To beat threats from Big Tech, publishers need to act like retailers

Publishers have been diversifying their channels for years, but it’s time for them to take it one step further. They need to replicate the playbook of modern retailers, creating a strategy that gives them as much ownership and leverage as possible.

Data and insights are king in retail, with the customer journey dictating the entire marketing strategy.

Scrappy retailers know they need to be easy to find, easy to buy and at the right price to reach as big an audience as possible. They use data and competitive intelligence to create smart strategies, and they’re heavily invested in technology to personalize customer experiences. Publishers can learn a lot from this approach.

With three major assets, content, audiences and data, publishers can think like a retailer and try the following:

1. Create the products audiences want

Retailers don’t show 30-second commercials on Instagram; they work with influencers to create authentic posts. They know that every customer touchpoint needs to be relevant to the environment. Publishers need to consider where their content can shine most effectively and shape it for that environment.

2. Be obsessed with the customer

Retailers say that they are “customer-obsessed” all the time. Publishers don’t. It’s not that they don’t care about their audiences, they do very much, but they haven’t invested in audience insights, personalization and stickiness as much as retailers have. Most retailers know what their lifetime customer value is, but many publishers don’t.

Publishers should map out their audience journey and become obsessed with owning more of it. With many already bolstering large subscriber lists, they should leverage that data further, considering the value of loyalty programs, on-site identification and data capture and CRM across the entire customer journey.

3. Own and harness data

Big retailers spend millions on martech and e-commerce technology. Scrappy small retailers build their entire business around data capture to be competitive despite their small size. Platforms like iOS and Meta don’t give publishers the chance to collect insights and data. The more publishers can lean into interactions that they own, the more they can learn and grow. Publishers can also harness new data strategies like identity as a connective tissue across platforms.

There is a not-too-distant future where people speak to whatever device is closest and content loads on-screen that’s tailored to their needs. Instead of navigating to specific apps, websites and search results, people will simply pull up videos, articles or even audio when they want it.

If publishers aren’t playing the game right, they risk losing connection with their audiences as the platforms take over that experience. To avoid becoming a commodity, publishers need to have truly differentiated content, an obsession with their customers and the data to drive smart strategy.

This op-ed represents the views and opinions of the author and not of The Current, a division of The Trade Desk, or The Trade Desk. The appearance of the op-ed on The Current does not constitute an endorsement by The Current or The Trade Desk.