The Rundown: Digital media’s branded content growing pains

They barely have enough time to respond to RFPs in the three-day turnaround time demanded. “It could be a year-long program, and we have two days to come up with it,” another attendee griped.

And by its nature, the campaign flow is unpredictable and uneven, so publishers try to fill in the gaps by offering to produce white-label content for advertisers, where the margins are even lower.

Native advertising is still a growth business, but it’s projected to grow slower (31 percent) this year, compared with 50 percent last year and 64 percent the year before, according to eMarketer. And there’s more competition than ever. Marketers are trying to take more of their advertising creation in-house.

In light of those factors, publishers are turning to other areas for revenue. They’re selling ticketed events that bring their content to life. Many have growing e-commerce operations. And of course, they’re pivoting to subscriptions and membership. Even BuzzFeed is holding out its hat in an appeal for reader donations, as part of a multi-pronged effort to diversify its revenue sources.

None of this is a slam-dunk, either. All these business lines require skill sets that are new to media companies, whether it’s throwing events, stocking merchandise or selling subscriptions. Even publishers that are having success talk about sweating every detail. “You can’t slip an inch” when it comes to selling products, said one publisher that has built a tidy eight-figure commerce operation in a few years. But the future in media seems to belong to those that will place bets in many if not all those places.