Mail Metro Media, which sells ads for the Daily Mail, Metro, i, and New Scientist among others, has launched a new vertical video partnership offering called EDITS. The sales house says EDITS will use content creators from its editorial team to create and deliver vertical video story clips which will run across its channels. Short-form social video has been a major focus for the Daily Mail in particular, and this new product will help the newspaper monetise an otherwise hard-to-monetise channel.
Advertisers using EDITS will choose from one of five key video treatments, which Mail Metro Media says can be tailored to a wide range of category verticals. Since some of the treatments available have more of an editorial feel, and they all draw on video creatives from the publisher, EDITS campaigns will all be fairly bespoke. Regardless of the type of content they settle on, Mail Metro Media says the advertiser can choose a target audience and buy against guaranteed outcomes – either clicks or views depending on their preference.
Mail Metro Media’s own ID solution dmg::ID will then be used to also inform targeting as the campaign rolls out across platforms, including TikTok and Meta.
The group says EDITS will help remove complexities of video creation, while also helping brands be more reactive with their marketing, and creating assets which can be used for wider marketing purposes. A big part of the appeal will be in helping brands create content likely to play well on short-form video platforms, using Mail Online’s own experience on those platforms.
“In the last year, our innovative approach to content creation has seen us reach new audiences and has achieved us the top spot as the no.1 news publisher on TikTok,” said Hannah Buitekant, managing director of digital at Mail Metro Media. “We created EDITS to give clients and agencies access to our expert content creators with production, audiences using dmg::ID and performance measurement delivered in one easy-to-buy package.”
Long-term growth on short-form video
As VideoWeek reported earlier this year, publishers are investing a lot in video this year given the popularity of short-form video products like TikTok, Reels, and YouTube Shorts. But ad tools within vertical video feeds don’t yet deliver the same kind of revenue as publishers receive for longer video content, making it hard to monetise short-form.
Publishers are investing regardless, as this type of video content can be very valuable for building audiences, especially among hard to reach younger generations. The Daily Mail has been one of the biggest success stories on this front. Last week it announced it has more than 12 million followers across its combined TikTok channels, and it has 8.2 million on its primary channel alone.
As rates on short-form social platforms may improve in the future, making it easier for publishers like the Daily Mail to monetise these audiences. In the meantime, they’ll have to find creative ways to make money off their content. EDITS, which leverages the publisher’s in-house expertise in short-form video and delivers bespoke branded content, may help solve that challenge.
