A cross-functional team including members from data and insights, revenue, and product groups, has helped New Zealand’s Stuff website be more relevant and cut through with advertisers.

In an INMA Ideas blog, chief data & insights officer Dina Hay tells how more than two and a half years’ worth of data was analysed.

This included information on daily unique visitors, daily page views, site section performance, revenue, advertising impressions and eCPMs by channel for the news website, which has a monthly audience of more than 2.1 million unique browsers.

“In the aftermath of strong news interest that accompanied the COVID-19 pandemic, we wanted to identify ways to deepen relevance with our audience, improve cut-through for commercial partners and protect against potential economic instability,” she says.

“To enhance digital advertising revenue, the team set out to understand where Stuff’s audience was engaging, the main site sections being visited, and where the revenue was flowing.”

The team also identified site sections which were being undersold, and opportunities for optimisation, as well as looking to improve eCPM and revenue through increased rates or reduced discount levels.

“One ad position was also packaged differently to sell direct and raise the eCPM. By converting the position to a dynamic widget, a strategic direct sale was made with a leading New Zealand retailer, which nearly doubled the eCPM.”

Hay says the outcome was that viewability improved from six per cent to 65 per cent, and CTRs from 0.02 per cent to 0.16 per cent. eCMPs also trended upwards. The significant improvement in viewability is also enabling greater direct sales.

In addition to Stuff.co.nz, Stuff owns a suite of magazines, newspapers, and the online community platform Neighbourly. “It leverages its trust and scale to deliver quality news, content and experiences that help make New Zealand a better place,” she says.