A forum for the print and
digital publishing industries

• Three ways AI is helping publishers flourish

The publishing industry has been totally transformed in the past decade. In 2008, the rise of online media was simply considered an “emerging threat” to the print media industry by the UK’s TV and radio services regulator Ofcom.

• The Data Trap: How to Stop Worrying and Sell Content

Data, data, it’s all about the data. Or is it?  We are here to tell you that chasing data could be a waste of your valuable time. Think about it–does all that data really matter in the niche world of targeted, hyper interested audiences? Sure data analysis is necessary, but without first creating strong content and the right context, it can be pretty meaningless.

• Yes, Facebook referral traffic crashed and burned — but not for these nonprofit publishers

“Bottom line: The decline in referrals to publishers from Facebook is not universal, and in the face of those declines, other sources of traffic are more important than ever.”

• What Is the Easy Path to Publishing Riches Overnight? A Delusion

When I started this blog a decade ago this month, the Get Rich By Blogging Hype Machine was just getting revved up. Within a few years, pundits declared that blogging is dead, just as they had declared that “Print is dead” a few years earlier. (Both media have shown an annoying tendency to flash a giant middle finger at the pundits, adapting rather than extincting.)

• AMG/Parade Launching New Print Magazine Partnership with Lori Greiner

In response to the popularity of her Parade cover last year, AMG/Parade is teaming up with the Shark Tank “Shark” to launch a new lifestyle publication, Inspire by Lori Greiner.

• How a luxury publisher is bringing its formula from East to West

Since launching seven years ago, Buro24/7’s publishing proposition has focused on connecting the world’s most desirable brands with the most sought-after demographic – the affluent millennial – or as I like to call them, the ‘re-inventors of luxury’.

• How we can make local journalism thrive: takeaways from News Impact Summit, Cardiff

For decades, we have been able to take local journalism for granted. Today, we no longer can. Local journalism is facing a number of challenges.

• Where to Focus Revenue Growth in 2019

Ancillary publications, new digital products, live events, merchandise, oh my! Opportunities abound to diversify and grow your revenue by launching new products.

• Looking beyond Facebook and Instagram, DTC brands try Snapchat

Since Snapchat released its advanced Pixel targeting capabilities to advertisers in June, some direct-to-consumer companies say they are seeing up to a 50 percent lower cost-per-acquisition since applying the Pixel, prompting some to shift spending from Facebook and Instagram.

• Study: Magazine Publishers Still Eager for Print Innovation, But Want to Test Drive First

I often hear folks in the magazine industry lament the fact that there’s not an appetite for innovating and reinventing print publications, despite the still significant role print plays in many publishing companies’ business models.

• How Newspapers are Rethinking and Delivering the Online User Experience

During the past year, USA Today’s vast network of more than 100 websites has undergone a transformation. By standardizing each of the publication’s templates to match the overall design and impact of the USA Today brand, owner Gannett found a way to not only bridge local and national branding efforts that reach more than 125 million visitors each month, it delivers a more consistent (read: profitable) platform for advertisers.

• Op-Ed: Apple CEO asks that Bloomberg retract report on Chinese spying

In an interview with Buzzfeed News, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Apple Tim Cook asked Bloomberg to retract its news report alleging that Chinese spies had compromised company servers by implanting a malicious micro chip on them.

• Publishers and online privacy: In search of a Goldilocks solution

For years, large tech companies have spent millions on lobbying in Washington to make sure that they escape tough regulation. And until recently, they have been successful.

• ESPN The Magazine Wins Magazine of the Year at the Eddie & Ozzie Awards Gala

Four magazine publishing professionals were inducted into the Hall of Fame and over 200 awards were presented.

• 4 Ways Publishers Are Monetizing Video

More and more publishers are looking to video as a platform for their premium content, and it’s easy to see why.

• Q&A: Readly, the digital magazine subscription service

Headquartered in Sweden, Readly is the world’s best known global magazine subscription platform – it offers readers unlimited access to more than 3,200 titles in a single app.

• A Decade of Delusions: 10 Things We Got Wrong About Publishing in the Digital Age

A decade ago this month, despite not knowing my RSS from a hole in the ground, I created a blog called Dead Tree Edition out of desperation.

• What Norwegian publisher Aller Media has learned from its personalized paywall

Digital ad revenue still pays the bills for Nordic publishing group Aller Media, which has over 30 magazine titles.

• Authors in focus: Google’s new search guidelines, and what it means for publishers

It’s not very often that Google updates its Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines (for example, it has only done so once this year) and when it does, it provides us with a peek behind the scenes of what the company is emphasizing on—to its team of over 10,000 content quality raters—in terms of search guidelines.

• 2018 Social Media Marketing Trends (It’s still all about FB)

Every year Social Media Examiner conducts a survey of 5,700 marketers to better understand how marketers are using social media to promote and grow their business.

• ‘They’re attentive’: Inside Apple’s pitch to wary publishers

You can’t blame publishers for being wary when a giant Silicon Valley tech platform comes to them promising big new audiences and (someday) a way to make money off them.

• Unilad: Facebook viral publisher goes into administration

Unilad, one of the biggest publishers on Facebook, has gone into administration, putting hundreds of jobs at risk and casting doubt on whether outlets that rely on the social media platform for distribution can become sustainable businesses.

• Tronc changing name back to Tribune Publishing

The Chicago-based company, which also owns the Baltimore Sun; Hartford Courant; Orlando Sentinel; South Florida’s Sun Sentinel; the New York Daily News; the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Md.; The Morning Call in Allentown, Pa.; the Daily Press in Newport News, Va.; and The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Va., announced the decision Thursday. It ends a more than two-year run with the much-derided corporate moniker of Tronc.

• Publisher goes on “Facebook detox”: Retains 90% page views, engagement shoots up 42%

Can a publisher survive without Facebook? Danish publisher TV Midtvest decided to find out. With Facebook changing its algorithm to deprioritize news, the publisher initiated a bold experiment: to go off Facebook completely and find out what happens.

• Ad tech round-up: What publishers need to know this month

Xaxis UK launched a new six-second ad format, Integral Ad Science verification is now available for Snapchat inventory, and Sublime Skinz rebrands to Sublime. Here are the top things that happened in ad tech from September that publishers need to know about:

• 8 Email Subject Lines To Get An Open-Read-Reply

If email is used in the right way it can truly help the sales professional win and grow business. Before we get into the best sales subject lines for email success, remember this about email:

• Why publishers are tapping the beauty category for newness and growth

When Cosmopolitan senior vice president, publisher and chief revenue officer Donna Kalajian Lagani was looking at ways to rethink the title’s October print advertising pages, she turned to the beauty category. Beauty is crucial to the Cosmo audience, she said — it’s made up about 60 percent of all of its advertising volume in 2018, which is up 55 percent from last year.

• 6 Ways to Adjust to Google’s Emphasis on Authors in Revised Search Guidelines

OK, fellow publishers, Google is on to us. And that probably means readers are on to us as well. As I’ve noted before, Google has generally been kind to magazine media publishers, tweaking its search engine to favor results from respected web sites, especially those with storied print brands.

• Association Media Are Growing With New Revenue Opportunities

Association magazines are a common benefit to members and have developed a longstanding, healthy area for publishing. But like much of the print publishing industry, such magazines are beginning to diversify the means for generating revenue.

• TI Media launches new shopping service for its magazines with Ownable app

TI Media, the new name for the recently rebranded Time Inc. UK, has partnered with smartphone app Ownable to allow readers to directly place orders for products featured in the pages of its magazines.

• How social media platforms discriminate against small publishers

Back in 2012, I was working as an editor at a major national magazine, and running the publication’s social media accounts fell under my purview. One day I received an email from a Google employee. She worked as a media liaison for Google Plus, a platform that, at this point in time, Google was still hoping would grow to become a viable Facebook competitor..

• How to Have a Perfect (Ad Sales) Season

Are you gazing out the window at the fall colors, (or thinking about your favorite football team) instead of paying attention to all your unanswered emails? What about all the follow-ups? If you want to have stellar ad sales in 2019, think about making some changes NOW.

• EXPERIENTIAL STRATEGY HELPS BOSTON MAGAZINE ENGAGE READERS

For Boston Magazine, events and experiential marketing are key ways to help sponsors and partners create engagement in numerous channels.

• Hauser & Wirth Is Now Launching a Glossy New Art Magazine Too, Called ‘Ursula’

Hauser & Wirth is launching yet another new venture: a quarterly art magazine called Ursula, in honor of gallery co-founder Ursula Hauser.

• How More Nuanced Subscription Management Yields Customer Growth

In pursuit of revenue growth, the move to a subscription model has been inevitable for media businesses. For many publishers, the first inclination is to adopt a paywall strategy that gives readers access to a limited number of articles for free, after which they are charged a fee per article.

• Bloomberg’s TicToc is starting to build a brand beyond Twitter

Bloomberg Media is trying to turn its Twitter network TicToc into a full-fledged media brand. The network, started in December, was part of a slew of live video push by Twitter that’s included partnerships with Cheddar, the WNBA and BuzzFeed. TicToc was the only 24-7 streaming network, though, so the expectations are higher.

• Meredith Sells Time Magazine to Salesforce Founder for $190 Million

After months of searching, Meredith Corporation has finally found a proper suitor for Time magazine.
On Sunday, September 16, the company announced it has sold the legacy brand it acquired in January this year for $190 million in cash to Marc and Lynne Benioff.

• Paywalls, Subscriptions and Memberships Success Plan

I often speak about how to magically transform your content and audience into digital membership revenue. At the end of the talks, the most frequent question I get is “what is the difference between a paywall (or subscription) and a membership?

• Apple Event 2018: Misadventure, misdirection, and what publishers need to know

“A sense of magic.” “Works like magic.” “Magic” was an oft-repeated part of Apple founder Steve Jobs’ vocabulary. Something he professed to believe was a fundamental aspect of what his company stood for.

• A new Snapchat feature lets publishers create live stories out of users’ posts

Snap is launching a new feature that will let media companies access public posts made by Snapchat users and package them into editions centering on live events, breaking news and other topics.

• How Publishers Can Boost Revenue With A Subscription Box, Part 3

In previous posts, I explored the important considerations publishers should make before launching a subscription box and how to get your subscription boxes to your customers. In this third and final post, we’ll look at some ways to grow your subscription box revenue.

• Why publishers need to rethink their attitude to below-the-fold ads

The advertising buy side (brands, marketers etc) has always placed a premium on above-the-fold (ATF) ad units. Research from Adomik indicates average ATF bids are $0.43, compared with just $0.08 below the fold (BTF).

• Meet Our Magazine of the Year Finalists

For the first time in Eddie & Ozzie history, one magazine will be recognized for having produced the best editorial content and design this year.

• When chief digital officers join the highest echelons of legacy publishing

There were only a handful of digital officers around in legacy publishing two decades ago. Today, they are climbing to the highest echelons of publishing, and more recently digital officers have ascended to C-suite status with the creation of the title chief digital officer (CDO).

• How to Make Your Event Stand Out

Niche events are a hot revenue stream and everyone’s doing it. But how do you ensure you stand out from the other events in your market? Does your niche event have a WOW Factor? Does it have that special something that makes a lasting impression on your attendees?

• How programmatic auctions are creeping into publishers’ commerce links

It was only a matter of time before publishers’ commerce operations started to get a little more programmatic.
Over the past year or so, a number of publishers, including Purch, MSN, Wirecutter and Allure have been experimenting with making the links in their commerce content biddable, adding a layer of automation to a normally human-powered process.

• Opinion: Why publishers need to place the customer at the centre of the online experience

In the fiercely competitive space that is digital publishing, never has more emphasis been placed on the customer experience. With the increasingly vast number of publishers vying for the attention of readers across various platforms, if one thing is certain, it’s the rapid speed at which the industry has moved over the last decade.

• Move over, contributor networks: Publishers are turning to audiences for help with ad campaigns

To find the right concepts for ad campaigns it puts in front of its audience, Hong Kong-based publisher 9GAG has been asking said audience for ideas

• Food & Wine Celebrates 40 Years and a New Direction

Four decades after debuting as an insert in a 1978 issue of Playboy, Food & Wine’s 40th Anniversary campaign celebrates not only its 24,000 published recipes and its collaborations with world-renowned chefs, but also the year of growth the brand experienced across its digital, social, video, events and print platforms.

• Opinion: Can adblockers help grow publisher subscriptions?

We’ve all heard it before, print dollars have been replaced by digital dimes, and it’s only worsening with the increase in readers using adblockers.

• Build, buy, or barter: 3 alternative revenue streams for news publishers

From a purely commercial perspective, user traffic is the main resource produced by digital news publishers. Most established news publishers mainly convert this resource into revenues by selling advertising and exposing their own paid-for journalism to potential subscribers.

• How programmatic auctions are creeping into publishers’ commerce links

It was only a matter of time before publishers’ commerce operations started to get a little more programmatic.
Over the past year or so, a number of publishers, including Purch, MSN, Wirecutter and Allure have been experimenting with making the links in their commerce content biddable, adding a layer of automation to a normally human-powered process.

• You Can Sell Anything Once, But How Do You Keep Readers Paying for Content?

Though the UK’s vote to exit the EU and the election of Donald Trump may have roiled the British and American public, both have been great for subscription sales. Stories of the readership surge caused by the Trump Bump and the Brexit Bounce are legend among audience development professionals.

• Why load-on-view doesn’t have to mean a loss of revenue for digital publishers

In the early days of digital publishing, publishers and ad networks were free to load up their sites with ads anywhere on the page without a thought for whether or not they were going to be seen. According to some analysts, this left more than 50% of ads delivered online going unseen..

• WordPress Gutenberg Editor: What publishers need to know

The person talking about the tremors in the WordPress world—thanks to Gutenberg—is none other than Edwin Toonen, an Editor at Yoast.

• Podcasts Are Fertile Ground for City & Regional Publishers

In case you haven’t noticed, we’ve entered an era of on-demand media consumption. And due to its mobility and being a natural accompaniment for multitasking, audio has emerged as a favorite among the on-demand public.

• So your news organization has real, paying digital subscribers. Now how do you keep them?

One finding: “Need-to-know material converts (related to how to live your life, understand the world), while nice-to-know (guides, arts, reviews) converts badly but is key for retention.”

• Teens Shun Print Mags, MPA Takes USPS to Task, and More News & Notes

It’s not especially groundbreaking to report that teens are largely abandoning books and magazines in favor of smartphones. What is notable about the American Psychological Association’s new report on adolescent media use in the U.S.—one of the most comprehensive studies of its kind to date—is the accelerating rate at which its findings indicate screen time is displacing legacy media consumption.

• Continuing charm offensive, Facebook creates tool to boost news publishers’ reach on the platform

Continuing its charm offensive with news publishers, Facebook has been testing a tool with five publishers including BuzzFeed to help them improve their reach on the platform.

• Whitepaper: Why engagement time holds much greater value for publishers

Engagement time is defined as the total time a page is open and a user is deemed to be active, and it’s what forward-looking publishers are starting to focus on instead of looking at more ‘traditional’ viewing metrics.