In our latest State of Audience report, we learned that the most important source of revenue for audience-driven businesses are digital ad sales. (94% cite advertising as their primary growth source.)
But 50% of respondents said they missed their ad sales goals in the past year. That’s not a dip. That’s a signal flare.
Why are ad sales getting increasingly difficult for audience-focused businesses? There’s not just one simple reason. There are many changes happening in the space:
Measurement & attribution chaos: Proving value is harder. It’s not just a vague “difficulty”, though—it’s the collapse of reliable tracking. Between cookie deprecation (finally actually happening), increased privacy regulations, and Apple’s ongoing App Tracking Transparency, teams are scrambling to show that ads lead to outcomes. Attribution models? Swiss cheese. Advertisers want proof. Without first-party data, publishers and associations have… vibes.
CPMs are sinking like a rock: Advertisers aren’t paying what they used to. Programmatic ad rates are down, especially on display and video inventory. Why? Tons of supply (everyone and their dog now has an ad-supported content platform), and demand hasn’t kept up—at least not at the same rates. Also, generative AI is flooding the web with cheap, low-quality content disguised as scale. Which dilutes the ad pool and drives down rates.
Fragmented audiences: People aren’t hanging out in the same places. Remember when everyone read a handful of trusted news sources? Yeah, now they’re on a Reddit thread about fermented pickles or watching 90-second TikToks about dancing. Teams are competing with creators, platforms, influencers, and AI content farms. Hard to sell premium ad slots when your audience is nibbling crumbs across 47 channels.
Platform dominance: Google, Meta, Amazon, and TikTok are still hoovering up ad dollars. Brands are still throwing cash at platforms because of scale, targeting, and simplicity—even if performance is mixed. Publishers and associations? They have to convince advertisers why going direct is worth the headache.
Retail media competition: Advertisers increasingly want performance marketing. Clicks. Conversions. ROAS. And guess what? Not all publishers or associations have the first-party data or ecommerce tie-ins to deliver that. Meanwhile, retailers like Amazon, Walmart, and Target have first-party data goldmines and are offering ads at the point of purchase. It’s hard to compete with that level of intent. That’s why the best performing publishers are finding ways to get more first-party data and diving headfirst into ecommerce.
Budget belt-tightening: Even though inflation cooled a bit, budget uncertainty hasn’t. CMOs are still being told to do more with less. That often translates to “cut that experimental podcast series and shove it all into paid search.”
While the current environment is, let’s say, less than ideal, audience-driven businesses do have some cards to play. First-party data is the ace in the deck—if you stop treating it like a dusty side project and start using it like the goldmine it actually is.
How to make first-party data part of your sales pitch to advertisers, not just part of the tech stack
Want to fight back like a scrappy, data-savvy underdog? Learn how to make first-party data part of the sales pitch to advertisers, not just part of the tech stack.
1. Turn First-Party Data into a Weapon (Not Just a Buzzword)
Don’t just collect emails and slap users into generic newsletters. It’s important to build robust user profiles based on behavior, preferences, content consumption, and declared data. Think quizzes, polls, sign-ups.
By putting in the work upfront, you’ll get first-party data that’s privacy-compliant and reliable. It lets your team offer better targeting than the black-box algorithms of platforms. And advertisers want audiences with intent and context, not just lookalikes.
Smart moves:
- Create micro-segments for your advertisers.
- “Tech-obsessed Gen Zs who read product reviews weekly”
- “Moms with children in their teens who play sports”
- “Veterinarians who focus on serving rural communities in the southwest”
- Offer real-time insights to ad buyers.
“This cohort just clicked on 3 articles about EV tax credits”. - Make first-party data the center of the sales pitch, not just part of the tech stack.
2. Lean Hard into Differentiation (Especially Editorial Trust & Niche Authority)
Big Tech platforms can scale, but they can’t do trust. Or context. Or human editorial judgment. Those are YOUR superpowers.
Your real differentiators:
- Trust: Independent publishers and associations still rank higher in consumer trust than platforms. Use that in pitch decks like your life depends on it—because it kinda does. (Lots of sources to cite on this one: 1, 2, 3, 4)
- Contextual relevance: Show that your editorial content aligns with specific brand values or campaigns.
- Communities, not just eyeballs: If you have an engaged, commenting, sharing, obsessing audience, that’s worth way more than raw reach.
3. Build Direct-Sold Ad Products That Are Interesting
If you’re competing with Meta and Google, “banner ad on a homepage” isn’t going to cut it anymore. You need to package your value creatively.
Try things like:
- Custom content sponsorships with access to performance data.
- Shoppable content or affiliate tie-ins with data on what users click/buy.
- First-party audience extension (let advertisers retarget known audiences offsite—huge if done right).
- Premium programmatic with guaranteed placement, transparent context, and real metrics.
And please—for the love of revenue—stop underselling premium inventory. The whole point is not to race to the bottom.
4. Get Better at Onboarding & Consent (Because Without It, Data is Useless)
Want that sweet first-party data? You’ve gotta earn the opt-in. This is where UX meets survival instinct.
What helps:
- Provide & explain the value of logging in. (Example: “Get access to exclusive content and save articles you love.”)
- Use smart nudges—not only pop-ups—to get consent for tracking.
- Make registration easy and worth it. Premium newsletters, personalized recommendations, early access, etc.
- Treat every registration like the first step in a relationship, not a transaction.
5. Partner Strategically (Because Going Solo is Brutal)
Companies can create co-ops or alliances to pool data and offer scale without sacrificing control.
Think:
- Joint data platforms.
- Shared marketplaces with trusted publishers.
- Strategic partnerships with brands for long-term sponsorships, not just quarterly buys.
If you’re small or mid-sized, this kind of scale is your only shot at staying relevant to bigger ad buyers.
