As the market for advertising page stagnates and web CPM’s decline, publishers are looking for areas of growth to pump some life back into the media world.  Marketing Services might be just what the doctor ordered.

In addition to publishers being “Anytime/Anywhere” from a content and advertising perspective we are heading towards be “everything” that your client needs which is a partner that has already mastered the market they are looking to serve.  Implementing a marketing services strategy won’t be right for every market – especially those dominated by business coming in from traditional advertising agencies.  Markets with small to medium business that sit on the cusp of needing an agency are really the target that happens to up the majority of B2B advertisers.

Publishers willing to put the time and effort into creating an internal marketing services agency will reap the rewards.  Internal marketing service agencies offer the opportunity to create deeper and more meaningful relationships with existing clients.  As we work with clients from an agency perspective we are able to access areas of their marketing budget that we have never been able to tap into before (sales automation, brand strategy…).  Publishers can realize a new and steady revenue stream from marketing service retainer fees while gaining market share via a tighter and more integrated relationship with the client.

Integrating a marketing services platform into a publishing group isn’t for the faint of heart.  Publishers need to be willing to invest in the concept by hiring the necessary talent and creating partnerships with outsourced companies that have the tools a full service agency needs.  Internal education and training is also a big hurdle.   To take an existing rep selling advertising pages and training them on a completely new subject and sales strategy is a daunting task but very necessary for the sales team’s survival.

Our business is becoming a commodity that requires less strategic selling, market knowledge and runs the risk of going tele sales or worse -online order forms.  There is such a wealth of knowledge held by our sales forces, it would be a shame to see this connection with an industry fade away for many reasons.  Integrating a solid marketing services agency could not only help breathe life back into business but our front line resources as well.

I had a very enjoyable conversation with a colleague regarding the state of our company, it’s challenges and opportunities.  As I get back to my desk, I see this article in my inbox that might as well have been sitting with us at lunch – sans discussion of the heavy financial side of the business which does bring an interesting perspective to our current plight.

Big media companies are over leveraged and working from outdated business models that show little or no integration of multimedia and strategic services.  Rather than making critical investments in growth markets, behemoth media companies are taking short term cost cutting approaches designed to  keep investors rich happy while covering debt.

Change and integration is easier said than done.  With an old school business, you inherit a aging talented pool of workers that are adverse to change of any kind masters of print and biding time until retirement with as little aggravation as possible coming to the end of impressive careers.  Niceties aside, their attitudes are toxic and any new initiatives intended to put us back on track are seen as “more work” on an already taxed and ill equipped work force…which ultimately goes back to cost cutting at the top.

I can empathize with frustrations from tenured employees but how about working to make the publishing world a better place for the next generation?  When they tell their great grand children what they did it will be like explaining a record player.  On second thought – they can always reference Mad Men.

Media was a glamorous industry in its day, how do we save these publishing legends and make media sexy again?  I have a good 30 years before I retire, am passionate about this business, see the possibilities for a very bright future for publishing as a whole and would like to see the return of the three martini lunch.  Doesn’t anyone else?  If big media companies don’t make some dramatic changes soon, their days are numbered and so is an era.

This might not make me popular but top level management needs to completely re-think our business from the bottom up.  I love this:

When Cygnus announced it was entering a Chapter 11 restructuring last August, one poster at Foliomag.com wrote:  “We’ll know when they emerge from this, if they are serious about their business: Get rid of the dead-weight management, bring actual talent back, re-establish the core values that have been lost some time ago, and do business based upon principles that leave room for integrity and ethics, as well as profits.”

At the moment, there is too much legacy management the business to really take a step back and truly restructure the big media companies in a way that makes sense.  I remain optimistic that someone at the top will get a clue and make some magic happen.

The upside is a great opportunity for individual titles and groups to rebuild should the major players fail.  Take a look at the fallout from Reed, we are already seeing a number of small/medium size publishing companies created from the ashes sell offs provided by the misfortunes of a major player.  This new wave of media companies will be competitive, nimble and have the unabashed visionaries who will carry media into the future.  Maybe this is what media really needs…

I read a great article regarding the iPad and single copy sales.  It is an interesting look the choice publishers have regarding whether they post the magazine as an eBook (which would be the easy route) or a redefined iPad experience.

If publishers take the easy route, they already have the content in a PDF style layout that can easily be converted into an eBook.  The easy route also allows publishers to count the eBook downloads as single copy news stand sales (circulation) via ABC or BPA standards.  Although publishers can boost their circ numbers and put little extra work into an eBook platform, are we selling ourselves short?

Users already have very high expectations for the iPad and are looking to be wowed by their interaction and overall experience.  Putting a PDF version of your magazine into an eBook certainly isn’t going to knock anyone’s socks off.  Offering a more dynamic experience that includes video, links, touch interaction with articles and ads (picture taking your finger and moving a car 360 degrees in an advertisement), shopping directly from the app, and other innovative layers to the existing content will at least meet reader’s expectations if not exceed.

So the deluxe iPad experience won’t drive circulation – but it WILL drive web traffic and WILL fetch higher cpm’s from advertisers than your web site.  As a valuable extension of your brand, an iPad experience can give your content distribution to non subscribers and win the lion’s share of market from competitors with a “one path” or “no path” strategy.

Anytime/Anywhere content strategy is here.  Where are you?

Last week I had the pleasure of meeting with some of my agency contacts which is always interesting.  Agencies tend to  be full of very young minds beginning their careers and trying to learn as much as they can regarding facets of the media business that they think will help their careers.

One such young gentleman that I am working with is doing it right.  While his counterparts are focusing on web buys and fighting to do anything BUT traditional placements, he is volunteering for the traditional jobs to round out his knowledge base.  Gen Y and recent college grads are quick to grab on to the web almost as though it is a security blanket.  Web is no doubt an integral part of any media plan – it is not the only part.

TV, magazines, radio and newspapers didn’t go away when the internet came around nor are they going away anytime soon (although the future of newspapers is of great debate these days).  Each time a new advertising medium has been introduced, it is absorbed into the existing whole which is exactly what happened with the web – marketers didn’t stop spending money on print, they just reallocated funds to include the web.

What is happening at the moment is a greater connectivity between media mediums which is exciting as the media and marketers experiment and push old boundaries.  The same 30 second commercial that is shown on TV can be placed in a boombox ad unit on a web site, within an ad in a digital or iPad edition of a magazine and beyond.  Soon, all forms of media will cohesively merge to enhance viewer experience, customer engagement, and expand total impressions by being anywhere/anytime.

Where clients and agencies are currently treating each media channel as a separate entity, the growing anywhere/anytime mentality will change the single minded thinking and become a truly integrated multi-platform buy. Looking at a media plan as a collective whole will increase efficiencies in creative and total placement spend by taking advantage of frequency discounts with media outlets.  Media companies will be challenged with bringing clients and agencies custom multi platform marketing ideas that go across every extension of their brands.

Let the fun begin!  Recent college grads, take note.

My online content strategy manager had a great idea – arm the editorial staff with flip cameras.

Adding video to a story and actually SHOWING readers what the editors are writing about in their articles gives another layer of fresh content that adds value to the story, increases impressions and keeps viewers there longer.  Link the video to the printed article via the Microsoft Tag to engage readers in a whole new way.

For an investment less than $200, Flip cameras are great for adding content and increasing web stats but this could also be good for SEO – put the video on your You Tube channel with the right tags and links pointing back to your site and off you go!

Ok, this is the coolest thing I have seen in a while so please excuse my inner nerd while I geek out.  A few months ago a former colleague/Facebook friend with posted a link and a story about the new Microsoft Tag.  As a fellow publishing geek buddy as she calls us, my mind was racing with possible uses of the tags at my own magazine and shared the link with the rest of my team immediately.

Live Microsoft Tag - Try it from your computer screen!

Here is why I think this is so great: Microsoft has made it possible to link the web page of your choosing directly from a printed page of a magazine.  Imagine the opportunities!  The best part – tags are generated for any link by Microsoft for FREE.  Tags are printed in magazines, scanned by a reader’s smartphone and almost immediately taken to your web site, video or other web content your tag points to.  All readers have to do is down load the free app of their iPhone or go to www.gettag.mobi from any other smart phone.  Downloads/apps are quick and easy and allow readers to start scanning right away.

My latest issue of Conde Nast arrived and behold – the editor’s letter includes a “Go Mobile” lesson on how to use what they are calling “snaps” – AKA Microsoft Tags.  Excited to see this concept in the wild, I grab my iPhone, get the Microsoft Tag app and start hunting the issue for “Snaps”.

My first “Snap” results were received with mixed emotion.  I was very impressed with the app and it’s quick ability to get me to the web page behind the snap.  Once I took a look at the content that I was directed to (25 tips for Safe Traveling), although good content, it fell a little flat for me.  Maybe my expectations were too high but this was a little boring and lacked the dynamic flair I was looking for from the tags that had me so excited.  (I won’t even mention the lost mobile advertising opportunity)

The next “Snap” I found satisfied my high expectations.  It was within the Hot List 2010 which ranked all of the hotels that I had to stay at but might never be able to afford.  This “Snap” took me to a landing page that highlighted a few Flip Cam First Impressions.  These were 2 minute “renegade” but well produced video clips of the hotel properties and sights backed with hip music that made me feel like I was getting a real look at the hotel I could’t afford – not just the glossy marketing photos hotels flaunt on their web sites and in glossy advertisements.  I can just picture my editors walking around with flip cameras filming their own “renegade” shots of what they see when out on assignment.  I can also picture the sponsorship opportunities there from clients sending us their own renegade clips that we can integrate into editorial and advertising programs.

Tags were exciting to me once again and I was quite pleased with the way Conde Nast was using this new technology throughout the rest of the issue.  They had a short video of Michelle Obama greeting folks on a White House tour that played in well with the article on her admiration of Washington DC.  In the same story, there was also a great map of DC and travel suggestions/tips on what to see and do that would be very useful when walking the mall.

If done well – Microsoft Tags can add value to readers by enhancing and elaborating on existing content which builds a deeper relationship and is able to really engage readers.  From a revenue perspective, these engaged readers are increasing your web traffic and time spent on site.  To me, this is a win win all around and the price is right – FREE!

Readers are consuming content in far more dynamic and continually changing methods that ever before seen.  Publishers need to implement an “Anywhere/Anytime” strategy to stay ahead of the curve and allow readers are able to choose when and where they read their content.  For traditional publishers, this is a major shift in the existing print based circulation mindset but a necessary transition as print is no longer the source of readership growth.

Adopting an “Anytime/Anywhere” content strategy will ensure that a magazine’s editorial voice will carry through the increasingly fragmented sea of information coming at readers.  By positioning your title and editors everywhere readers are, brand awareness and perceived content is maximized as is a magazine’s longevity in the market place.

Publishers should be taking a holistic view of their brands to ensure maximum distribution of their content in an effort to grow circulation (both print and digital) and readership.  This holistic view should incorporate digital editions, mobile applications, web content and print.  As we work toward an integrated, multi media audience platform, the archaic role of “Circulation Managers” transitions into to an “Audience Marketing and Development Manager” title that should have complete control over growing the entire audience.

This repackaged position will grow overall readership by mixing traditional print methods with SEO, email, and other web based marketing strategies.  Increasing overall web traffic should lead to an increase in print, digital and email newsletter subscriptions.  As the Audience Marketing and Development Manager gains traction, increased revenues will follow in advertising rate bases, digital sponsorship opportunities and paid content.

This was in response to an internal blog post my VP made as he was playing with his new iPad:

Tip of the ice berg.

I think that the iPad is a gate way drug that will create a critical mass that will open the flood gates for other “tablet” devices.

There are more than 50 tablet devices from companies like HP and ICD that are expected to be launched in 2010.  We should be following Google’s cue and get into the mobile game sooner rather than later.  The advertising dynasty is putting most of it’s efforts into mobile platforms, devices and increasing wifi and internet access in underserved markets, like Topeka, KS.  Google was one of the first companies to take note of the fundamental shift in consumer buying habits – more mobile devices are being sold than lap top computers.  (Expect to see Netbooks take a hit with the launch of the iPad.)

“Mobile” is a growth market and a potential game changer for our business model.  Internet page views from mobile devices grew 148% in 2009 with steeper increases expected in 2010 and beyond.  Put in perspective, today mobile views account for only 1.3% of all web traffic.  This growth market has a long way to go but the iPad’s launch will drive mobile surfing numbers up quickly…perfect time for us to figure out what this means to our business and where we can generate revenue.

Our company has a great opportunity to take the lead in B2B publishing by establishing a company wide mobile strategy.  Aside from a creating a corporate strategy and resources, we also need to look at every brand/title to identify how mobile will play a part in our individual markets and where we can generate revenue….do we need aps, a mobile web site, a tablet friendly digital edition?

Folio just ran a great story about WIRED’s entre into publishing for tablets:

http://www.foliomag.com/2010/look-wired-s-tablet-application-project

I am excited about the potential that the iPad open up for us.  The tablet finally gives publishers a digital platform that maintains the design and layout of a magazine while giving the reader a better product that still looks and “feels” like the printed edition they know and love.

There are two schools of thought in the publishing world:

-Master one thing and do it well.
-Be the master of your market.

I tend to lean toward the later. Unless you have been living under a rock, you might have noticed that there has been an evolution of communication. Readers are consuming media differently which has an immense impact on publishing.

Publishers who follow the one trick pony school of thought will be fading fast. Advertising dollars are slowly moving away from print and the heyday of print big revenues we all have fond memories of isn’t coming back. In truth, client’s budgets aren’t changing – the way they are being spent are. As communication outlets increase in number, ad dollars are becoming more diversified and a better reflection of today’s world than the one trick pony.

Don’t get me wrong. Publications are our brand leaders, our largest source of revenue and certainly the most important feature we offer. The bulk of our valuable subscriber profiles come from publication subscriptions. It is through our magazines that the industries and markets we serve knows who we are. It is important that publishers continue producing high quality content and present it in a well designed format. The health of our subscriber files is especially vital. With crap names, advertisers will receive crap results which will further cripple our print revenues.

While it is important to keep the print segment of our business solid and running strong, we need to start taking a look at our titles as “brands” and find the extensions of our brands as communication outlets to keep up with reader needs and advertising spends. Weather it is a web site, blog, enewsletters, in person events, mobile platforms, applications or social Networks, being where your readers are will help elevate market position and perceived value to readers and advertisers.

Not all markets are created equal. To create the ideal mix of media outlets, specific market needs have to be considered. We have to consider where audiences looking and what are they looking for. For example, your audience isn’t Facebooking, they might be on LinkedIn. Create a LinkedIn group! This is an easy way to get your audience networking with each other, interacting in discussions led by editors, distribute your content and market your other “brands” to this captive audience.

Once you have identified what communication tools apply to your audience, a strategy to connect each medium while creating differentiation in each facet is important. It won’t do anyone any good to slap the magazine on the web and then regurgitate the same information on the mobile site. Each part of the brand must fill a unique and specific need that integrates the goal of the overall brand.

Creating new ways to distribute content and engage with readers will open up the doors to new revenue opportunities and create a larger audience base from which to profit from. Why stay a trick pony?

Gone are the days when magazines were the top dog in an industry.  Publications are now competing for share of voice with bloggers, social networking and web only sites that are gaining credibility and worse – an audience.

Today’s readers are looking for a conversation – engage them!  Magazine editors can keep their publication titles and their profession relevant by blogging, contributing to social networking communities, and most of all – positioning themselves as an authoritative voice in their industry or market.  Dedicating time to post a status update on Facebook, throw out an engaging question to a publication’s LinkedIn group, and frequent tweeting is a must.  Old school editors who are hesitant to jump into this new paradigm might realize a great new approach to gain insight on stories and build contacts and ideas for future pieces and blog posts.

Take the conversation further.  Leverage current print, online and social media audiences to produce in person events.  Conferences, summits, round tables, and trade shows are a great way to diversify a magazine’s brand and increase revenue by tapping into different budgets than we have been feeding from in the past.  Most advertisers hold marketing dollars for event sponsorships in a different line item than print advertising which opens up a new area of growth that won’t compete with your print revenue.

Build a better audience.  Social media might be one way to let us keep the keys to our kingdom – our precious audience.  When you find the right social network for your title, you can tap into a highly targeted, industry specific and best of all FREE source of names. By integrating a social networking into a requalification strategy, a dedicated circulation audience manager with an in depth knowledge of their industry has the power to create relationships and a direct line to readers.  Traditional re qualification efforts will not fall by the wayside, but strengthened from the social media connection.

The biggest question is how to realize a real ROI from social media while maintaining a credible image?  Can we get away with sell our Twitter background like PerezHilton.com?  Can we charge advertisers to post their press releases to our Facebook page?  Can we make an advertiser’s paid white paper a highlighted discussion on our LinkedIn groups?  Where is the line between church and state in the new world order?