Every article is a comment, every comment an article
Medium touts itself as a place to read, write, and interact with the stories that matter. That’s a pretty broad description and it becomes even more vague when coupled with the news that the personal finance site, The Billfold, has been moved to the publishing platform.
Medium’s heavy focus on facilitating conversation is a natural fit for a site that talks about such a personally engaging topic. The Publisher of the Awl, Michael Matcher gave us a inside look at the reasoning, “A big part of this is elevating certain parts of the conversation and bringing responses and comments to the forefront of the editorial. Every article will be a comment and every comment will be an article,” he said.
Content deals and monetization
As inbound and content marking accelerate in popularity as methods of user acquisition, the “big boy” platforms such as Facebook, Snapchat, and Apple will continue working to acquire and distribute published content. They are attempting to retain users in their platforms.
This is not the first time that Medium has partnered with major brands. They have already worked out deals with Marriott, Intel, and Rolex this year. According to Edward Lichty, they want to pursue additional relationships. “Beyond offering writers unique URLs,” he said, “Medium is looking at the possibility of funding content creators, and expanding the brand partnerships is a first step. Our vision is that Medium becomes a place where their content can be funded. Long term, we need to be able to fund content creators with a variety of revenue.
What that looks like right now, we don’t know. Lichty said it is “too early to go into specifics” about the monetization structures being proposed for the Awl. However, he did indicate that the current content deals for the platform give a pretty good indication of the deals of the future.
Going in a different direction
Medium is breaking the traditional advertising mold. “We’re trying to be inventive with whatever we end up doing, but whatever we do our priority is to preserve that user experience,” Lichty said. “There’s no way we’d dump 50 tracking pixels on pages or do below-the-fold display ads. We’re going in a different direction.”
How can you take advantage of the brilliant growth Medium is experiencing? The best way is to create and curate content that drives conversation. Medium can be a great tool to drive awareness for your brand if you use it right. If you play your cards correctly, you might just make some money while you are at it.
