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.
How often do you test? Never? Once in a blue moon? All the time? The right answer is the latter, but for too many publishers, testing is something they never quite get round to doing. Which is a shame, because it will be costing them money…
Whilst most supplier categories are fiercely competitive when it comes to winning publisher business – just think of printers – that has not traditionally been the case with distribution. But that is now beginning to change. In the second of his arti
Despite our obsession with all things online, we are continuing to allocate sizable chunks of our marketing budgets to telemarketing; a supplier category that is changing fast. Suppliers are broadening their offering and the arrival of new offshore s
Should you consider the Australasian magazine market as a potential export opportunity? Patrick Horton, circulation director of Emap Australia, shares his insights into selling magazines in the second largest export market for UK publishers.
US consumer magazine publishers are continuing to struggle, says Karlene Lukovitz, with lingering advertiser mistrust resulting from past instances of misreporting nonpaid circulation as paid.
Christopher Collins lays some of the blame for publishing's current problems at the feet of "risk-averse" bureaucrats and the accounting fraternity.
The last decade has seen enormous change in the US magazine market, and publishers now have to contend with a seriously struggling wholesale sector and an increasingly assertive retail one. John Harrington looks at this troubled, yet still substantia
With its comfy chairs and coffee shop, Borders encourages its customers to stay a while and browse. The US chain is primarily a book retailer, but has also set out its stall as a range retailer of magazines. Andrea Kirkby talks to Borders’ Maxine Lis
Magazines do not have a god-given right to be stocked at retail. Publishers have to earn the right to be displayed, by persuading retailers that it’s in their best interests to do so. It is all down to category management, says Stephen Hirst.
Your mailshot or advertisement might be as pretty as a picture, but if it fails to communicate its message effectively, then what was the point? The presentation of any body of text must be based on a thorough understanding of how the reader reads. D
As we all know, profits in subscription publishing come from renewals. Yet, many publishers still allocate far more time and resource to acquisition than to retention. Jess Burney argues that marketing budgets should be re-weighted to reflect the imp
For the majority of publishers, awareness of postal de-regulation is extremely hazy. Many have heard of it; some even know that it has started! But, beyond an acceptance that, all in all, it’s probably a good thing, surprisingly few have worked out w
Response, pay-up and eventual renewal are the yardsticks by which copy writers are judged. Jennifer Menten shows how sometimes subtle tweaks to the offer and tone can achieve better results.
Despite signs of continued migration to online, and the recent publication of the pessimistically titled The Last Magazine, Karlene Lukovitz sees evidence of a healthy future for print.
Whether to use hard won marketing investment to drive postal subscriptions or retail newstrade copies is a daily dilemma for circulation directors and publishers. Why are subscriptions growing? What are the USPs and plusses for retail that need to be
