Ultimate Guide to Licensed Content

TheUltimate Guide

to LicensingContent

© 2014 NewsCred NewsCred.com l (212) 989-4100 l [email protected]

© 2014 NewsCred 2

More so than ever before,marketers are using niche editorial content,

beautiful images, and engaging videos to

build engagement and customer acquisition

engines. By harnessing high quality content,

brands are able to generate leads, nurture

prospects, inspire peer-to-peer referrals, and

encourage repeat purchases.

Today, content is currency. To that end, there

are tens of millions of articles and videos that

circulate the Internet each day. Meanwhile,

consumers are busier than ever, and

frequently browsing the web via mobile while

on the go. All of these stories are competing

for the same sets of eyeballs. How can brands

stand out from cat memes, celebrity gossip

and sports news?

When it comes to content marketing, quality

reigns. Consumers don’t care whether

information is coming from a brand, published

novelist, or close acquaintance. They want to

learn something new, feel enlightened, and

stay connected to topics that they care about.

As you can probably imagine, this level of

quality requires a human touch. That’s why

top brands like Red Bull, Pepsi, American

Express, Dell, and Qualcomm have hired

agencies, teams of in-house journalists, and

freelance writers.

Brands need to invest significant time, budget,

and energy to produce content. Just one in-

depth, reported blog post can cost hundreds

of dollars to produce. Imagine what happens

when companies decide that they’re ready

to amplify their blogging efforts by 10X. For

brands facing significant cost and resource

constraints, it’s simply impossible.

Cutting costs on production is not the right

answer for content marketers who are

struggling to scale. When quality suffers,

so will the efficacy of your content strategy.

That’s where content licensing comes in. In

addition to producing new articles, you can

license high quality material from reputable

publishers. Content licensing will allow you to

amplify your content volume, scale content

production, and grow your audience in a

matter of days.

In this guide, you’ll learn:

» What licensed content is and how it can

help you achieve your marketing goals

» How to integrate licensed content into

your company’s marketing machine

» Which brands have mastered the

licensed & original content model

As well as the unique social mission behind

licensed content, which is reinvigorating

the journalism industry.

© 2014 NewsCred 3

How to Approach Licensing

TIme Inc. & Land Rover Watercooler

Getting Started

What is Licensed Content

Table of Contents

01020304

© 2014 NewsCred 4

01 What is Content Licensing?

What is Content Licensing?The Basics

Content licensing is a practice that stems

back to the earliest days of online media.

You’ve probably seen it happen with

television, newspapers, and magazines.

If you’ve ever purchased a stock photo,

for instance, you’ve purchased a license

to use that content. Even though you are

not the original content creator, you are

legally able to license that material in your

own marketing projects. The same concept

carries over to article and video content.

Content licensing is a legal agreement

between two parties known as licensees

and licensors. Licensees can purchase the

rights to republish content from a licensor.

Licensing is extremely versatile and allows

brands to repackage content into a variety

of forms across desktop and mobile

platforms.

With curated articles from CNN, HealthDay,

and The Washington Post, Blue Cross

Blue Shield delivers daily trending health

news across the issues their customers

care about most. An interactive feature,

the YouBar, allows patients drive their

experience, toggling between topics like

Fitness and Preventative Health.

For instance, Blue Cross Blue Shield BC/

BS Alabama licenses 12 articles daily, from

which they can handpick the most current,

relevant to distribute to customers and

visitors.

Since re-launching the Blue Cross Blue

Shield Alabama site with licensed content,

monthly page views have increased by

287% and unique visitors have increased

by 1776%.

© 2014 NewsCred 5

The Law

The Benefits

One of the core benefits of content licensing is

that it is 100% compliant with the law. Licensors

and licensees sign a written agreement that

clarifies ambiguities and protects the two

parties from potential litigation.

This protection is especially important in online

media, where copyright laws can sometimes

feel like a gray zone. Many times, marketers

will republish content without even realizing

that they’re exposing themselves to liability.

In the past, the rule of thumb was that using

a headline and first 300 words of an article is

fair use. This is a myth. For instance, the entire

article could be 350 words long.

In the Harper & Row case in 1985, The Nation

magazine reviewed Gerald Ford’s memoir and

only used 300 words of a 200,000 word book.

Using headlines and lead-in text is widely

practiced, but courts have yet to definitively

rule on the legality of it. It’s possible that

websites are receiving takedown requests for

this same practice. The Internet may be a new

multimedia channel, but copyright laws are

timeless.

Content licensing ensures that your brand

repurposes full-text articles and videos

ethically and legally. It is the only way to

avoid the risk of a lawsuit, takedown order,

Content licensing can add significant value

to your company’s brand strategy. When

starting out with content marketing, brands

are typically building their reputations and

content inventory from the ground up. Content

licensing can help accelerate this process

by allowing brands to instantly access a high

volume of articles and videos from trusted

publishers. Here is a breakdown of some of the

key benefits of content licensing:

1. Trusted sources bring balance and credibility to content marketing campaigns.

Anyone can write a blog post about how

great a product or company is, but in today’s

blogophilic culture, where anyone with a

computer can produce content, consumers are

naturally skeptical of what they read. According

to a study conducted by UCLA and HP, content

source is the number one predictor of social

sharing. In other words, an article from a

or fine that could severely impact your

brand reputation, industry relationships, and

customer operations.

trusted source will travel farther than a random

blog post. Licensing allows companies to align

their brands with The New York Times, Forbes,

Bloomberg, and The Washington Post.

2. Licensing helps brands scale their content marketing campaigns to the pace of the web.

As online social interactions continue to

accelerate, brands need to be able to keep

up with the volume of content that others are

producing and that readers want to consume.

Licensing reduces the reliance on a brand’s

newsroom. Content marketing campaigns can

be executed quickly and can adapt in real-time

to events as they happen.

3. High value content lives all in one place.

A distinguishing feature of the licensed content

model is that videos and full-text articles live on

your site. When a user engages with an article

on your site, they don’t have to click away to

keep reading the article on the publisher’s

page. This also allows you to push content on

your social channels that drives straight back

to your site. Ultimately, the results are more site

traffic, more qualified leads, increased search

engine visibility, and greater ROI.


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4. You get more bang for your buck.

Compared to original and aggregated content,

licensed content is much more cost-effective

for brands. Original content produced in-house

or by freelancers is a valuable part of a brand’s

content marketing equation, but it is also costly

and time-intensive. By balancing original and

licensed content, you can fill your content

pipeline. Without licensed content, it may be

impossible to afford significant scale. Brands

may think that by licensing content and hosting

it on your content portal, you’re able to keep

users engaged on your website, longer.

5. It benefits the journalism industry

The journalism industry has been disrupted

by the digital revolution and many traditional

publishers have resorted to massive layoffs,

cutbacks, and reduced publication frequency.

Publications that license their content can

generate additional revenue each time a brand

licenses it. The licensing model is helping to

reinvent the business model for news and keep

high-quality sources afloat.


Difference in CostLicensedTypes Original

Basic Blog Post $25 $200 8x

$31 $325 10x

$38 $700 19x

Basic Reported Story

In-Depth Reported Story

© 2014 NewsCred 7

Content licensing can be as simple as two

companies approaching one another to sign

a deal. But here’s the problem. Publishers

and brands don’t have the bandwidth to

keep entering one-off agreements. Legal

approvals can take weeks, and license

negotiations can feel like pulling teeth.

If brands and publishers are not careful,

content licensing can pose a major pain

point. Think about it -- every time you

want to license an article or set of articles,

you’ll need to sign a new agreement and

negotiate a new rate.

This is the exact pain point that NewsCred

has solved through its software and

publisher relationships. NewsCred works

with publishers to license large volumes

Getting Startedwith Licensed Content.

02 Getting Started with Licensed Content

of content -- these publishers include Forbes,

The Washington Post, Investopedia.com,

Business2Community and focused, industry

blogs. NewsCred is then able to sublicense this

content to its brand clients. Each publisher that

NewsCred works with receives a monthly check

for the content they license.

Publishers can license as much or as little

content as they’d like, without the need to

continuously sign agreements. Similarly, content

marketers can tap into an extensive inventory

of content from many different publishers.

© 2014 NewsCred 8

Technical Logistics

With scale comes the need for technology. It’s

easy to manually process content when you’re

searching through a set of 20 or 30 articles,

but the NewsCred system is more extensive.

It’s like walking into a public library - you’re not

going to be able to sort through every single

book manually. Instead, you need to rely on the

help of software.

NewsCred uses an application programming

interface (API) to help connect content

suppliers with content licensees. A brand’s

content management system is easily

integrated with an API such as NewsCred’s

to automatically extract videos and full-text

content. NewsCred clients can also use the

API to search for articles by specific authors,

keywords, curated topics, and sources. It’s

possible to filter through more than 100,000

articles a day to find the exact information that

you need.

NewsCred clients rely on a combination of

automation and editorial curation to find the

specific content that they need. In addition to

working with software, brand managers can

tap into the expertise of NewsCred’s team

of editorial strategists to curate new content.

Algorithms and machines can help with

identifying new content, but they can only take

you so far. It’s just as important to work with

people who can empathize with your brand’s

unique needs and voice.


© 2014 NewsCred 9

How to Approach Licensing

Licensing should adapt to your existing

content marketing plan. The best way to

figure out how licensed content fits into

your strategy is to look at your coverage

strengths and gaps. Which topics are you

covering well? Where are the gaps? What

is your existing vs. desired level of content

production? Licensed content can help

you bridge these gaps. Here are some steps

that you can take to figure out what types

of content to license.

1. Conduct an audit of your content strategy

by looking at the content that your brand

has already produced, as well as what is in

the pipeline. Group each piece of content

into a particular type or theme. For instance,

you can map content against each stage

of the sales funnel, or group content by

vertical, format, and audience.

2. Create a list of the topics that your

audience cares about. In an ideal world,

what information would your brand be able

to distribute? In which areas do you want

to become a thought leader? Consider

how frequently you would need to engage

your audience to accomplish this.

3. Examine the gaps between your lists in

#1 and #2. Which gaps can you fill with

original content production? Which are

outside the scope of your company’s

editorial or marketing team? The content

that you should but can’t produce is what you

should syndicate from reputable third parties.

Think of your content marketing plan like a

puzzle. Each piece is a facet of your content

strategy: original articles, videos, infographics,

licensed content and social media. Your

big picture goal is to drive leads and brand

awareness, and your success in doing so will

depend on how the pieces of the puzzle fit

together.


Your Options for Filling the Content Pipeline

In-house editorial team

Freelancers Aggregation Guest bloggers

Brands hire their own editorial teams that are solely dedicated to producing content.

Journalists write for brands and bill by the article.

This model involves brands taking headlines and excerpts from other news sites and blogs and displaying snippets of third-party content on their sites.

Even with another content model in place, guest blogging is a great way to show reciprocity with otehr content creators, improve SEO, and provide a variety of opinions and styles to your blog or site.

© 2014 NewsCred 10


How Much to License?

The answer to this question is up to your

brand’s discretion. If you cannot produce any

original content, you may have no choice but

to license 100% of your content inventory.

You should, however, keep your content

portfolio as diverse as possible.

Start with your distribution strategy, and

reverse engineer your content production

and curation process.

Every brand has different licensing needs. If

you’re just starting your content marketing

program, you may not be able to devote

25% of your budget to original content

production. And if you’re just starting out,

you won’t have content to recycle. Licensing

may be your best (or only) option.

Why?Content TypeAmount to Produce

Definition

25% Licensed Licensed content from reputable publishers and topical experts

— Content created by in-house marketing team and freelancers—Can include articles, videos and infographics

— Links to great content from other companies in your brand’s industry—These links should be linked to within your content and shared via social media—Note that you are not repurposing this content on your own blog or microsite

— Repurposed, original stories that are pushed to the top of your content queue— Typically includes content with a longer lifespan (i.e. not a seasonal blog posts)

— Adds diversity to your content portfolio— Fills content coverage gaps— Enables your brand to scale production—Aligns your brand with reputable, trusted sources of information—Allows your brand to publish new information in real-time—Generates strong social media value

— Positions brand as a source of thought leadership and valuable information— Generates strong SEO and social media value— Can be directly tied with the products and services of the brand via case studies, product snapshots, white papers, how-to guides and announcements

— Content marketing is part of a larger ecosystem. To get distribution, you need to give distribution—Sharing content from other reputable sources will help you build relationships, thought leadership, and authority in your industry

— Increases the shelf-life of evergreen content— Gives content additional potential for distribution via social media

Original

Curated

Recycled

25%

25%

25%

© 2014 NewsCred 11

Content Marketing Goals

Content licensing should align with

your overall content marketing goals.

Brands should monitor success metrics

that are tied to their sales, revenue

and engagement cycles. Both licensed

and original content can be assessed

according to the same performance

benchmarks.

Metrics like social shares, page

impressions and search rankings need to

sync up with costs, revenues, profits and

pipelines. The following framework can

help you connect the dots.

02 Getting Started with Licensed Content02 Getting Started with Licensed Content

ConceptGoal Metrics

Reach, Brand Awareness, and Virality

Loyalty & Engagement

Leads

Opportunity & Mobility

Revenue

Are you effectively boosting awareness about your brand? Is your marketing generating an echo effect that inspires audiences to share your content organically?

Do your customers trust what you have to say, and are they coming back for more information? Are they sharing your content with your networks of peers? Are they valuing your brand’s content above your competitors’?

Are your audiences interested in taking the relationship a step further and doing business with your brand? Is your content successful in guiding audiences through the sales funnel?

— Return visits— Social media shares across channels including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Pinterest— Subscriber count

— Subscriber count— Aggregate growth of leads— Visits to “contact us” page from articles, videos, or webinars

— Proportion of consumers who make their way to the next stage of the conversion funnel— Conversely, % drop-off

— Deals closed— Monthly recurring revenue— Long-term value of all customers— Long-term value as a proportion of customer acquisition cost

Are prospects moving through the sales conversion funnel? Are you connecting with audiences

What is the overall efficacy of your content program?

— Growth in overall traffic to website across multiple channels including email, SEO, and social media— Growth in traffic to blog, videos, e-books and other resources across multiple channels including email, SEO, and social media— Time spent on individual pieces of content— Pages consumed per visit

© 2014 NewsCred 12

Know Your Sources

There are currently 4,500 publisher partners

in NewsCred’s publisher network. These

include major news portals including The

Washington Post to niche finance experts like

Investopedia.

However, expensive does not always mean

better. For instance, publishers The Chicago

Tribune, Business Insider, and The Huffington

Post all license content via NewsCred. These

blogs may not be as big as The New York

Times, but they are experts in their field with

a highly engaged audience.

When you share unique content, your

audience will notice. Great reads come in

all shapes and sizes and are ever-present in

the deepest corners on the Internet. That’s

why it’s so important to expand your content

licensing portfolio beyond what your website

visitors are reading on mainstream media.

Content from mainstream media, may

also surprise you. When you think of The

Washington Post, you probably think of

them from their news content. What may be

interesting to learn is that The Washington

Post also maintains a top of the line grilling

blog. Through content licensing, your brand

can bring these treasures to light. Your

audiences will love you for it.

02 Getting Started with Licensed Content Time Inc. & Land Rover Watercooler Case Study

Time Inc. came to NewsCred to support their native advertising efforts. With a large

in-house ad sales team and a growing desire to launch branded experiences, Time Inc.

needed both a technology solution for their advertisers, as well as access to original,

licensed and social content.

The Land Rover Watercooler was the first of many branded experiences that Time Inc.

and NewsCred built together. Original content, licensed articles from CNN Money

and Sports Illustrated, as well as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter streams, were fed in

to create a brand-enhancing experience for visitors to the Land Rover main page.

The site drove 19,000 unique visitors to the Land Rover homepage, 80% of which were new

visitors. It was also written up in and was written up in Reuters, AdWeek and Luxury Daily.

© 2014 NewsCred 13

Attribution

Content licensing terms will typically require

you to cite your sources. Many times, brands

will wonder if they’ll be looked down upon

for licensing content instead of producing

original material.

Brands shouldn’t worry. Citing your sources

will actually make you look good.

The more that you can align your brand with

expert content, the more that consumers will

trust what you have to say. Journalists are

trained to write for the world’s most skeptical

readers -- individuals who are more likely to

trust information from The New York Times

over a company-sponsored blog.

Attribution is not a chore, and it is far from

obtrusive. Think of it as a detail that makes

your content strategy even more engaging.

Here is an example of how Monster.com’s content portal contributes content from carefully

curated sources. Their diverse content offering showcases handpicked stories from some of the

Internet’s most reputable media brands.

SOURCE: Forbes Ad Age The Next Web Forbes


© 2014 NewsCred 14

The most important step to success with content licensing

is to understand the value of content marketing. Good

marketing is about people and stories.

It’s different from traditional PR, in which you’re talking

about yourself. It’s about shifting mindsets and influencing

the culture related to your brand. It’s not about tooting your

horn. It’s about building a community around your most

foundational pieces of marketing collateral — content.

In addition to promoting what everybody is reading, a

powerful way to stand out is to promote the diamonds in the

rough. Everybody knows what they are reading, but what

should they be reading?

That’s where content licensing comes in. You’re curating

amazing content related to your brand and sharing it with your

website visitors. It’s engaging, enlightening and entertaining --

it makes audiences want to stay on your website longer.

Don’t try to sell. Focus on distributing valuable information,

and the sales will take care of themselves.

Conclusion.

Ultimate Guide to Licensed Content

Marketing

Transcript of Ultimate Guide to Licensed Content