You don’t need to be a YouTuber or social media influencer to make money from online content. For businesses and entrepreneurs that want to grow their online presence, following best practices for monetizing content can be a win-win. Not only can it help to bring more customers to your main business by establishing your authority, but it can also become a significant source of revenue, effectively diversifying your income streams to help scale your business and make it more adaptable.
In a sense, by creating monetized content, you get income from growing your brand rather than paying money to do so. The key, of course, is knowing how to make money from your content in a way that will appeal to your audience and reinforce your brand identity. Here are some basic content creator monetization strategies that can be adapted for any type of business that wants to capitalize on its expertise.
1. Identify the type of content your target audience wants.
There is an implied “step 0” that you’ll need to take first if you haven’t already, which is to define your target audience. Creating a customer persona can be a helpful move to clarify the habits, preferences, and motivations of the individuals that you want your content to reach.
Part of this process should include homing in on what these customers hope to get from your organization when they visit your website or engage with your social media pages. Do they see your site as a source of knowledge or education, or are they more likely looking for entertainment (or a mix of the two)?
Knowing this can help you to choose types of content to create and monetize that will have the greatest odds of appealing to your target audience. There are a wide variety of content formats that can make strong candidates for monetization. Some of the most popular monetization ideas for content creators include:
- Online courses
- Educational resources like books, white papers, case studies, and reports
- Tools like software programs, widgets, templates, or checklists
- Blog posts containing affiliate marketing links
- Subscription-based content like newsletters or industry update mailers
All of these can be effective means of generating revenue from content creation, but not all of them will appeal equally to all audiences. Some also will require more time and effort from your team to create than others, which is something you should factor into your decision when you’re deciding what to focus on.
2. Cultivate an engaged community of followers.
If you already have a sizable following on social media or a robust list of email subscribers, you have a head start on this step and can focus on how you’ll share the news of your new monetized content with this community.
For companies that currently lack this follower base, it can be useful to provide some free content as a kind of “teaser” of what they’ll get from purchasing your products or subscribing to your paid tier. This can take the form of videos, written content like blog articles, visual content like charts or infographics, or recurring content like a podcast or YouTube series.
Free content is helpful for building your audience in multiple ways. For one, it provides a proof of concept and builds your authority on the topic—if people find your free content valuable, they’ll be more likely to trust the paid options are worth the investment, as well. It also plays into the reciprocity principle, a social psychology concept that says people are hard-wired to pay back what we receive. Getting something for free makes people feel like your company did you a favor, and they’ll be more likely to return the gesture by making a purchase.
Free content can also be used as a lead magnet, which is something you give to users in exchange for giving you their contact information or subscribing to your mailing list. Effective lead magnets tend to be things that are closely related to your monetized content. For example, you could give away a single lesson from your online course to entice people to buy the rest. You can use an email marketing automation tool to set up a sequence of messages that go to anyone who downloads your freebie, educating them about your paid content and encouraging them to buy it if they enjoyed the free offering.
Using lead magnets is one way to drive more traffic to your monetized content. You can combine this with other lead generation strategies, such as using keyword research and other SEO practices or buying digital ads on search engines or social media platforms, to increase your chances of profiting from content production.
3. Create content that provides your audience real value.
Something that is true of both free and paid content is that you want your audience to feel like it’s worth their time and attention. The more value your audience feels they get from watching your videos or reading your articles, the higher your chances of earning income as a content creator.
Along with researching your audience like we recommended earlier, there are other ways you can identify the content that will have the greatest perceived value. One great option is to gather feedback through surveys or polls. Ask your audience what things related to your niche they struggle with the most, or wish they knew more about—these are ideal topics for content like eBooks, whitepapers, and courses. You can also evaluate your competitors and the type of content they publish or sell, as well as other thought leaders or influencers in your niche. If other individuals and organizations are monetizing online content in a similar way, that is a likely sign that it’s effective and could be successful for you, as well.
Bear in mind that, while content-based revenue streams should be related to your industry and the services or products you sell to customers, they don’t need to be identical. For example, a tax preparation business could sell content related to bookkeeping, how to maintain accurate financial records, tools or advice for managing payroll, or similar adjacent topics. Think about all of the knowledge areas or skills your audience could benefit from when monetizing your expertise through content.
4. Offer multiple types and tiers of content.
One of the popular monetization tactics for content creators is to use what’s known as “good/better/best” or Goldilocks pricing. In this approach, you provide three tiers of pricing: a basic, low-cost option; a mid-level, standard option; and a high-end premium option.
For example, you might have an eBook on sale for $20, a pre-recorded masterclass they can purchase for $100, and a multi-week course for $500. Bundling content into packages can be another effective strategy. Items can sell for one price a-la-carte but have a lower per-item cost when the customer purchases them all together, which increases the perception of value from making the larger purchase.
Taking this approach can help you reach a wider range of customers and convert more leads because you have something on offer for every price point. When presented with three options, most people will choose the middle one, but having something very affordable can help you attract new customers who aren’t yet convinced that your products or services will be useful for them, without them needing to spend much to learn more about what you do. A high-end option, meanwhile, increases the perceived value of your other offerings by making them seem more affordable in comparison.
Using smart pricing strategies can drive more sales of monetized content. Something else to remember here is that monetization options for digital content go beyond just selling products, subscriptions, or services directly. You can still earn revenue from your free tier of content by selling ad space or including affiliate links, in addition to its value for attracting more potential buyers to your higher priced content.
5. Analyze and refine your content creation based on data and customer feedback.
Monetizing your online presence is not an exact science. What works well for one business may not be as effective for others, even within the same niche. On the flip side, you may end up having your highest sales come in for something you weren’t sure would sell at all when you first put it up.
Once you’ve started turning content into income, keep track of how your audience engages with it. You can use tools like Google Analytics to see which of your pages are getting the most views and clicks, along with keeping track of sales. You can then use this information to guide the content you create and monetize in the future.
Successful content monetization: a final word
For some online entrepreneurs, their content is their business, and generates most or even all of their income. For a business, that ratio is likely to be different. Before you start monetizing content, it helps to think through your goals for it. These won’t necessarily be revenue or sales based. In some cases, the income made from monetizing content is icing on the cake, and the main goal is to establish your authority, enhance your credibility, or grow your visibility with your target audience.
Understanding your goals for your content before you start can help to refine and improve your approach. If your main goal is expanding your brand presence, for instance, then you’ll likely be better served by selling digital products at a lower price point, or monetizing free content through ads or affiliate links. On the other hand, if generating revenue is the goal, then you’ll likely want to offer more premium items at a higher price point.
Also keep in mind that these goals may change over time. If a particular type of content really takes off, you may want to pivot to focus more on that as a revenue generator. Your approach to content may also change as you target new markets, engage with new audiences, or scale your business through new service or product offerings. A combination of strategic planning and flexibility in response to changes in your business or customers will give you the best chance of successfully monetizing your content to achieve your growth goals.
