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.
Wallpaper*, the international design, fashion and lifestyle magazine, is celebrating the very best and brightest from 10 global superpowers of style and innovation in a special November issue.
Commercial digital print operation Headley Brothers has made available a comprehensive web-to-print solution which offers an advanced print service provision to its customers.
Bauer Media's glossy weekly Grazia has partnered with 11 leading High Street fashion retailers to produce its first-ever fashion range.
Online betting site Paddy Power has just issued the odds for the 30 shortlisted covers in The Maggies.
Comedian Ricky Gervais has re-created the iconic Esquire Muhammad Ali cover from 1968, showing the boxer with six arrows in his body, in a special Guest Editors’ issue of Esquire UK.
Building on its strategic alliance with Tokyo-based Vanfu, Polestar Applied Solutions is strengthening its geographic reach further, this time with a leading communication media management company based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
UPM Shotton was officially awarded its Queen's Award for Enterprise: Sustainable Development by Her Majesty's representative Lord Lieutenant Trefor Jones CBE at the newsprint mill on Deeside Industrial Estate yesterday.
New FIPP president and CEO Chris Llewellyn joined the association yesterday from Bauer Media, the UK subsidiary of Europe’s largest privately owned publishing group, where he was international managing director.
To be launched on launched on 29 October, How It Works is a new magazine from Imagine Publishing, that aims to “feed minds, and provide nutritious entertainment to the ever-growing ‘QI generation’ of readers.”
Haymarket’s ENDS and Marketing magazines claim to have become the first UK titles to adopt a Carbon Trust label displaying their carbon footprinting commitments.
Haymarket prescribing guide MIMS is celebrating its 50th anniversary by sending a special edition to 39,000 GPs in the UK.
Polestar Wheatons has become the first company within Polestar to achieve ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 accreditations at the same time.
Dennis Publishing has announced an agreement with New York based American Media Inc for the international expansion of Men's Fitness. In an additional move, Dennis Publishing also acquires the rights to publish Men’s Fitness in the UK and Ireland.
NatMag has joined Havas Worldwide, Virgin Radio and MTV as key media partners of the celebrity-studded campaign which has been launched ahead of December's UN Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen.
Future plc, the international special-interest media group, has announced the appointment of John Marcom Jr as President of its North American business, Future US.
