Infographic: The State of the Media Industry

Software company Cision has given the media industry its routine checkup, and the diagnosis is here in form of its new State of the Media 2015 report.

Cision surveyed 200 journalists and condensed its findings into one nifty infographic—there’s even a timeline of key events that shaped the media industry last year. But what really makes this study stand out for content marketers is its inclusion of insights from leaders of small businesses and blogs—not just the BuzzFeeds and Forbes of the world.

Here, we’ll break the report down into two major media trends that are revolutionizing modern marketing: the rise of native advertising and the increasing importance of mobile content.

Let’s take a look at how these strategies have developed in the past year.

Native advertising

This past year was when native advertising really became a bonafide component of content marketing.The New York Times launched its T Brand Studio, The Wall Street Journal debuted WSJ. Custom Studios, and BuzzFeed continues to rake in six-figure sums from ad partners for native ad placements.

These publications are setting up native ad shops because they know that’s where the money is. Brands like State Farm that wants to reach future insurance buyers would pay top dollar for exposure to BuzzFeed’s huge millennial audience. And they are. According to Business Insider, spending on native ads will reach $7.9 billion in 2015, rising from $4.7 billion in 2013.

Building off of that fact, according to Cision’s report, 49 percent of journalists believe native advertising will drive the most revenue for the media in 2015.

Despite this spending spree, many advertisers are still skeptical about how readers respond to articles that have a brand label. For example, in July of 2014, Contently found that 54 percent of readers don’t trust sponsored content, and two-thirds of readers have felt deceived upon realizing that an article or video was sponsored by a brand.

Convincing advertisers of the benefits of native ads can be tough, especially for blogs and independent digital publications.

Cision asked Mara Shapiro, editor of BrazenWoman (a magazine for women over 35), what the biggest challenge of being a journalist in 2014 was. Her reply? “’Convincing’ PR and brands to pay for placement as opposed to just earned media.”

The public perception of native advertising is evolving, slowly, mainly because the quality of the content has improved now that respected publishers are focusing on it. But as the infographic alludes to, native still has a while to go before those creating media and those consuming media trust it completely.

Mobile

Whether you’re reaching consumers with native ads, social media, or original content, the best way to get their attention is increasingly through mobile. As Cision points out, mobile app usage eclipsed PC Internet usage for the first time in 2014.

According to Cision’s report, a whopping 90 percent of journalists believe mobile compatibility and responsive design are “very important” or “somewhat important” to their media outlet’s success. And 36 percent of journalists identify it as the most important media trend of the year.

Mobile platforms like Snapchat and Instagram are offering new ways for publishers and brands to engage audiences with visual content. In fact, Global Video Index reported that 21 percent of all online videos were viewed on smartphones or tablets. That’s a 532 percent increase from two years ago.

For more on the state of the media, check out the infographic below.