When ad revenue drops, some companies get a wake-up call to revisit how they’re making money.
Take Evite, a website for creating and sending personalized event invitations. Until recently, the company’s revenue model was dependent on paid ad views on its site and invite templates. While Evite sought out different revenue streams in recent years, including affiliate marketing and paid templates without ads, the pandemic aftermath spurred major changes to its business model.
Invite creations on Evite’s website fell by 90% during the pandemic, which also meant ad revenue nearly evaporated. With no events to host or attend, people certainly weren’t paying for premium templates.
As a result, the company “overhauled everything” about its marketing and revenue model, said CMO Karen Graham, zeroing in on affiliate marketing and social media influencers.
The switch-up was more than a band-aid for pandemic losses, though; it speaks to the future of sustainable media and ad monetization.
“Ad revenue is volatile,” Graham said. Plus, display ads can “denigrate the user experience,” she added. After all, who wants to see ads in their invite to a baby shower? (Yes, the invites themselves have ads unless you pay to remove them.)
Don’t show up empty-handed
Evite still sells ads, Graham said, but advertising is now the smallest piece, about 10%, of the revenue pie.
Instead, roughly 70% of the company’s revenue comes from the 18% of users who pay for ad-free templates. The company also makes 20% of its revenue from affiliate marketing with retailers. Evite already works with Amazon and Target, and it recently added Etsy as an affiliate partner in February.
When someone creates an invitation, Evite prompts them to buy decorations or party favors from a retailer, for example. It also prompts guests to purchase a present, sending customized recommendations alongside reminders leading up to the event.
When someone visits or buys something from a retailer site via an Evite link, the company gets a cut.
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Etsy is Evite’s most recent and “fledgling” partner, Graham said, so it’s still figuring out when and where Etsy links might drive the most traffic, though it also sometimes suggests multiple retailers and lets the consumer choose. Many Evite invitations prompt people to shop from either Amazon or Target, for example, and there are ads for Etsy items on Evite’s website.
Evite might eventually expand its affiliate partnerships with other retailers that suit more specific or niche events, such as weddings or bridal showers, according to Graham.
Hey, Gen Z
But make no mistake: Evite isn’t scrapping advertising.
Even though free templates serve some ads on email invitations, the company is focused more on formats that fit more natively into the online and inbox experience.
Ads perform better when they’re more respectful of the user experience, Graham said. Evite recently launched Disney- and Sesame Street-branded invite templates. The company is more focused on strategic brand partnerships that embed a sponsored product, rather than one-off display ads.
Evite also began a foray into influencer marketing on Instagram and TikTok last year to reach younger generations, and says its social media presence is picking up traction with Gen Z. Evite gauges social media performance based on engagement and follower growth, both of which have increased on Instagram and TikTok since last year, Graham said.
Sometimes, the company partners with influencers to call out its website or a specific template. On TikTok, the brand also seeks out organic content influencers happen to post about Evite, then pays to boost those posts.
Social media is especially useful for building brand awareness with younger consumers, Graham said, adding that the company is gearing up to launch its second-ever TV campaign, this one featuring influencer content.
To improve its recognition with younger demos, Graham said, Evite is making templates shareable through texting – because we all know the young’uns love their texting more than they love emails and display ads.
“Moving away from a reliance on [traditional] ad revenue is helping us build a product that customers want,” she said.
