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Become a Stories-First Publisher before it becomes mainstream. We are starting a new series on best practices on building out a successful web stories strategy, and we’d like to kick it off by talking about why Web Stories is the new norm for Digital Publishers. 

There’s no doubt about it: stories are the future of digital media. Multimedia, video in particular – especially short videos — reach more people, they more powerfully capture our imagination, and allow us to share more compelling stories, which then increases our site engagement thereby generating more ad revenue too.

Video is relentlessly growing into a viral engine that transforms total views into tangible value, whether its revenue or subscriptions. 

There’s simply no better time to join the movement. This blog covers the leading innovators in the global publishing ecosystem who are utilizing this format in ways never before seen, and we’ll continue to distill the  insights we’ve learned on how you too can become a stories-first publisher. 

As we’ve suggested earlier, we recommend that publishers not pivot to video on a whim, and our strategies are meant for publishers who wish to be strategic if they are to scale the heights of success in engaging with their audience. For publishers, it’s imperative that they give enough thought to how a stories-first strategy enables monetization.

All of this might be confusing for those just starting out, but the rise of programmatic video might make the digital advertising landscape seem increasingly difficult to navigate. 

So for those of you publishers who are ready to be cutting edge to revolutionize your business with web stories? Here’s three topics and questions you should ask yourself before even building out your web stories strategies: 

1. Engagement

  • Understand who is your audience, are they consuming videos and web stories and will this drive traffic to my publishing site? 
  • How can I encourage viewers to intentionally watch our videos rather than autoplay to consume? 
  • What are ways in which I can extend my viewers’ interest through related content?

2. Amplifying engagement 

  • On a more tactical basis, as a publisher you want to start considering where on your website is the best placement for your video player? 
  • What can I do to make sure that the user viewing experience is smooth and seamless?
  • Start considering how you can add web stories (made famous by Snapchat and your Instagram app experience, and given this tried-and-tested formula that maximizes viewing experience, the goal is to figure out how to best translate that to your website? 

3. Connecting with the right audience  

  • On a more tactical level, if advertising is one of your primary goals (vs. subscriptions or revenue) start asking how you can maintain the integrity of your ad impressions through these videos?
  • Most importantly, your video creation team has to ensure that any ads that play in your videos are the right ones and are reaching the right audience?

Again, this is a short-list for your web-stories and short-video strategy, when you have started considering such an option to augment your other publisher content.

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