Specialist consumer and b2b publishers are in a stronger position than general news and lifestyle media to embrace and exploit the opportunities of digital.
Knowing your specialist audience well, providing exactly the content and services they want, and being flexible in using a range of media, is key to making a successful digital transition.
This is the argument Colin Morrison will put forward in his opening keynote at the Specialist Media Conference on 24 April at the British Library in London, a day dedicated to enabling niche publishers to exploit digital opportunities. Colin believes that the future of media is all about engagement, and targeted, narrow-cast businesses that readers will pay for are more likely to thrive in the digital future.
Subscriptions are increasingly important for publishers, and the multiplicity of digital formats and marketing channels is making the discipline ever more complex. Minal Bopaiah of Subs Site Insider has researched 134 US subscription sites, and learnt that most see a conversion rate of under 2% from free visitors to paid subscribers. And publishers are becoming more sophisticated at bundling print and digital subs and upgrading subscribers to additional services. Louise White is bundling print, web and events to increase revenue per subscriber at Farmers Guardian. And Sarah Aldridge is testing a wide range of marketing channels across her specialist portfolio at Dennis. All are taking part in the Subscriptions panel.
Advertisers are increasingly demanding of media owners, and with online display rates tumbling, publishers must devise new creative approaches to engage their audience and deliver real value for their clients. Stuart Dinsey of Intent Media believes that just selling pages is asking for trouble, and publishers must build integrated campaigns. Cath Waller of Immediate Media works with clients like Heinz to develop bespoke content for their parenting websites whose influence and authority builds year on year, making renewals easy. Marcus Wilkinson of IDG uses a templated set of options to construct bespoke packages for clients. All are taking part in the Advertising panel.
All specialist publishing businesses are built on a specialist community, and it’s increasingly by bringing that community together that media owners can develop new revenues beyond content sales and advertising, whether through live and online events, or e-commerce. Rob Chambers of Total Telecom uses social media to grow live events, with a focus on conversations, not broadcast. Ben Wood of Incisive employs a range of marketing channels to build attendance at events worldwide. Owen Davies of MyTimeMedia uses online hobbyist communities to drive ecommerce sales, now almost half their revenues. And Matt Cooke of Google has seen publishers are using Google+ and Hangouts to expand their reach. All are taking part in the Events & Communities panel.
Digital platforms are transforming how publishers can distribute their content, and they are opening up previously inaccessible international markets even for small publishers. Lindsey Mooney of Kobo believes that magazine publishers can learn from the digital journey of book publishers, with dynamic pricing, and using analytics to create new digital publications. Luca Forlin of Google has seen how some niche publishers are using Google Currents and Play Magazines to build an international ecosystem around their community. And Richard Walker of Future thinks the English language is a great export asset, and smartphones are great for sampling new readers. They are all taking part in the Mobile Platforms panel.
Read the full conference programme here.
