SIIA Blog
For English language publishers, India is an intriguing market to enter, with rapid growth expected as it quickly catches up on the last decade’s digital media evolution. Peter Phippen, Founding Partner, East West Relations, and a highly experienced international publisher, explains why now is the moment to enter India.
Publishing has changed forever, 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.
What are these skills, and which media businesses are already putting them into practice? And what can publishers learn from organisations outside the media industry?
Showcasing excellence in these new digital skills from within and outside media and providing publishers with practical advice on how to apply them to their business is the focus of a new SIIA event - the Digital Content & Media Summit, taking place 23-25 September at One Wimpole Street, London.
Carolyn Morgan previews the six key digital survival skills and some of the stories that will be told at the Summit…
If you haven’t time to read this article, listen to the recording using this link:
Here are 13 “best” ideas from last month’s SIPA 2013 wrap-up session, thanks to the final Conference Track Chair gathering.
1. Valerie Voci of CQ Roll Call, reported on the ongoing professional/personal social media decisions. She said that Tammy Gordon of AARP encouraged a continuity of voice. “People are following you for your whole person, likes, values, personality—like when we write blogs.”
2. Carol Brault of Access Intelligence said that renewing and retaining your customers starts the day that the relationship starts. Don’t let any customers be strangers. Have a new member orientation, give refreshers, stay in touch, nurture and monitor them. So that when you do ask for renewal, it’s not coming from left field.
3. Kathy Greenler Sexton of SIIA said that Flipboard is a great tool to track news and mark things for reading later. If you’re going to be using and putting content through RSS feeds, with various tools, segment your content. Keep in-depth articles for your best customers. Use SEO to see what gets out there.
4. Stephanie Eidelman of InsideARM.com said that it’s important to know what your business is so you can recognize the opportunities. Know your core values and core competencies. know your brand.
5. Greg Krehbiel of Kiplinger said that when moving from print to digital, preserve your old revenue challenges while you build new ones.
6. Voci said that technology allows you to know a lot about visitors to your site. Now it’s about what are they doing and how engaged are they. With her two websites, they have two very different ways to measure. On the CQ premium side, product development. How are people using their digital products? How long are they staying? Are they accessing multiple times a day, multiple times a week?
7. Voci also talked about that if social media is to work, you have to relinquish some control. That’s sometimes difficult for publishers, especially with those with quality content.
8. Krehbiel pointed to apps in the store that nobody is using. Did they think about the basic product development questions? Why should people use it? Is it a basic need? If you want something to be sticky, know why they should come back.
9. Brault said that in All About Email, Dawn Lewis encouraged attendees to keep their lists refreshed, clean and current. Everyone should be involved in keeping lists clean through their dealings with customers/members. She recommended mailtester.com.
10. Krehbiel suggested using analytics to decide when to optimize for mobile. When visits get above 10%, it’s time to start optimizing.
11. Voci said that participation may now be just as important a word as engagement. We have to rely on the viral nature of social media.
12. Conference Chair Meg Hargreaves of CQ Roll Call said that in trying to change the culture in your company, be transparent. Talk about monthly analytics, strategy, results, tactics that you’re using. Sit down in a room and share everything with them, especially new people.
13. Eidelman pointed out that a terrific new idea might be not so terrific in implementation. Why? Not having a clear champion and project manager. That’s really important. A failure can accentuated a culture of blame when you’re not working a cross-functional way from the beginning. You need that project management function.
Ronn Levine began his career as a reporter for The Washington Post and has won numerous writing and publications awards since. Most recently, he spent 12 years at the Newspaper Association of America covering a variety of topics before joining SIPA in 2009 as managing editor. Follow Ronn on Twitter at @SIPAOnline
Get on the inside track for digital content and media and learn from more than 30 of the brightest minds and most innovative companies in media & publishing.
Join us at the SIIA Digital Content & Media Summit, 23-25 September, London, for new stories of digital innovation from publishers worldwide, plus practical advice on how to apply this to your media business.
Register now – save £300 when you book before Friday 19 July
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