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Investors.com Finds Upside in Hybrid Model
Monday, March 9, 2009

Investors.com continues to find ad clients even in a down market, largely because its fee-based garden wall helps maintain the value of its advertising. “I am consistently at a 90% to 110% sell-through on above-the-fold units, says Jerry Ferrara, VP of advertising, Investors.com, the online extension of Investor’s Business Daily. Ferrara says the major online brokers and associated financial industries continue to grow his ad base because his audience is so highly qualified. The site is sold to subscribers as a package—$295 a year for the print magazine and full access to the site’s news, analysis and tools. Non-paying subscribers get limited access to the news. Investors.com receives 1 million unique users a month and generates 15 million page views.

Even in a down market, and with other publishers reigniting talk of charging again for content, Ferrara says Investors.com is reaping the benefit of a long-standing blended model of fees and advertising. It is this self-selection process that keeps the audience targeted and lucrative. If they are willing to pay for financial data, then they are much more likely to convert to paying customers for the financial services advertisers. “A lot of the savvy marketers are measuring the lifetime value [of customers], and we can bring them a more qualified audience that is more engaged than a traditional ad-supported site,” says Ferrara. “A lot of the financial advertisers are able to track back acquisitions and account value of their customer base. They can see we drive a more qualified acquisition.”

Many financial portals and business information sites are dropping rates to grab more of a dwindling pie in the financial ad sector, but Investors.com is maintaining rates by selling its audience across platforms. “Largely we sell on an integrated basis,” says Ferrara. “We feel that the qualitative aspect of the user base is off the charts, so we want to bring in marketers with multiple touch points: print, online and workshops.” Investor’s Business Daily brands run 150 investment workshops around the country each year that also become promotional venues for sponsors.

Investors.com is about to relaunch its site with a new design and interactive functionality. If the IBD brand is not as visible in the publishing world as some other financial news providers, that is just fine with them, says Ferrara, so long as the advertisers know they are there. “We’re a private company and under the radar. We like it that way,” he says.

If you have breaking news to share please contact Steve Smith at ssmith@accessintel.com

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