B2B publishing has quietly become one of the healthier parts of the industry. The trade press that once lived on display and recruitment advertising now earns more of its money from subscriptions, data, events and membership, and private equity has noticed.
The shift meant giving up some old habits. Controlled circulation made sense in print, but open websites gave away what the magazine kept for qualified readers, and the publishers doing best have taken back control of their audiences through registration and paywalls. The Lawyer moved from an advertising-led business to one where paid content brings in over 40 per cent of revenue.
Don’t delude yourself because the barriers to entry in publishing are now non-existent.
Amanda Barnes B2B media
Specialist knowledge is the defence. AI makes generic information close to worthless, so the value lies in proprietary data, tools readers rely on in their daily work and journalism only a specialist could produce, as Computer Weekly's Post Office investigation showed. Print hasn't vanished either. Some publishers now sell it alongside digital at the same price and let readers choose.
Below you'll find some of our best feature articles on B2B and trade media, from subscriptions and data products to events, print, consolidation and specialist journalism, alongside our latest news and industry commentary.
We asked Amanda Barnes, chief executive of Faversham House, what does best practice publishing look like in B2B media? This is what she said…
Rory Brown has enjoyed great success in business media. Having last year sold AgriBriefing and now following new paths in the B2B space, he takes some time out to tell us what he has learned on his journey so far…
Print is certainly not dead, says Chairman Mark Allen. However, you need to offer readers choice and be neutral and agnostic about the outcome.
The Lawyer has been on quite a journey, successfully transitioning from a controlled circulation ad-driven model to a high value enterprise subs one. Andy Baker talks Meg Carter through the key stages and what they’ve learnt along the way.
In the first of our new ‘Digital Horizons’ series, Tom Lake, director of product and technology at Infopro Digital, looks at the tech opportunities and challenges facing his company and the wider B2B sector.
The future of B2B lies in serving your sector in three connected ways: information, intelligence and events.
John Barnes, chief digital officer, William Reed Business Media, tells Ciar Byrne about how the B2B media sector is managing the digital transformation journey.
Computer Weekly deserves much credit for its role in investigating the Horizon IT scandal. Dickon Ross looks at what lessons other B2B journalists can take from their work.
The general expectation is that the buying and selling of media brands is going to increase significantly in 2025. A number of companies have been quietly building up their war-chests during a wobbly 2024, reports Jim Bilton.
If you’re thinking of setting up a membership scheme, be prepared to play the long game because success doesn’t come overnight.
In its third quarter Trading Update released on Thursday, DMGT reports that underlying revenue is in line with last year, with an underlying revenue decline of 1% in its B2B businesses and underlying revenue growth of 1% from dmg media.
Acorn Web Offset, the Yorkshire-based magazine printers, has unveiled a new-look website.
Informa this week announced the majority acquisition of its German/Swiss domestic conference business Euroforum by leading German media group, Verlagsgruppe Handelsblatt GmbH.
In a new regular series, Jim Bilton will drill down into some of the key findings of the Publishing Futures research. In his first despatch, he previews the 2017 survey and looks at some of the early findings.
Faversham House, the Sussex-based B2B media group, has been around since the 60s. Since a 2010 MBO, the company has put great emphasis on rationalising its brand portfolio and getting its company culture absolutely right. Chief Executive Amanda Barne
David Hepworth on magazines and beyond
The recent announcement of the closure of Dovetail Services has caused another disruption in the UK subscriptions management market. This isn’t, writes Alan Weaver, a new phenomenon – industry watchers will remember market upheavals after the closure
A couple of years ago, publishers were truly fearful that their business model was about to be obliterated by ad blockers. Since then, the threat appears to have receded. But, warns Dickon Ross, ad blockers are getting more sophisticated and web brow
Betsy Fast, recently arrived from the US, is Hearst UK’s new executive director of digital editorial strategy. As she tells Ciar Byrne, the UK lags a little way behind the US in terms of digital transformation, but that that presents a huge opportuni
On 10th May at London’s Tobacco Dock, the PPA held its annual festival. With almost 50 different sessions spread across six channels, there was lots to choose from. James Evelegh chose two…
Jim Foster’s publishing world…
Angling may be touted as Britain’s most popular sport, but what is the lure of fishing magazines? Alan Geere casts for clues on the newsstand.
Informa, the international Business Intelligence, Exhibitions, Events and Academic Publishing Group, yesterday published results for the six months to 30 June 2017.
James Hewes, who takes over as president and chief executive of FIPP in September, answers our questions about his life in publishing.
Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC, the international business information and events group, on Friday issued a trading update for the period from April 1 to July 20, 2017.
