Recently, Irene McKisson, co-founder of Arizona Luminaria, a nonprofit news organization, joined the Branded Content Project’s Big Branded Call to discuss the challenges of building a mission-driven media outlet with a small team and growing audience. She emphasized the importance of aligning advertising clients with the organization's mission rather than focusing on traditional ROI metrics like page views.
“The most important thing is serving that underserved audience, or the most important thing is helping somebody understand how to vote or helping somebody understand the housing issue in their community,” McKisson said. “Helping somebody take action is our mission.”
Irene also highlighted the need to experiment with pricing models, leveraging discounts to accommodate audience growth, and framing the value of advertising through engagement and community involvement. Arizona Luminaria's approach centers on selling the mission rather than impressions.
When it comes to local advertising, one size doesn’t fit all. McKisson has learned that adjusting pricing and strategies based on market realities is key to long-term success. Here are some strategies she shared that can help small organizations grow their branded content.
1. Know Your Market
Unlike larger cities like Phoenix, Tucson's advertising rates are lower, despite its population of over a million. McKisson emphasizes that setting prices based solely on general market trends or data from larger cities doesn’t work.
“When you're brand new, you have to be really communicative and really forward about what you have, because what you don't have is a great ROI generally,” she said. “I'm not gonna get anybody an amazing amount of impressions on something. But what I can give them is as much information as I can about the audience that did see their ads. So you kind of have to balance out what you give an advertising client and try to kind of frame the value in a very different way,” she said.
Understanding your specific audience and their financial capacity is crucial. For instance, smaller businesses, like local restaurants, may not afford higher-tier pricing but are still eager to reach new customers.
2. Strategic Discounts & Packages
Discounting helps navigate pricing challenges. Offering discounts or custom packages lets you meet advertisers where they are financially. By creating tiered packages, McKisson's team tailored their offerings to both larger clients and smaller local businesses.
“We often would call that first discount a new client discount and it would be just on their first contract, so if it was a six month contract they got it for the whole thing. Then the next one we would do a loyalty discount, and the next one might be a package discount,” she said.
3. Popular Formats: Instagram Stories & Newsletters
At McKisson’s previous organization, This Is Tucson, one of their most successful offerings was branded Instagram stories. They curated a weekly "5 Things To Do in Tucson" feature, with businesses sponsoring slides in the story. This approach was well received, with some advertisers loving the format so much that prices had to be raised due to high demand. McKisson notes that many small businesses didn't have robust Instagram followings, making this service especially valuable.
“We’re always thinking about, who is this client? What can they afford? How can we match our products to best fit them so that they get the best return on investment, whatever that is,” she said.
Similarly, their email newsletters consistently performed well. Sponsored content, designed to look organic, was seamlessly integrated into the newsletters. With click-through rates reaching up to 7%, the strategy was a win-win for both the outlet and advertisers.
4. Experimenting with Trade Deals
To prove the effectiveness of their packages, Arizona Luminaria initially offered trade deals. This allowed them to gather performance data without asking for upfront payments from clients. Over time, they built trust with local advertisers by showing them tangible results, making it easier to transition to paid packages later on.
5. Regularly Adjust Rates and Offerings
While the team aimed to set rates annually, they remained flexible. When demand exceeded available ad space, they opened additional slots and made incremental changes to pricing and discounts. Their goal was to avoid leaving money on the table while ensuring they could accommodate as many advertisers as possible.
6. Sponsored Content Success
McKisson’s biggest takeaway is that audiences don’t inherently hate advertising—they dislike poorly executed ads. By aligning advertiser stories with the interests of their audience, and delivering them in a non-intrusive way through branded content and newsletters, the team saw significantly higher engagement rates than traditional ads.
Want to join the next Big Branded Call? We meet virtually the third Wednesday of the month at 1 p.m. EST. Register here!
The Branded Content Project is designed through a strategic partnership between the Local Media Association, the Local Media Consortium, and the Meta Journalism Project to help facilitate additional growth, engagement, and revenue success for more publishers of all shapes and sizes.