How media companies can monetize Meta and get paid for their engagement

Are you currently making money from Meta based on your audience engagement? You could be and I’m going to lay out how it works and what you should be doing with your content to achieve great revenue results from Meta.

But before we just into all of that, there are also several ways to use Meta’s tools to drive revenue without being paid by Meta directly. Here are a few examples.

• Branded content (posting the content as part of distribution

• Partnership posts that feature a short write up, image/video and link to an advertiser

• Reels for advertisers

• Meta’s subscription tools for paid access to things like exclusive content and live Q&As

But there’s a whole other world where Meta will actually pay you for creating highly-engaging content. And we’re seeing many publishers starting to reap the benefits.

The way this works is that Meta decides to make a page eligible and pays you based on your performance. The revenue comes from showing ads on your Reels, in-stream ads on in-depth videos and lives.

They are rewarding publishers for high engagement meaning they are looking at things like video views, watch time, impressions and retention and then rewarding those publishers with revenue who achieve good results in those areas.

How do you find out if you’re eligible?

You can check your eligibility by going to the monetization section inside Meta Business Suite. In here you can see which monetization tools your page currently qualifies for, which ones are unavailable, and whether any policy violations or content flags are preventing eligibility.

It’s the primary place Meta communicates eligibility status and required next steps. Meta doesn’t always provide a lot of information when a page is deemed ineligible, but you may see notices about violations of Meta’s Community or Monetization Guidelines in your Business Suite. Those standards can be accessed here.

Keep in mind that you should be looking at all of your pages. For example, if you work in a media company with numerous news organizations, don’t just look at the main account but each individual one. There’s additional opportunity you don’t want to lose out on.

How do you become eligible if you’re not and if you are, how do you grow your revenue?

Video is really the fastest way to get to monetization, especially Reels and any video that is going to encourage watch time.

The content really needs to be original and be engaging (meaning people are watching it, commenting, liking and sharing.)

But regular posts work as well as they can help keep your content visible, your audience engaged, and your page healthy, which all supports monetization over time.

Here are a few specific things to keep in mind with these posts:

• You should be storytelling on the platform (not just focus on links)

• Create high-quality visuals (attach numerous photos to a post and write it out)

• Share your posts as “stories.”

On the video front, do the following:

• Have a strong hook in the first few seconds of your video to hold attention

• Many publishers see the strongest results by posting video several times a week. Consistent performance over time matters more than hitting a specific number of posts every day.

• Focus on video explainers and breakdowns, behind-the-scenes content, show real people (and have real people talk) and think about how the content might be shared.

Review your metrics weekly and adjust your strategies to really maximize the revenue.

We can help you make money!

Uncovering opportunities in Meta can be complicated and we’re here to help media companies through the process. This includes helping you discover if your page is eligible and getting it set up to receive funds.

We also help media companies build content strategies designed specifically for monetization on platforms like Meta. If you’d like to learn how we can support your team, reach out at david@davidarkinconsulting.com.