SAN FRANCISCO: inPowered has updated its content-discovery and amplification platform with a pricing model based on customers’ engagement with advertisers’ content.
The refreshed platform, called inPowered 2.0, is set up so that advertisers only pay when consumers spend time reading or sharing their content. Previously, the service had a cost-per-click model, in which advertisers paid when consumers clicked on their links.
"The current approach to native advertising for a lot of companies is click baiting by using a racy picture or sensational title," said Peyman Nilforoush, co-founder and CEO of inPowered. "However, we found that this doesn’t actually drive engagement, and the cost-per-click model is broken and in dire need of disruption."
One-third of readers drop off before 15 seconds with regular editorial content, while two-thirds of readers drop off before 15 seconds with native, promoted content, according to Nilforoush. This means that consumers who click on links are not necessarily sticking around to read the content. Only 24% of people who click through to articles actually scroll down, showing a lack of engagement, he added.
inPowered’s ranking algorithm helps brands identify the best content written by industry experts to promote in real time.
The platform also turns a brand’s content into native ads across the Web and social networks. It then optimizes a brand’s budget towards its most engaging content, Nilforoush explained.
inPowered’s free option allows PR professionals to search for brands, products, and topics, and then discover and share content from experts with their fans and followers across social media. Starting at a fee of $2,500 per article, users can pay to promote content to a broader audience via the inPowered distribution platform.
Its cost-per-engagement pricing went into effect on Wednesday, ranging from $1.50 to $3 per engagement. inPowered defines engagement as a user spending at least 15 seconds in an active browser window or sharing the content.
