{"id":608314,"date":"2023-02-15T07:48:52","date_gmt":"2023-02-15T13:48:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.sellorbuyhomefast.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/15\/with-display-ad-revenue-falling-flat-blavity-inc-is-diversifying-revenue-with-new-commerce-first-vertical-home-texture\/"},"modified":"2023-02-15T07:48:52","modified_gmt":"2023-02-15T13:48:52","slug":"with-display-ad-revenue-falling-flat-blavity-inc-is-diversifying-revenue-with-new-commerce-first-vertical-home-texture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/15\/with-display-ad-revenue-falling-flat-blavity-inc-is-diversifying-revenue-with-new-commerce-first-vertical-home-texture\/","title":{"rendered":"With display ad revenue falling flat, Blavity Inc is diversifying revenue with new commerce-first vertical \u2018Home & Texture\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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February 14, 2023\u00a0\u00a0\u2022\u00a0\u00a03 min read<\/span> | By Kayleigh Barber<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Subscribe: Apple Podcasts<\/a> \u2022 Stitcher<\/a> \u2022 Spotify<\/a><\/p>\n

A reckoning that most media companies contend with, Blavity Inc has started the revenue diversification efforts of moving from a display advertising-first business model to include more reader revenue options, like commerce.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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To help with the transition, Melody Brown was hired as Blavity Inc\u2019s new associate vp of consumer media in Sept. 2022 from Travel + Leisure to help with the construction of this revenue stream, including launching a new home interior brand \u201cHome & Texture.\u201d But the push into commerce doesn\u2019t stop there. Brown said on the latest episode of the Digiday Podcast that the company\u2019s lifestyle brand 21Ninety and travel title Travel Noire were both also pivoting to a commerce-first business model to both bring in a new revenue stream, but also to give readers more assistance from the content they\u2019re already reading.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re shifting from display first advertising, because we\u2019ve seen that the effectiveness of that form has really dropped. Readers and audiences are focused more on the content that they desire. The focus here is commerce-first, not display ad-first,\u201d said Brown.<\/p>\n

Below are highlights from the conversation, which have been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.<\/em><\/p>\n

Growing into commerce\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Home & Texture is the brainchild of passion [from] our CEO, Morgan DeBaun. She\u2019s definitely been forward thinking and knowing that display ad-first advertising is dwindling and we need to lean into this affiliate shoppable content. Again, [we\u2019re] four months in, but we\u2019re growing very, very quickly, which also excites me. From our commerce team\u2019s perspective, there are three editorial teams \u2013 for Home & Texture, we have an editor lead that we\u2019re hiring for. We also have content writers and contributors who are going to be creating this content for us. Same is true for 21Ninety as well as Travel Noire. So there\u2019ll be three editorial teams for each of our three commerce-first brands. We do have a social team that\u2019s going to be dedicated to commerce, as well as a creative lead. We\u2019re also working with external agencies to help pony up this content and get more eyes on it. Because at the end of the day, we want to make sure we are where our audience is.<\/p>\n

Social media is a critical growth tool\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I like to say if content is king, then video is the crown. So when talking about things like DIY, [a] franchise that really covers transforming old unattractive pieces into fabulous accents, we want those types of content pieces to be social first. But there will be a complimentary article to go with that, including items to buy, as well as items to buy on our social channels. So from a content perspective, yes, we\u2019re doing articles. But yes, video.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When we\u2019re talking about photos, Pinterest is going to be huge for the Home & Texture audience. So we\u2019re definitely exploring all different deliverables when it comes to content creation. But video definitely is king for us.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re three weeks [in] and we\u2019re still looking to grow our audience, but one of the things that we\u2019ve discovered with some of the social content we\u2019ve been posting [is], we\u2019ve been getting comments from our audience about things they want to buy. Then in return, we\u2019ve been creating content articles on HomeandTexture.com to showcase some of those items. So it\u2019s definitely been two-fold where yes, there\u2019s brand building on the social channels, but also we\u2019re listening to our audience.\u00a0<\/p>\n

[Blavity] leans into what the audience is doing, which is one of the reasons why we\u2019re transitioning [our lifestyle brand] 21Ninety and [our travel brand] Travel Noire to be commerce-first brands. We have a strong stake hold in those areas of lifestyle of health and beauty and travel. We feel like our audience is already with us with this content. Now let\u2019s serve up the things that they want to purchase or buy, whether it\u2019s trips, whether it\u2019s hair, whether it\u2019s makeup, [whether it\u2019s] anything around your home.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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