At ParentsCanada custom content is the bread winner
For most B2C niche media, content marketing supplies a small part of the revenue mix.
Not so for ParentsCanada, a national online parenting magazine built on a content marketing model that includes selling videos and even product placements on morning TV shows.
Other niche publishers can learn a lot from the model, which had the highest percentage of video revenues among 100 respondents in the 2025 Niche Media Revenue Benchmark Report.
Publisher Jane Bradley, who worked for the former owner, used her severance pay to help purchase the magazine group when it went up for sale in 2014. She said the main asset was the 60,000 subscriber list, but almost everything else had to be reinvented around a digital model.
After the print magazines were shuttered and a brief attempt to turn the group of magazines into digital flipbooks failed, Bradley decided to rebuild the magazine on a WordPress site. She repurposed the magazine brands into channels: “Expecting,” “Babies,” “Toddler,” “School,” and “Family life,” along with food, products we love, and user-generated columns.
Content marketing was a natural fit since its custom content and distribution pricing was comparable to print prices without a print magazine’s higher production, printing, and distribution costs.
The new digital content marketing packages ranged from $7,000 for a low-end package to $40,000 for a custom content channel with all the bells and whistles. As a national magazine, ParentsCanada can attract national brands with money to invest in in-depth content marketing programs.
Like most niche publishers, however, the company is still relatively small – fewer than ten employees – and scrappily elegant. The video is shot by a local production company at Bradley’s home. A talented on-staff content editor doubles as the video host.
“It’s now been six and a half years, and we’ve been profitable since year two,” Bradley said.
The main event: Custom content
Compiling local events, a mainstay for local parenting magazines, is nearly impossible with a national magazine.
Instead, ParentsCanada focuses on “How-to” articles for each stage of parenting, creating evergreen, SEO-friendly content. While the top 200 articles are continually updated with new links and material, it is not as heavy a lift as breaking news daily.
Ten new articles a month combine user-generated content, such as ‘Why I hated being pregnant,’ Bradley said, with hard news, such as government updates on nutritional labels and how they will affect parents.
Some sponsored content is injected into pre-existing channels, while others pay for an entire branded channel. With video included, these are the contracts that top $30,000 a year.
The government of Canada also protects Canadian publishers, giving them grants to fend off American competition. About 5% of ParentsCanadarevenues come from this source.
Honing in on the right content
Bradley says the organization uses both Google Analytics and social media trends to inform content creation and maximize traffic.
“We check those every day.” The magazine’s tagline is “Topics parents Google the most.’
One example was a recipe for cottage cheese bread that had started trending on social media. “It’s just bread, two eggs, flour, and you bake it, and you’ve got this high-protein bread,” Bradley said.
“So we immediately did an article and put our spin on it.”
The sales and marketing director found a cook making cottage cheese bread that weekend and went there to take pictures. The article was posted the following Monday.
“Anytime somebody Google’s cottage cheese spread for the next 20 years, the article will be there.”
Evergreen content, however, is not completely evergreen. Since it is impossible to update all 5,000 articles, the team monitors the top 200 hundred most searched on Google and updates them with links and new information.
For example, an article on “My Toddlers Won’t Brush Their Teeth” was updated eleven years after the original post with information from the Canadian Dental Association. A note at the bottom of the article gives the date of the original post and the last update, helping the reader assess its currency and credit the magazine for its update.
‘It is work, but you have to do it,’ Bradley said.
Custom content pricing and packaging
The media kit (download here) includes three customizable packages, all structured around the custom content and only loosely related to CPM. The main product is “article reads.”
Starter Package – $7,900, includes 2,000 page views of a custom article and 200,000 brand impressions
Instead of an advertisement, this program includes a 200- to 500-word feature article written by ParentsCanada staff incorporating the brand’s key messaging. Depending on the angle of the article, brand images, videos, podcasts, recipes, testimonials, and reviews may also be included, with multiple links and a “Sponsored By” message with a clickable logo.
The team will also create a logo specifically for the campaign.
Promotions include a large tile on the home page for one week and a small tile for three weeks; the article is included in the weekly newsletter to 60K subscribers and social media posts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter (50K followers).
Premium Package – $11,800 includes 3,000 article views and 300,000 brand impressions guaranteed
This includes all of the above, plus an optional contest and display ads that are roadblocked on all site pages and targeted and retargeted through Google and Facebook paid channels to drive audiences back to the article. The contests help brands build their own leads.
Elite package – A Custom Content hub, starts at $17,000, 5,000 article views, 500,000 brand impressions guaranteed
This package includes up to 3 custom articles in the channel hub, incorporating videos and/or podcasts, up to four features in the weekly newsletter, the large and small tiles for 2 and 4 weeks, ROS co-banded display ads, and multiple posts (at least four a month) on social media,
The actual price for a custom hub depends on whether it is a full hub and how much video is produced, and it can run more than $30,000 for a campaign.
One sponsor is Microsoft, which sponsors an educational channel with co-branded content.
Another multiple-content channel was created for ThinkBeef.
The right side of the home page features an “iron for pregnancy” promotion that links to an article with additional “iron matters” promotions.
Those in turn link to a channel on the importance of iron for babies and how to get them to eat it.
Video is a hot seller
Bradley partnered with a local production company to create short videos, often using her home as the set. The production company shows up with sound, lighting, and a producer. The ‘face’ of the video content is on-staff at ParentsCanada, a product editor with a great video personality.
In the past, ParentsCanada usually included a video in the article content package. However, in 2024, the company released a new video rate card (download here) showing four video products that can be priced separately.
1.One-on-one interview – Minimum 5-minute videos
2.QuickTips-Thress 60 second videos
3. On-location shoots – Shop the store events
4.Roundtable interviews 
The three-page rate card also gives a pitch for the importance of including short videos in omnichannel marketing:
• Highly Engaging: Capture attention quickly and keep viewers interested
with concise storytelling.
• Memorable: Short, impactful messages stick with viewers longer
• Versatile: Adapt to various platforms and marketing channels like social
media, email campaigns, and website landing pages.
• Cost-Effective: Compared to longer video productions, short-form
videos offer a more cost-efficient approach.
• Measurable: Track results and ROI with detailed analytics provided by
online platforms.
• Complements Existing Content: Short-form videos can be powerful
companions to blog posts and articles. They can visually represent
key points, offer demonstrations, or provide a more engaging format
for complex topics. This enriches the user experience and encourages
deeper engagement with your content.
Bradley says the company also buys spots on morning television shows, where the host might showcase eight or nine products. ParentsCanada supplies the product and the script. “All these shows are pay-to-play,” she said.
Building the audience
Once children turn 14, the site’s content is no longer applicable, so a new group of parents must be found to keep the audience stable and growing.
Ongoing outreach includes baby shows, contests, and paid search.
ParentsCanada’s Content CornerParentsCanada’s Contest Corner often co-sponsored, creating a win-win situation, as an advertiser can help pay for paid search on Google or targeting on META.
“The Good Stuff Baby Gear Giveaway” is an example of a simple sweepstakes; parents leave their contact information to win $800 of baby gear that can be supplied by participating advertisers.
Since Google’s algorithms have become unpredictable, and with the advent of AI, search traffic is no longer assumed.
New initiatives to build the audience include a content partnership with a company that owns Canada’s largest database of new parents. ParentsCanada provides content in return for programs that access the database.
A new magazine and website section under development aimed at grandparents will double the current demographics. “We can reach the same advertisers and just broaden their demographic.”
Finally, an annual State of Parenthood survey on how parents feel is also a database builder. With a few new partners, they aim to raise the number of respondents from 700 to 1,000 next year and sell advertiser questions into the survey. “No one is doing much research on parents,” Bradley says.
Like other niche media companies, Bradley always seeks new ways to expand its brand, audience, and revenues. During a 2023 Niche Media Conference session, Bradley was inspired to sketch a business plan for a resurrected print magazine, but it’s an add-on rather than the main revenue source.
Also in the works: a grandparenting section and magazine, a parents portal for the City of Toronto, and selling questions into an expanded parenting survey
A Toronto-based parenting portal aimed at residents and tourists is also new and has been launched with government support from Ontario Creates. It will include directory-style guides, such as the best restaurants to visit with kids.
Asked whether she has a succession plan, Bradley says she’ll stop publishing “when the magazine retires me.”
Despite its remarkable success, no one knows how an AI-based future will affect publications that rely on evergreen content. In the meantime, Bradley is staying busy with her new launches. “It’s a great way to make a living.”
Click here for the Custom Content Media Kits from ParentsCanada.
Many thanks to Jane Bradley for sharing her expertise and marketing materials with the community.
