monetizing Owned & Operated in Sport

28.02.20

by Ben Tobin

Sports organizations want their website and apps to attract fans, and generate revenue. But how can they ensure advertising doesn’t interfere with the user experience?

28.02.20

by Ben Tobin

Sports organizations want their website and apps to attract fans, and generate revenue. But how can they ensure advertising doesn’t interfere with the user experience?

Primarily, the digital properties of sports organizations are there to inform and entertain their fans. But, of course, there comes a point where monetization becomes a priority.

It’s no wonder that sports organizations give a great deal of thought as to how they can raise revenue from their digital entities without encroaching on the overall experience. After all, the primary goal is to secure repeat visitors, and for those that do land on their site to spend more time there. Anything that can be a barrier to that is discarded.

And with the rise of ad-blockers, digital organizations are having to become even savvier in how they approach monetization across their O&O.

Providing value for the organization and the user

Here at Deltatre, it has always been our priority to ensure we do not disrupt the enjoyment of the user. Above all, we want to work with our clients to create a ‘sticky’ experience for their audience – not just another general app or website.

Our aim is simple – a smooth and reactive experience which incorporates advertising and monetization options in a seamless way. Finding success means having this aim from the very beginning of the project, and a view to how this will ultimately provide value to the visitor as well as the advertiser.

What are some of the options?

Sticky ads

There are various options available when it comes to monetization. Some are well-established, others that have emerged recently as the industry adapts to consumer behavior.

One example is ‘sticky ads’. These stay visible when a user is viewing the content on a webpage. It ‘sticks’ to the viewport throughout the user’s session on the page.

Sticky ads are always visible to the user, regardless of the scroll depth. This allows the user to carry on reading what they want without overly intrusive ads interfering with the process. This is an alternative to more traditional ad banners, for example.

Of course, it is important not to overload any page with this type of advertising, otherwise, the experience can become quite disorientating for the reader.

Native advertising

Native advertising is another option – and it is big business, having seen exponential growth in recent years. According to a report from Adyoulike the native advertising market will be worth over $400bn by 2025.

Essentially, native advertising is the use of paid ads that match the look, feel and function of the media format in which they appear. This means the ad functions like editorial content, and blocks are embedded within news or video streams for instance and do not damage the consumption of content.

Deltatre’s VISUAL STORIES feature is a great tool to help weave editorialised advertising into a larger story - matching the look and feel of the content one is reading.

Integrating sponsors

Often, sports organizations wish to incorporate their sponsors’ logos advertising or messaging into their website or app. They want this to be done in an elegant and natural way. This means associating events that occur during a live match broadcast with a specific partner.

Take the hypothetical situation of a user following a live blog on a website. Say an F1 driver pulls into a pit-stop - this can then automatically trigger a specific sponsor message from an official timing partner. This would be controlled by a trigger system built into our publishing platform, FORGE.

This tagging system can also help with pushing users towards ticketing or merchandise options. For example, when a player scores a goal, this can then trigger a dedicated post in the live blog inviting fans to buy that player’s shirt or other related items.

Of course, different advertising options work better at different times, and the options are endless. The key is choosing the right option for the respective site or content model, one which doesn’t interfere with what the user really wants.

What do you think? What is the best way to ensure visitors enjoy their web experience without compromising on revenue-generating opportunities? Let us know ...