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.
However brilliant the strategy and execution of your renewal series, customers will not renew unless they have engaged with your publication over the previous twelve months. Fostering engagement is therefore the key to achieving high renewal rates, w
‘Planning’ and ‘Digital’ are two words which do not sit very comfortably together. If ‘digital’ is all about being agile, fast-moving, responsive, silo-busting and questioning accepted norms; then ‘planning’ feels as though it should be about order,
‘Innovate or die’ has become something of a mantra for our industry. I know, writes Peter Houston, … it’s easier said than done. But at the Digital Innovators’ Summit in Berlin at the end of March there were plenty of media people ready to give it a
The Digital Media Innovation Conference 2014, organised by the SIIA’s Information Industry Network took place on 8 April at One Wimpole Street, London. The theme of the day was innovation and a range of excellent speakers looked at the importance of
The winners of the 2014 Media Innovation Awards were announced on 8 April at the Digital Media Innovation Conference, organised by the Information Industry Network. Carolyn Morgan trawls through the shortlist to see what lessons the rest of us can le
The simultaneous rise of video advertising online and programmatic trading could open up new and largely untapped revenue streams for publishers, industry-watchers and key players in the technology sector say. Jo Bowman concludes her three part serie
The PPA’s annual Publishing Futures survey provides the most comprehensive set of data on the UK consumer magazine and business publishing sector – but what does it tell us about where the industry’s heading? Jim Bilton of Wessenden Marketing, author
Publishers have seen huge change over the last five years, especially in the digital space. Martin Maynard asks Andreas Schrader, CEO of vjoon, how his company has faced the challenge of digital and finds out what benefits they have been able to deli
2014 sees predicted growth in digital revenues, similar to the trend of the last three to four years, amongst the UK’s leading digital publishers, according to the results of the latest AOP Organisation Census, with data monetisation emerging as a ke
Recent NHS reforms have led to the biggest upheaval in the organisation of the health service in a generation. One side effect of the changes has been the increased demand for market intelligence about the health sector. Meg Carter talks to Andy Bake
As audiences receive information from an ever increasing variety of sources, where should you be focusing your resources? At Publishing & Media Expo in February, Luke Bilton, head of content for UBM Live London, shared tips for using customer insight
The Drum has reduced its dependency on print ad revenues by creating an eco-system of complementary products and services. Its publishers, Carnyx Group, join the Media Innovation Awards shortlist. Carolyn Morgan looks at what they’ve achieved.
Coals to Newcastle! Carolyn Morgan looks at how a Surrey-based publisher took a new basketball magazine to the US.
In the second of her three part series looking at the growing importance of programmatic trading of advertising, Jo Bowman explores how publishers could benefit from sharing their precious data.
B2B publishers were quick to understand the opportunities the digital world had to offer, with many successfully re-engineering their business model. Consumer publishers, who have generally been slower to grasp the digital nettle, can learn much from
