In today’s rapidly changing media landscape, content marketing is a crucial strategy for many companies. Our experts at Schibsted, Karin Schmidt and Sandra Rendahl, share their insights on the future of content marketing and Schibsted’s work and visions.

Karin Schmidt is Head of Business Development & Data at Schibsted Brand Studio. She is also part of the IAB Task Force for Content Advertising, which addresses industry issues. Sandra Rendahl, Insight Manager at Schibsted, leads projects to prove the effectiveness of native advertising and collaborates with various functions within Brand Studio to enhance offerings with insights and future-proof effectiveness measurements for native content.

What is the future of content marketing?

– Native has established itself as an effective way for advertisers to deliver messages that explain, inspire, and guide. The long engagement time with visitors, often over a minute, creates fantastic opportunities, and we see increased demand for native from the market. We always start from the customer’s KPIs and campaign goals when creating content, and much of the product’s creativity lies in storytelling, finding new angles, and new ways to visualize. At the same time, exciting developments in AI and personalization open great opportunities for the future. We are in a very exciting phase with AI, which can ease internal processes and develop our products. We see great potential in integrating native with editorial content and innovation, such as text-to-speech, where users can listen to a native article using AI instead of reading it, says Karin.

Demand for audio and video is increasing, and we see fantastic results when we extend native into these formats. Another clear trend is that data and insights are becoming increasingly important in content. For us in Brand Studio, it is essential to work with high-quality data to offer excellent campaign follow-ups. We are also working with metadata to generate useful insights about different types of content, industries, and more, adds Karin.

What are the biggest challenges?

– Generally, it is a significant challenge for advertisers to break through the media noise and achieve relevance, but it also motivates us in Brand Studio to create content that is relevant to visitors on our sites. Aligning closely with the editorial expression of our publishers entails great responsibility, requiring editorial quality without compromising for short-term gains that could damage long-term credibility. Transparency with users through clear labeling and ad markers is crucial to maintaining the product’s integrity and delivering high-quality content that is effective for customers. The entire industry benefits from quality and clarity, but influencing other market players is a challenge, says Karin.

– Given the challenges of media noise and relevance, effectiveness measurements and feedback from readers are crucial for improving our campaigns. However, measuring content through surveys can be challenging due to its limited reach compared to display ads. Therefore, it is important for us at Schibsted Insight to work with the best measurement methods for native, which consider both frequency and time. We are confident in the effectiveness measurements we offer our customers, adds Sandra.

“The entire industry benefits from quality and clarity, but influencing other market players is a challenge.”

Karin Schmidt, Head of Business Development & Data

What are the opportunities with future content marketing?

– Historically, native has been seen as solving only certain parts of the marketing funnel, and this is something we in Brand Studio want to challenge. By adapting teasers and content, we optimize according to the customer’s goals, whether it is awareness, interest, or conversion. Innovations in AI, personalization, audio, and video will further enable users to engage with native content in the form they prefer, says Karin.

– We also see that native is becoming an increasingly important part of the media mix. The Schibsted Attention Study, a research study based on attention measured with passive eye-tracking, showed that 85% of all digital advertising (display and video) has a fixation time of under 2.5 seconds. But if your brand needs more time, such as for launching a new product, you need significantly more time with the readers. With our native products, you often get around 1 minute with the visitor, which is ample time for your brand to make a deep impact, says Sandra.

Why should customers choose Schibsted for content marketing?

– Schibsted Brand Studio is one of Sweden’s leading and most awarded content marketing agencies. Every day, we help customers build brands, create interest, drive sales, and influence attitudes through creative, tailored solutions in native format. Our team includes experienced editors, video, podcast, and text production experts, creators, strategic advisors, data analysts, and business developers. Based on the advertiser’s goals, we assemble a dedicated team of experts covering everything from idea, concept, and strategy to production and distribution. The team works closely with the customer before, during, and after the campaign period to ensure quality and delivery. We optimize the campaign continuously throughout the period, says Karin.

– Being visible in our high-quality news contexts strengthens advertisers’ brands and supports Swedish democracy and free speech. This makes us an ideal partner for companies looking to communicate their message in an engaging and secure context – while also making a positive impact on the future, concludes Sandra.

“This makes us an ideal partner for companies looking to communicate their message in an engaging and secure context – while also making a positive impact on the future.”

Sandra Rendahl, Insight Manager

How does Schibsted measure content marketing today?

– In addition to hard KPIs like the number of readers, reading time, and clicks, we evaluate effectiveness through online interviews with readers. For over five years, we have measured brand lift on native campaigns with the global actor Brand Metrics, providing us with a solid benchmark database that can be broken down by specific industry. The method considers both the time readers spend with the content and frequency, giving a baseline value for the brand and a lift value in percentage points. We also conduct deeper surveys with Norstat for some larger native articles and podcasts, says Sandra.

What is the next step for Schibsted?

– At Insight, we are reviewing all our measurement methods to ensure they are of high quality and function without third-party cookies. We also want to better understand what readers think of our native content to create even better material. Therefore, we have recently launched Schibsted Content Review, which provides quick feedback from readers directly linked to the content. A future-proof method, just like Brand Metrics. We see great engagement from readers and are also testing other methods to further improve content quality, says Sandra.

– Our ambition is to have the market’s best campaign reporting, which requires high-quality data, tech stack, analysis, method, and processes. We need greater flexibility to ensure effectiveness measurements regardless of platform and the phasing out of third-party cookies, adds Karin.

Combining deep insights and innovative methods, Schibsted strives to be at the forefront of content marketing. Our dedicated work to understand and improve the effectiveness of native campaigns shows strong commitment from both advertisers and readers.

Do you have questions or want to learn more about our offerings? Contact Karin or Sandra below.

Karin Schmidt, karin.schmidt@schibsted.com

Sandra Rendahl, sandra.rendahl@schibsted.com