INDUSTRY INSIGHT

Create a DIY content marketing platform to create efficiency and improve the bottom line ..................

You have worked hard to build a large online audience for your publication. You have invested a lot of time and money in doing so. Why should a business or individual be able to have their non-news content presented to your audience for free? They shouldn't.

Why should you spend scarce time uploading their press releases, calendar events, listings and other non-news content? You shouldn't. Instead, invest in creating a DIY platform so that businesses, nonprofits and others can submit and pay for their non-news content to be published and transparently label it as sponsored content.

In November, I was a featured virtual speaker at the 2021 NJ Local News Summit, presented by The

Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University. I spoke about Tapinto’s Do-it-yourself (DIY) content submission process and its positive impact on revenue and efficiency.

We were inundated with press releases and event listings emailed to all our 90 plus local news sites. It took hours and hours of time and effort to post, and it was very inefficient. Our publishers and editors needed to focus on original, enterprise content that we deliver to our readers. So, we developed a DIY platform where users can post those items directly to the site itself.

The process developed a few years ago is for non-news content, such as press releases, event listings, classified ads and real estate listings. Businesses, organizations or individuals pay for their content, which is guaranteed to be published, and it's clearly labeled as "sponsored content."

The submitter chooses the locations where they want it published and pays per location. Each site reviews every piece of content to ensure that it is not libelous and is appropriate for our audience and then posts it. The payments are split to the franchisees of each location chosen. Should content be rejected, we issue a refund.

Through a DIY content marketing system, businesses and nonprofits can reach a large local audience, and we monetize the content. Each local news site also receives revenue as a result. Meanwhile, the staff of our local news outlets saves hundreds of hours per year in the process.