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.
Natasha Christie-Miller, CEO EMAP, explains to Carolyn Morgan how they are applying quality B2B content and the latest approach to digital subscriptions to deliver an impressive rate of growth in a turbulent market.
The Supplier Q&A for the July / August 2013 issue of InPublishing magazine was, How should publishers foster community and build engagement? It was answered by Oscar Carlsson of Cint, Andy Guy of Circdata, Andrew Perry-Smith of Linkz and Richard Step
The social networks are where a lot of our readers spend a lot of their time, so clearly publishers need to be there too. But simply being there is not enough, writes Amanda MacArthur. You need to make sure you fit in!
With so much publisher focus now centred on apps and paywalls, it is tempting to think of ‘search’ as so last decade. Surely, it’s one less thing to worry about? This would be a mistake, writes Amanda Watlington, because the search game continues to
With the demand for video content seemingly insatiable, it’s no surprise video is becoming a significant revenue stream for some publishers. Yet, writes Jo Bowman, monetisation strategies are still in their infancy and the pace of change is rapid.
Just in case you’d missed it, the PPA is celebrating its 100th birthday this year. To mark the occasion, former PPA Chief Executive, Ian Locks, give us a whistle-stop tour of the key moments in magazine publishing.
Publishing has changed forever, writes Carolyn Morgan, and media owners will have to learn a whole new set of digital survival skills to thrive in a world of digital content – before brands, retailers, government and start-ups eat their lunch…
In 1896, Henry J Heinz came up with one of the all-time great marketing coups when he introduced the slogan ‘57 Varieties’ to describe the breadth of his company’s product range. And therein, writes Ian Eckert, lies a valuable lesson for today’s publ
Adrian Barrick started working as a journalist on Property Week over twenty years ago; today, he is Chief Content Officer at UBM. Over the intervening 22 years, he has helped oversee sweeping changes to their B2B publishing model. Indeed, as he expla
Thanks to digital media, specialist publishers are gradually morphing into all round providers of services for targeted communities. The Specialist Media Insights research has been tracking this transition since 2010, with the support of InPublishing
The magazine publishing sector is beset with change but, as this year’s PPA Publishing Futures survey reveals, the most notable shift is in the mood of publishers. Here, the report’s author, Jim Bilton of Wessenden Marketing, reflects on the findings
The Specialist Media Conference was held in April at the British Library; a fascinating day of panel discussions, presentations and round tables, attended by some of the leading lights of the specialist media world. James Evelegh was there too.
2013 sees an expectation of growth in digital revenues in line with the trend of the last two to three years, amongst the UK’s leading digital publishers, according to the results of the latest AOP Organisation Census. Tim Cain looks at the main find
The Supplier Q&A for the May/June 2013 issue of InPublishing was, Is print purely about cost? It was answered by Roger Pitt of Headley Brothers and Andrew LG Jones of Stephens & George.
The PPA held its annual conference on Wednesday, and Martin Maynard went along to listen to the presentations and discussions.
