A few days ago, Reddit announced they are working with a company called VigLink to test a way to make money from links to products that Reddit users post.
Essentially, each time a Reddit user posts a link (to over 5,000 merchants that participate in VigLink’s affiliate program), the link will automatically have tracking code added to it. When someone clicks on said link and buys something, Reddit will earn revenue from the sale.
Here’s an example of what one of the links would look like:
Cool. Seems like a worthwhile test from Reddit to see if they can create a revenue source from the massive amounts of content created on their platform.
So how does this apply to newspapers?
Every newspaper has a website. If digital direct sales are slowing, perhaps it’s time to engage with a service like VigLink to monetize the vast amount of content that they produce. Newspapers can also use online affiliate networks like Impact Radius to run digital ads alongside their online content. Newspapers get paid when their readers make a sale from the ads from the affiliate network, or potentially from sales generated from links provided by a company like Viglink.
Here at MediaBids, we’ve been working to create our own print affiliate program, and believe that the unique content newspapers produce can and should be monetized much in the same way online content has been. We track sales through online and offline tools, and sales attribution technology is getting better everyday.
Affiliate ads work in both print and online media. Newspapers have the high-quality content that attracts affluent shoppers. Affiliate advertising within newspapers online and offline versions could be a match made in affiliate heaven – or at minimum – a complement to other revenue strategies.
Post by Jess Greiner
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