Vox Media's Ryan Pauley explains how expanding the CRO role beyond ad sales improves ad sales

In March, Vox Media expanded the purview of Ryan Pauley's role as chief revenue officer beyond ad sales to also encompass consumer revenue, affiliate and commerce businesses. Rather than diluting the role of ad sales, the broadening was designed to give the media company's advertising business a boost by connecting it more directly with Vox Media's other revenue streams.

"There was a historical expectation that diversifying revenue meant the business lines were in competition with one another. In fact, what I'm realizing and what many companies are realizing is that they can really benefit from one another on the advertising side," Pauley said in the latest episode of the Digiday Podcast.

By overseeing Vox Media's various revenue streams, Pauley said he feels more informed on how the revenue sources relate, which in turn helps him connect with the brand CMOs that Vox Media sells to. "I feel much more informed now when I go talk to a CMO about marketing strategies. We have a large paid acquisition team and budget, and we have the same challenges on how much do we prioritize brand versus performance and how do you bridge the attribution gap between the two," he said.

That insight may help Vox Media as, like every other media company, it contends with the economic downturn and its impact on advertising. Pauley acknowledged that Vox Media has not been immune from that advertising drawdown, but he said the company is seeing ad dollars move to programmatically sold inventory, which is more performance-oriented for advertisers. "We're definitely seeing the lean towards more performance," he said.