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.
Incisive Media closed its remaining print titles, including Professional Pensions, at the end of March this year. Here, Jonathan Stapleton speaks to Kevin Sinclair, the managing director of the brand, about the rationale behind the move.
The new prime minister will have their hands full, but, says Owen Meredith, CEO of the News Media Association, there are a number of media-related issues which need urgent attention.
Specialist information, analytics and eCommerce optimisation company, Ascential plc, have announced half year group results.
IAB UK issues a statement in response to Google's announcement of the delay in the phasing out of third-party cookies in Chrome.
Curation has emerged as a critical weapon in the arsenal of publishers looking to boost control, transparency and efficiency in the programmatic supply chain, says Dan Owens, CCO of curation platform Multilocal.
Oxford Economics has partnered with Content Catalyst to launch a new global research subscriber portal.
Magazzn, a new platform for publishing digital editions to mobile phones, has just been launched.
ePublishing has announced the acquisition of subscription-management software provider Multipub, creating an integrated full stack publishing solution.
Verasity, an adtech company that prevents invalid traffic across digital video advertising, has announced inclusion of its VeraViews ad stack in the IAB’s Global Vendor List (GVL).
Although total UK marketing budgets grew at a solid pace in Q2 2022, with strengthening economic headwinds, UK companies’ financial prospects deteriorated sharply, contributing to cuts in adspend forecasts.
Native advertising, or sponsored content, is becoming a key part of modern marketing and as with any ad campaign, it is important to measure its performance accurately.
Euromoney Institutional Investor has reached a sale agreement of 1.6bn and will be purchased by private consortium Becketts Bidco, in a deal managed by Astorg Asset Management.
Their partnership aims to integrate viewability and contextual capabilities to offer clients the opportunity to enhance scale, reach and campaign performance.
Centaur Media, provider of market intelligence, learning and specialist consultancy has released its interim results for the 6 months ended 30 June 2022.
The acquisition of Industry Dive further expands Informa’s range of B2B digital services, adding capabilities in audience development and lead generation created by specialist digital content and business journalism.
