B2B editors must effectively use different media to reach their audience
Integration of different media forms is a major driver of the current B2B industry, David Doherty, group sales and marketing director for Advanstar Veterinary, said at a Feb. 8 meeting of the Kansas City chapter that discussed state of the B2B industry.
“It’s really a highly complex situation right now with all the moving parts,” Doherty said.
He said these moving parts include print, enewsletters, websites, social networking sites, mobile devices and more.
“Clearly, B2B publishing used to be a pretty simple proposition … now we are in a truly integrated media territory,” Doherty said.
Each one of these channels has unique characteristics, and current audiences want to connect with publications in whatever method is easiest.
Despite all the focus on the new media, he also said print is alive and well, citing several studies showing that readers in 2012 still prefer print. Even so, print can be made interactive through the use of QR codes, and Doherty encouraged attendees to begin to explore the use of QR codes in the future.
Doherty said other drivers of the industry include social media and mobile media forms including phones and tablets. The challenge then becomes how to make a profit off these new media forms. Advanstar was able to incorporate sponsor tweets with its own for a promotion the sponsor was having at a trade show. Others at the meeting recommended not exceeding a one-to-eight ratio of sponsored messages to regular content messages.
Jim Lucy, chief editor with Electrical Wholesaling magazine at Penton, said he has been looking into making tablet computers work for his publication. He said mobile content and tablet computers are one of the most interesting things that have happened in the industry outside of the birth of the internet.
Lucy said many publications that do use tablet computer applications charge $4 to $5 to download an entire issue and do not work on a full-year subscription basis, although there is some debate on the best approach to this. He said it is important to keep in mind that the design of magazine content on tablets has a horizontal flow. He said websites and applications such as tabtimes.com and Flipboard are good places to go to learn about how to effectively use tablets.
In other advice to stay successful in the industry, Lucy said it is important to market yourself personally and he challenges editors to launch at least one new initiative per year.
“I have always tried to be an idea person,” Lucy said.
He said corporate leaders often see editorial as an expense, and editors can often get cut when times are tough. Being known as someone whose ideas bring revenue can help with job security, but he said to make sure you are presenting your ideas in a way that isn’t interpreted as brown-nosing or worse.
Lucy said to not fear repurposing content in new initiatives, and he has found industry tutorials and survival guides have proved successful for his publication.
Overall, Doherty said he doesn’t give the recession and a bad economy as an excuse for not meeting goals.
“You have to go find the revenue…if you aren’t getting the revenue, someone else is,” Doherty said.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Thursday, January 12, 2012
State of the B2B Industry Luncheon on Feb. 8
Find out the latest trends in the B2B industry and how they will impact your editorial and design teams, presented by the Kansas City Chapter of the ASBPE!
When? Wednesday, Feb. 8 from 12 to 1:30 PM
Where? Buca di Beppo, 310 W. 47th Street, Kansas City, MO 64112
Speakers:
Jim Lucy, Chief Editor, Electrical Wholesaling, Penton
Lucy has been an editor with Electrical Wholesaling magazine for close to 30 years. He has written several hundred articles for Electrical Wholesaling, Electrical Marketing newsletter and CEE News magazine. While chief editor of EW, Lucy and the publication staff have won three Jesse H. Neal awards for editorial excellence and numerous awards from ASBPE.
David Doherty, Group Sales & Marketing Director, Advanstar
Over the last 20 years, Doherty has been leading sales and marketing teams for a wide variety of companies ranging from dot-com start-ups to Fortune 500 brands. He has specialized in leveraging technology and new media channels into opportunities for B-to-B marketers to reach their customers. Doherty currently serves as the Group Sales and Marketing Director for Advanstar’s Veterinary Media Group. You can follow him on Twitter @DavidVirtually.
Cost?
$25 for ASBPE members/$35 for non-members. Cash accepted, as well as checks. Payable to ASBPE at the door. Fee includes lunch.
SAVE $10 on your registration by becoming an ASBPE member. Join today for as little as $50 for freelancers or $75 staff edtitors and designers annually. ASBPE is the leading association for B2B editors and designers. As an ASBPE member, you'll receive discounts on chapter events, Azbee Award entries, Webinars, and much more.
Click here to register
http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=kpa6z7eab&oeidk=a07e5i1l858ee075f20&oseq=a01jpgl3zx5ym
When? Wednesday, Feb. 8 from 12 to 1:30 PM
Where? Buca di Beppo, 310 W. 47th Street, Kansas City, MO 64112
Speakers:
Jim Lucy, Chief Editor, Electrical Wholesaling, Penton
Lucy has been an editor with Electrical Wholesaling magazine for close to 30 years. He has written several hundred articles for Electrical Wholesaling, Electrical Marketing newsletter and CEE News magazine. While chief editor of EW, Lucy and the publication staff have won three Jesse H. Neal awards for editorial excellence and numerous awards from ASBPE.
David Doherty, Group Sales & Marketing Director, Advanstar
Over the last 20 years, Doherty has been leading sales and marketing teams for a wide variety of companies ranging from dot-com start-ups to Fortune 500 brands. He has specialized in leveraging technology and new media channels into opportunities for B-to-B marketers to reach their customers. Doherty currently serves as the Group Sales and Marketing Director for Advanstar’s Veterinary Media Group. You can follow him on Twitter @DavidVirtually.
Cost?
$25 for ASBPE members/$35 for non-members. Cash accepted, as well as checks. Payable to ASBPE at the door. Fee includes lunch.
SAVE $10 on your registration by becoming an ASBPE member. Join today for as little as $50 for freelancers or $75 staff edtitors and designers annually. ASBPE is the leading association for B2B editors and designers. As an ASBPE member, you'll receive discounts on chapter events, Azbee Award entries, Webinars, and much more.
Click here to register
http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=kpa6z7eab&oeidk=a07e5i1l858ee075f20&oseq=a01jpgl3zx5ym
Thursday, December 01, 2011
National Board Meeting
National ASBPE President Amy Fischbach, Regional Liaison Director Danica Tormohlen and National Education Chair Jessica Zemler flew from Kansas City to Chicago to attend the fall national board meeting. At the meeting, Amy, Danica and Jessica worked with the national board on strategies for increasing membership and educational opportunities.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Networking Happy Hour at Taste Restaurant!
You're invited to join the Kansas City Chapter of ASBPE for a networking happy hour at Taste Restaurant in Overland Park from 5:30-7 p.m. on Wed., Nov. 2. Enjoy an amazing array of tapas at this quaint American restaurant in downtown Overland Park. To thank you for your continued support of the chapter, we will provide complimentary appetizers.
Exchange business cards and ideas with other local editors, freelancers and art directors. There is no registration fee for the event, but attendees will need to purchase their own beverages.
Open to members and non-members! Please invite your co-workers and come out to celebrate the great b-to-b editorial community we have in Kansas City. Join editors from local publishing companies, like Penton, Advanstar, New Bay Media, Sosland, Vance and more!
Please RSVP by Monday, Oct. 31, so we will be able to accommodate everyone. Click on the link below to register or RSVP.
https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?llr=kpa6z7eab&oeidk=a07e535q86hf076f1b8
Exchange business cards and ideas with other local editors, freelancers and art directors. There is no registration fee for the event, but attendees will need to purchase their own beverages.
Open to members and non-members! Please invite your co-workers and come out to celebrate the great b-to-b editorial community we have in Kansas City. Join editors from local publishing companies, like Penton, Advanstar, New Bay Media, Sosland, Vance and more!
Please RSVP by Monday, Oct. 31, so we will be able to accommodate everyone. Click on the link below to register or RSVP.
https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?llr=kpa6z7eab&oeidk=a07e535q86hf076f1b8
Tuesday, October 04, 2011
Producing for the web first and print later
Kansas City editors share tips for online success
When creating content, always remember to prioritize for the web first and print later, Greg Johnson, editor at Vance Publishing’s The Packer, said at the latest meeting of the Kansas City ASBPE chapter. At the meeting Johnson, along with Jessica Zemler, editor of dvm360.com with Advanstar Communications, presented “Ten online ideas you can implement tomorrow.”
Johnson explained it is essential to his company’s web philosophy to write up a news release within a half-hour of receiving and immediately post online. After this, he said they update that story as it evolves, and they have trained their readers to come back to the site to check for updates.
“We have to be the group the industry goes to first…we have not found many online people drop our print publication because we offer something different in both,” Johnson said.
Johnson said all staff reporters at his company produce videos for the websites, but he said their videos are only 30 to 90 seconds in length and are shot with very basic equipment. In addition, he noted the video doesn’t always have to be impressive quality to be successful. The videos often consist of a short introduction by the reporter followed with a short interview clip. Johnson said this gives them more industry recognition as the industry gets used to seeing them instead of just reading their names.
Zemler said using free Google services such as news alerts has been helpful to her as it helps her to passively keep an eye on breaking news.
“The key is passively…it would take a lot of my time to go out and actively search for this information,” Zelmer said.
Dvm360.com also takes advantage of Google’s webmaster tools and analytics options to help improve their sites. Zemler said they use Google Analytics in addition to Omniture to track how many readers they have and where they are going on the site. When it comes to social media, she suggested using tools such as HootSuite.com to manage efforts, and overall she always keeps an eye out for who is linking to their sites. Also, she said her company has even proposed several social media campaigns to advertisers.
Johnson emphasized the need to have focus with social media.
“When you are doing this, you have to have a goal,” he said.
Zemler also suggested doing some site fine-tuning by finding the top 10 or 20 most popular articles and seeing if there is a way to repackage them differently. For example, her publication provides coverage of the top 10 veterinary schools in the nation, and they have broken their coverage of this into a 10-part package and increased page views.
Other online successes at Advanstar have been creating interactive content with photo pages, quizzes and maps. They have also used the concept of a people’s choice award in a hospital design competition to allow readers to vote for the best design. However, Zemler said this “people’s choice” concept can translate across the board to many different fields and can be as simple or complex as desired.
When implementing such efforts, it’s important to consider the quality of the page views you are driving to your site, Johnson said. Quality as opposed to quantity is important as advertisers are often looking for a specific audience. Page views just for the sake of page views might not be beneficial.
“You need to be careful with having page views being your main goal,” he said.
Greg and Jessica’s “10 online ideas you can implement tomorrow” —
1) Do some site fine-tuning
2) Use Google to your advantage
3) Create interactive content
4) Efficiently manage social media
5) Hold a people’s choice award
6) Web first, print later
7) Use video
8) Use page views and analytics to see what’s driving interest
9) Include everyone on staff
10) Find out what works with social media
When creating content, always remember to prioritize for the web first and print later, Greg Johnson, editor at Vance Publishing’s The Packer, said at the latest meeting of the Kansas City ASBPE chapter. At the meeting Johnson, along with Jessica Zemler, editor of dvm360.com with Advanstar Communications, presented “Ten online ideas you can implement tomorrow.”
Johnson explained it is essential to his company’s web philosophy to write up a news release within a half-hour of receiving and immediately post online. After this, he said they update that story as it evolves, and they have trained their readers to come back to the site to check for updates.
“We have to be the group the industry goes to first…we have not found many online people drop our print publication because we offer something different in both,” Johnson said.
Johnson said all staff reporters at his company produce videos for the websites, but he said their videos are only 30 to 90 seconds in length and are shot with very basic equipment. In addition, he noted the video doesn’t always have to be impressive quality to be successful. The videos often consist of a short introduction by the reporter followed with a short interview clip. Johnson said this gives them more industry recognition as the industry gets used to seeing them instead of just reading their names.
Zemler said using free Google services such as news alerts has been helpful to her as it helps her to passively keep an eye on breaking news.
“The key is passively…it would take a lot of my time to go out and actively search for this information,” Zelmer said.
Dvm360.com also takes advantage of Google’s webmaster tools and analytics options to help improve their sites. Zemler said they use Google Analytics in addition to Omniture to track how many readers they have and where they are going on the site. When it comes to social media, she suggested using tools such as HootSuite.com to manage efforts, and overall she always keeps an eye out for who is linking to their sites. Also, she said her company has even proposed several social media campaigns to advertisers.
Johnson emphasized the need to have focus with social media.
“When you are doing this, you have to have a goal,” he said.
Zemler also suggested doing some site fine-tuning by finding the top 10 or 20 most popular articles and seeing if there is a way to repackage them differently. For example, her publication provides coverage of the top 10 veterinary schools in the nation, and they have broken their coverage of this into a 10-part package and increased page views.
Other online successes at Advanstar have been creating interactive content with photo pages, quizzes and maps. They have also used the concept of a people’s choice award in a hospital design competition to allow readers to vote for the best design. However, Zemler said this “people’s choice” concept can translate across the board to many different fields and can be as simple or complex as desired.
When implementing such efforts, it’s important to consider the quality of the page views you are driving to your site, Johnson said. Quality as opposed to quantity is important as advertisers are often looking for a specific audience. Page views just for the sake of page views might not be beneficial.
“You need to be careful with having page views being your main goal,” he said.
Greg and Jessica’s “10 online ideas you can implement tomorrow” —
1) Do some site fine-tuning
2) Use Google to your advantage
3) Create interactive content
4) Efficiently manage social media
5) Hold a people’s choice award
6) Web first, print later
7) Use video
8) Use page views and analytics to see what’s driving interest
9) Include everyone on staff
10) Find out what works with social media
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