When ad revenue drops, some companies get a wake-up call to revisit how they’re making money.
Evite’s Post-Pandemic Marketing Pivot | AdExchanger
Take Evite, a website for creating and sending personalized event invitations. Until recently, the company’s revenue model was dependent on paid ad views on its site and invite templates. While Evite sought out different revenue streams in recent years, including affiliate marketing and paid templates without ads, the pandemic aftermath spurred major changes to its business model.
Evite’s Post-Pandemic Marketing Pivot | AdExchanger
Invite creations on Evite’s website fell by 90% during the pandemic, which also meant ad revenue nearly evaporated. With no events to host or attend, people certainly weren’t paying for premium templates.
Evite’s Post-Pandemic Marketing Pivot | AdExchanger
As a result, the company “overhauled everything” about its marketing and revenue model, said CMO Karen Graham, zeroing in on affiliate marketing and social media influencers.
Evite’s Post-Pandemic Marketing Pivot | AdExchanger
Evite’s Post-Pandemic Marketing Pivot | AdExchanger
The switch-up was more than a band-aid for pandemic losses, though; it speaks to the future of sustainable media and ad monetization.
Evite’s Post-Pandemic Marketing Pivot | AdExchanger
“Ad revenue is volatile,” Graham said. Plus, display ads can “denigrate the user experience,” she added. After all, who wants to see ads in their invite to a baby shower? (Yes, the invites themselves have ads unless you pay to remove them.)
Don’t show up empty-handed
Evite still sells ads, Graham said, but advertising is now the smallest piece, about 10%, of the revenue pie.
Instead, roughly 70% of the company’s revenue comes from the 10% of users who pay for ad-free templates. The company also makes 20% of its revenue from affiliate marketing with retailers. Evite already works with Amazon and Target, and it recently added Etsy as an affiliate partner in February.
When someone creates an invitation, Evite prompts them to buy decorations or party favors from a…
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