FOLIO: Section Blogs by Sales and Marketing

Three Lessons Learned from Implementing Marketing Automation

traphael — Mon, 20 May 2013 13:39:38 -0400

Move over social media. Something new has come along for publishers that’s making audience development (nearly) sexy: Marketing automation.

Seemingly overnight, media blogs, webinars and conference sessions are hailing marketing automation, behavioral targeting and lead nurturing as the new panacea, offering publishers opportunities to deepen their relationships with audiences and sponsors. And within all the hype is more than a kernel of truth. Marketing automation can give publishers tools to engage with their readers more intelligently, and add value to their customer relationships by providing richer, more nuanced views of what prospective buyers are doing.

For my organization, GreenBiz Group, we’ve found marketing automation to be a valuable means of quickly identifying, segmenting, nurturing and converting the best prospects for our paid conferences. It’s helped us quickly convert newsletter subscribers browsing our events pages into paid conference registrants, and also proven to be a more effective tool than traditional methods in supporting sponsored lead gen programs, not only increasing response, but also providing sponsors with richer data about user behavior that better identifies where they land in the sales funnel.

So you’ve got the marketing automation bug? Here are three things you should consider when planning and evaluating the myriad of technology choices in this rapidly growing sector.

1. Software may be the least of your expenses. While marketing automation software isn’t cheap, the costs of setup and integration with existing systems can grow quickly. To really gain the full benefit of the behavioral targeting opportunities, publishers need a complete picture of how users are interacting with their marketing and content. It’s to your advantage to go all in, integrating site pages, Web forms, email, e-commerce apps, CRM, etc. Whether you migrate current functions (e.g. newsletter management) away from dedicated email services, or build integrations to share information between systems, you’ll need to evaluate the time and cost of training staff on new processes, as well as the development costs for custom integration.

2. What users say is interesting. What they do is more interesting. Most marketing automation packages come equipped with an array of features. These include progressive profiling, which lets you ask a few questions with each web form. Fewer questions increases conversion rates, but still lets you build a comprehensive user profile over the course of several interactions. While self-reported information can provide valuable qualification information, erroneous or flat out deceitful answers are not uncommon, making it only one part of the equation.

Marketing automation software lets you see what users are doing on your site, and this can be valuable for identifying purchasing interest. By flagging key sections or pages on your site (e.g. comparative specs or pricing data on products), you can identify and focus on users who not only have the authority to purchase, but who also behave with intent to purchase. Developing lead scoring methodologies based on self-reported and behavioral data lets publishers offer sponsors a richer lead profile, which can be provided at a premium over traditional qual form data.

3. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. As valuable as marketing automation is for enhancing sponsor programs, it’s even better for your own product/service sales activities. Identifying and flagging prospective advertisers to sales staff is a natural. Perhaps even better are programs that convert to sales directly, such as premium content or conference passes. In this case, prospective buyers who respond to email or ad campaigns, pay repeated visits to event pages, or who visit pricing and registration pages can be flagged and added to automated nurture campaigns. These can be highly effective at speeding conversions.

These are just a few of the considerations when planning for marketing automation. And while the planning and investment in marketing automation software requires a significant commitment of time and resources, the upside is that you provide greater value to sponsors for lead gen programs, improved performance of event and premium content efforts, and overall greater insight into which content investments provide higher ROI. And all of that is more than worth the effort.

Hugh Byrne is Senior Vice President at GreenBiz Group. You can find him on Twitter at @greenbiztweets.

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Four Considerations for Your New Marketing Services Operation

Bill Mickey — Thu, 16 May 2013 11:37:23 -0400

In an attempt to recapture marketing dollars lost to customer content marketing initiatives, many publishers have pulled the trigger on launching their own internal marketing services operations. This “go where the money is” mentality is both strategic and logical, but once up and running most soon witness the plethora of challenges occupying this arena. To run a successful marketing services business, publishers require more than personnel and publishing know-how; several other factors play a critical role in this business.

1. Learn Your Areas of Proven Capability
The term “marketing services” is almost comically broad in that it encompasses nearly anything related to client communications and sales facilitation. This requires publishers to take the obvious-yet-critical step of establishing a lineup of offerings before going to market. Young marketing service operations must realize, however, that this is a more comprehensive process than merely duplicating an organization’s traditional publishing capabilities.

Publishers must first jettison the preconceived notion that workflow processes for publishing owned media are comparable to those for producing client media. Without this mindset, publishers may fall victim to under-pricing projects, over-working staff, missing critical deadlines and producing mediocre products; each subsequently leading to defeated profit margins and client dissatisfaction.

To establish unique areas of proven capability, publishers may consider the following three core services that, whether independently or combined, comprise nearly all marketing services arrangements:

• Content Development
• Media Production
• Printing/Deployment/Delivery

All potential service offerings within each of these three categories should be explored with the production/project management teams responsible for executing them. This discussion will help identify the specific services an operation is currently capable of producing, services that may be offered in the future (and identifying the enabling steps that need to be taken before this happens,) and services that are completely off the table. These conversations will also aid publishers in developing production processes, pricing and timeframes for each specific service.

What to recognize: The breadth of your marketing services resources and capabilities differs from the breadth of your traditional publishing resources and capabilities.

2. Use a Customer-Centric Viewpoint
Running a marketing services operation is a much different practice than running a publication, especially with regard to the selling cycle. Publication sales representatives tend to be accustomed to consulting with marketers and presenting brand-centric advertising solutions. Presenting marketing services solutions to customers, however, requires a truly customer-centric approach accompanied by a high level of marketing knowledge.

The ability to present unbiased, customer-centric strategies and solutions is what differentiates a marketing strategist from a media sales representative. Marketing strategists will earn the trust of clients by outlining entire content marketing campaigns that often include ideas and solutions that they themselves might not be able to service. While this approach may be perceived as counterintuitive from a business standpoint, it succeeds in establishing trusting relationship in this ripe market, ultimately enabling the opportunity for renewable, sustainable business.

What to recognize: Your organization’s top-producing media sales representative might not be equipped to effectively sell marketing services to customers.

3. Build Communications Boundaries to Protect Your Project Management Team
A proven and trusted project management team should be treated by publishers as a highly protected asset within the organization. These teams are able to convert project scope-of-work documentation into well-polished deliverables on time and to customer satisfaction. However, due to the chaotic nature of the marketing services business, once in-production even the smallest disruption in communication between project management teams and customers can drastically alter the schedule or outcome of a project.

To prevent project mishaps, publishers can enforce in-production communications guidelines for non-marketing services staff, such as sales representatives, that prohibits discussing project details with customers without including project management teams. Such guidelines would not be set to restrict all communications between sales staff and their clients (after all, it’s in everyone’s best interest to maintain an ongoing dialogue) but prevent reps from unknowingly changing a project’s entire scope-of-work by making a subtle suggestion or comment to the customer regarding their project.

What to recognize: Even subtle changes to an in-production project’s scope-of-work can create hours of additional work for project management teams.

4. Establish (and Use) an Interdepartmental Communications Network
One of the most unique aspects of a publisher’s marketing services operation is its ability to leverage the growth of other divisions within the organization. As capabilities are broadened across traditional publishing departments, marketing services operations should identify if and how those can be implemented into their own processes or offerings.

Establishing an interdepartmental communications network allows representatives from marketing services teams to routinely connect with various department heads. This crucial exposure enables idea sharing, brainstorming, and eventually the development of new, proprietary marketing service offerings. Branding these proprietary offerings allows publishers to develop new revenue streams while also achieving a more critical milestone: giving its marketing services operation an identity.

What to recognize: Your marketing services operation is defined by the capabilities of your entire organization.

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Why the Traditional Advertiser-Media Sales Rep Relationship Is Dead

Bill Mickey — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 15:02:29 -0400

Content marketing or advertising? This budgetary conundrum challenges not just brand marketers, but the publishers who have witnessed customers divest marketing spend from advertising and invest it into content marketing initiatives outside of their brands’ reach.

While a reduction in advertising spend poses an immediate threat to publishers, it also enables the opportunity for nimble publishers to reinvent their business model as well as their client relationships.

Publishing sales teams must change their perception of their customers’ roles, as well as their own:

• The customers of publishers are not advertisers, they are brand marketers. A brand marketer’s responsibility reaches far beyond ad buys; today’s media companies must perceive them as such and provide the solutions to support their advertising and content marketing initiatives.

• The perceived role of a media sales rep must also change in the eyes of brand marketers. This role should not be defined as a media sales rep, but as a marketing strategist. Marketing strategists think beyond their own brand and provide customers the insights and solutions to directly support their marketing objectives.

The evolution of this relationship becomes further mutually favorable when marketing services enters the equation. Publishers equipped to support the content development and media production needs of their customers are well positioned for the newest phase of media buying: Integrated marketing packages.

By including marketing services within traditional advertising bundles, publishers are able to support their customers’ content marketing initiatives while alleviating their commonly associated challenges. Bundle pricing equates to reduced content development expenditures, a modest relief for customer budgetary concerns. In addition, access to industry editors as a component of the Integrated Marketing Package enables brand marketers to produce enough content, engaging content, and a variety of content.

Integrated Marketing Packages may even be supplemented with marketing coaching services, allowing entire industries the help needed to run successful content marketing programs.

Contrary to what some have predicted, content marketing won’t mean the end of the publishing industry, but a disruption within it; a disruption creating new opportunities and new perceptions.

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A Call for Nominations: The 2013 Audience Development All-Stars

traphael — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 11:13:41 -0400

Our list of the most creative individuals in circulation, consumer marketing and online audience development is back: We’re proud to announce that nominations are open for the 2013 Audience Development All-Stars.

The Audience Development All-Stars is our supplement's annual list honoring the industry’s top thinkers that have continued to innovate on the audience front—building new opportunities in both traditional and cutting-edge customer marketing initiatives.

It might be a new approach to fulfillment, direct mail or database analytics, but the list is designed to highlight the pros who over the last year have helped keep, manage, and attract new audiences for their companies.

As we've done the previous six years, our team of editors has been scouring the industry for the brightest minds in circulation, consumer marketing and audience development—but we also need to hear from you.

We encourage you to make a submission for our annual All-Stars list by nominating yourself or a colleague. We're looking for circ and audience development pros with demonstrable success in the ever-expanding category of audience marketing and management.

These are just some of the areas of excellence we're looking for:

• Database development and marketing
• Social media audience growth and engagement
• Tablet and digital edition audience marketing
• Newsstand sales, distribution and promotion
• Fulfillment
• Online audience development
• Integrated marketing

All nominations must show demonstrable success with a new or existing project or initiative.

Join us in recognizing the best talent in our industry by submitting a nomination. Click here to make a submission.

Good luck and thanks for participating!

T. J. Raphael is Associate Editor of FOLIO:. Follow her on Twitter: @TJRaphael.
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When Will the Newsstand Canary Croak?

traphael — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 14:33:05 -0500

For the last five years publishers have been digging ever deeper in the newsstand coal mine, seemingly blind to the dangers that lie below. The canary hasn’t croaked, but it’s clearly breathing harder.

Publishers, naively waiting for good news from the top of the mineshaft, keep bemoaning the reasons for this calamitous bit of bad sales luck.

The recent newsstand sales figures for the second half of last year from AAM were indeed grim. It has been reported that the decline in unit sales was 8.2 percent from the year previous. But a more measured review, one that includes the sales of titles that reported sales a year ago but are no longer being published, shows that performance was measurably worse.

See Also: AAM: Newsstand a Drag On Circ as Digital Rises

It reveals that unit sales were down 9.3 percent and revenue off 8.2 percent. But even these numbers don’t fully demonstrate the level of performance.

Because of a reporting date anomaly nearly all the weekly frequency publications reported sales for 27 issues. However, they are being compared to 26 issues from the previous period. If the extra issue for the top 11 weekly publications is excluded from the calculations the unit sales decline would have been 10.2 percent. This, perhaps, represents a truer picture of newsstand sales performance in the second half of last year.

[Click image for larger version.]

Well, as they say, stuff happens. If that were only the case an isolated ten percent decline wouldn’t be so worrisome. But let’s not forget this performance closely mirrors what has been happening on the newsstand for the last five years:

Unit Sales: Down 44.9 percent, 11.2 percent annually
Revenue: Down 38.0 percent, 9.1 percent annually
Total Paid Circ: Down 14.9 percent from 277.6 to 236.1 million
Single Copy Circ: Down 44.7 percent from 48.8 million to 27.0 million
Single Copy Circ as a Percent of Total Circ: Down from 17.7 to 11.8 percent

Has it ever been clearer that the newsstand canary is in extreme danger of croaking?

What’s my point in stretching this analogy? I believe publishers, to some great extent, remain in denial concerning the depth and seriousness of this precipitous decline. Let’s be realistic here. In the last five years there has been a sea change in technology and how people consume media. As New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman indicated, in speaking about all businesses, 9/11 and the Great Recession have disguised the effect of these changes.

The business of magazine publishing is being seriously altered. Management emphasis has shifted to cope with the changes of an increasingly digital world. One manifestation of these changes is the rapid ascendency of replica circ. Its use nearly tripled in the last year—from 2.8 million circ to about 7.6 million circ, an increase of about 4.8 million. This increase, interestingly enough, compares pretty closely to the 3.6 million decrease in newsstand circ for the same period. It’s now a good bet that replica circ is cannibalizing newsstand sales.

Nothing can be done to halt the advance of these technological and consumer involvement changes to the magazine business. But what publishers can do, if they really want to preserve the newsstand channel, is to concentrate their efforts on cooperatively working with its wholesaling and retailing partners to fix the inherent inefficiencies of channel operations.

But time is of the essence. The canary’s breath is running short.

Baird Davis is a senior consultant with Circulation Specialists.
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Adding Video to Your Sales Pitch

Bill Mickey — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 14:09:09 -0500

Bonnier's Popular Science is taking the venerable sell sheet one step further by including a video of the magazine's editor-in-chief Jacob Ward describing the upcoming issue's content highlights, marrying that with the magazine's pertinent demos. The sales team uses the video as an email enticement or brings it on a live sales call to add a dash of editorial celebrity when Ward himself can't come along.

The idea came to Michael Gallic, associate publisher, marketing, the technology group, as Ward was taping his customary video introduction for the magazine's tablet version. Why not just ask Ward to hang around for another five or ten minutes to create a 90-second highlight reel of the upcoming issue? The first video sell sheet was created at the end of last year for the January/February issue.

"We're always looking for new ways to help the reps to get to the advertisers," says Gallic. "The standard way is the issue sell sheet—a PDF which gives an overview and relevant statistics, but in the video you're hearing about the content live from the editor and you can see the stats pop up. He's an engaging, personable guy who brings the editorial to life. Who better to hear what the issue is about than the editor himself?"

While they may not actually win the sale, anecdotally Gallic says the videos have been useful hooks to get the brand noticed. "The face-to-face calls are more difficult to get, but these video sell sheets are not only helping getting the call but getting the call back."

The team uses Adobe's After Effects to edit the videos, and Gallic adds that, with a slightly different content spin, they're morphing into a useful consumer marketing tool as well—particularly as a newsstand driver. "We'll run them on the website to drive people to newsstand. They're taking on a life of their own," he says.
Here's a video of Ward highlighting the upcoming May issue:

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In Sales, Plan for Change

Bill Mickey — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 13:53:56 -0500

Dwight D. Eisenhower said, “In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” He could have been describing today’s publishing landscape. We work with many publishers, and are continually reminded of the importance of sales planning. There is no final answer: The situation is fluid and plans must be updated, revised and, sometimes, jettisoned.

There are more ways for a publisher to generate revenues today than ever before. There is much more for salespeople to learn and remember, and far more ways to go wrong in areas only tangentially related to traditional publishing. It is unclear which will be the winning strategies as magazine brands extend beyond the printed page to websites, mobile media, events and social media communities. What is clear is that salespeople are responsible for learning, forecasting and planning in new areas.

Because my company’s responsibility is to turn publishers’ plans into revenues, we find out very quickly what works. Every one of our salespeople creates an annual plan for every sales territory; we have found that rapid, monthly course corrections and revisions to plans are essential.

As we talk with publishers, we frequently see a pattern of issues like these:

• Slow, methodical annual planning with quarterly reviews, in our view, is ineffective. Reviews must be accelerated.
• Many publishing organizations lack any real experience in identifying appropriate partners and then in executing a relationship with those new partners.
• Hiring one-dimensional salespeople who do not have the proper skills to adapt to a multimedia environment puts magazines at a disadvantage.
• Failing to recognize that just because people may be comfortable with digital technology does not necessarily translate to the ability to sell that digital technology. They may not have the skill set to sell anything.
• The real—and troubling—rise of technologically-driven processes like Real-Time Auction advertising models commoditizes and diminishes the role of publishers and traditional agencies by replacing considered opinion with algorithms.
• Failing to properly train salespeople in all new product offerings means they often do not try to sell the products, which results in lost business.
• Failing to provide adequate sales and demonstration tools (including mobile tools for mobile products) and proper collateral can reduce the impact of investments in new products.

Many problems can be traced to the cost-cutting measures in the face of the recession and uncertainty due to the very turbulent times in which consumer and b-to-b magazines have found themselves. As Warren Buffett so aptly says, "Capital outlays at a business can be skipped, of course, in any given month, just as a human can skip a day or even a week of eating. But if the skipping becomes routine and is not made up, the body weakens and eventually dies."

In my opinion, leadership must come from the top. Just as salespeople need to be trained in the nuances of new media platforms, or at least platforms new to them, so does senior management. Too often, top managers running publishing companies don't have enough experience in understanding the nuances and the differences that exist between different media and how they can be packaged together. I think this is a big issue today.

Placing publishing executives into the media department of an agency for a week would be the best training. That experience would bring incredible insights to top managers, not only regarding the differences in various media, but also in understanding the way ad agency media buyers really purchase media. Because this solution is impractical for most executives, the next best thing is for them to go on fact-finding tours at agencies with the objective of learning. Selling will come later, based on understanding the buyers’ needs.

There is no end in sight for new media platforms, and disruptive innovation is the rule. The only sure thing is that failure to stay current will have negative results. From here on out, we all must keep on learning.

James G. Elliott is president of James G. Elliott Co., Inc., an independent advertising sales firm. He can be reached at j.elliott@jamesgelliott.com.

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Is the USPS Getting Into the Magazine Newsstand Business?

mrondon — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 12:38:15 -0500

The U.S. Postal Service appears to be gearing up for an entrance into the magazine retail market, according to meeting notes from the Mailers' Technical Advisory Committee (MTAC) quarterly meetings over the past year. Traditional newsstand sales have been discussed, as well as digital options via USPS.com and mobile devices.

A summary of the group's most recent November gathering--first mentioned this weekend on the blog Dead Tree Edition--notes: "The USPS is moving forward on a plan to offer magazine subscriptions for sale on USPS.com." And later adds: "The USPS and mailers are developing a plan to have posters in retail sites with QR codes and other ways of linking to magazine subscriptions."

These notes come on the heels of an August meeting where Kelly Sigmon, USPS VP of Channel Access, gave an address entitled "Magazines at USPS Retail" and indicated the Postal Service "is open to a test in 25-50 locations."

Similar mentions--overwhelmingly positive--have appeared in meeting notes since February.

The response from publishers seems to be less enthusiastic though.

Slides from a product development presentation given at the meeting available on the MTAC website hint at trepidation, saying: "Implementation and economic challenges limiting interest with Publishers."

Several related parties, including Sigmon, declined interview requests, and, after multiple denials the project existed, a USPS spokesperson admitted the program had not progressed beyond "the idea phase."

Another industry source confirmed that Synapse, a large-scale magazine distributor with ties to major publishers including Hearst, Time, Conde Nast and Meredith, had been involved in the project but was unsure of where it stood at the moment. Synapse also declined comment.

Right now, it seems clear the USPS wants in.

It's just up to publishers to open the door.

Michael Rondon is an associate editor for FOLIO: Magazine. You can reach him at mrondon@accessintel.com. and follow him on Twitter @Mike_Rondon.
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LinkedIn Co-Founder Connects Social Media With Live Events

traphael — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 15:41:24 -0500

Media companies, and especially those in the b-to-b space, are increasingly reliant on events as a vital way to diversify a portfolio. Yet, as reported by FOLIO: today, even growth in the events sector seems to be slowing.

However, harnessing the power of social media is one way that media companies can hold the attention of customers and consumers beyond the week or month a magazine is on sale--or an event is in session. That was one takeaway provided by Eric Ly, the co-founder of LinkedIn and keynote speaker at the International Association of Exhibitions and Events’ annual meeting in Orlando, Fla. on Wednesday.

“We weren’t cool enough to create Facebook,” said Ly. “So we tried to create something useful instead.”

Ly, joined onstage by Rick Calvert, moderator of the address and head of New Media Expo, was speaking to a crowd of about 400 professionals as the CEO of another startup now—matchmaking provider Presdo. Ly discussed the role of social media in the face-to-face industry.

“I used to go to a lot of tech events,” he said. “People want to get together, they want to socialize and have really important business relationships and friendships come out of that experience. I would go to those events and—I don’t think I’m alone in experiencing this—you walk in and see a room full of people really not knowing who you should meet.”

“In face-to-face, and especially events, it’s really about connecting people,” he added. “That actually turns out to be really hard to do.”

Ly noted several times that he sees social as a compliment to face-to-face interaction however—not a replacement. While it can be a useful tool in matchmaking and extending relationships beyond the time and space limitations of an event, social is not an answer in itself.

“I think that face-to-face is never going to go away,” he said. “We are humans, we want to be in contact with other people, we want to develop trust—and those kinds of things are really hard to do online.”

Calvert also broached LinkedIn’s own potential as an event provider. Despite shuttering it’s proprietary events app in late-November, the social mega-site could still be poised for a head-on collision with the industry.

Admittedly theorizing, Ly suggested the move could simply have been the closing of an unsuccessful product, or perhaps, a hint that LinkedIn was going to get into the events business itself.

While that prospect may be daunting for many in the event industry, Ly doesn’t think it would work.

“There’s so much value in face-to-face interaction, it’s an industry of $200 billion,” he said. “Those kinds of abilities, skills and talents I don’t think are going to be replaced any time soon by a Silicon Valley company.”

Michael Rondon is an associate editor at FOLIO: magazine.
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Have Publishers Let Competitors Position Their Media?

traphael — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 15:09:57 -0500

Media buyers who buy the products publishers sell now divide the media they manage into three categories:

Earned media, largely social media where organizations "earn" exposure by posting content on services like Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter.

Owned media, media a marketer owns like their company website, newsletter, or blog.

Paid media, third party media, which is most of what publishers sell to marketers.

But consider the emotional message these labels send.

"Owning" your own media makes marketers feel great and in control. Owning is good!

Everyone loves to "earn" free exposure on social media platforms.

But who really wants to "pay" for exposure they might be able to get for free through social media?

Of the three media categories, only "paid media" is named for a negative characteristic.

How did this happen? These category names came into common use around 2008 when social media was being added to media budgets. With the need to contrast social media with traditional media, the social media centric thinking of the time renamed traditional media as it contrasts to social, suddenly we became "paid media." This label casts a negative implication every time it is used.

There is a fix. Publishers need to work to change the label from "paid media" to "third party media," which is more descriptive and offers a significant benefit. While earned and owned media are highly effective at reaching existing customers, third-party media is far more effective at reaching non-customers. Current customers are much more likely to visit a company website or subscribe to a company newsletter. Non-customers, less so. Current customers much more likely to participate with a company Facebook page or subscribe to a company Twitter feed. Non-customers, not so much.

Third-party media, reaches customers and non-customers alike.

But it is no secret that marketing budgets have seen a big shift in the last few years. While marketing budgets have remained flat for the past few years dollars have moved out of third-party media (paid media), and into owned and earned media. This trend may have gone too far.

In a study my company did earlier earlier this year that measured the marketing effectiveness of 34 companies in a B2B market and found that marketing was effective with an average of 55.6 percent of current customers, but only with 10.6 percent of non-customers.

There is a real case to be made for the benefits of third-party media. The more important winning new customers is for marketers, the more important third-party media becomes. I we can reposition what we sell from being "the media you have to pay for" to being "the media that best communicates with NEW customers" our media sales job will get easier.
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Are Your Media Reps Asking About Paid Search?

Bill Mickey — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 14:26:05 -0500

If your sales staff sells traditional media, understanding how paid search works is a big plus. Today, about half of all online ad dollars go to search, so it is important to understand where most of online money now goes.

The first step is for media reps is to ask clients how much of their ad budget goes to search. Many are surprised at how much of the marketing plan goes to a format that started in its current form only 12 years ago—2000 was the year Google first started selling advertising based on keywords.

The year search really broke out was 2008. In that year Google indexed a trillion web pages, but more importantly, acquired web analytics giant DoubleClick enabling them to, "dramatically improve the effectiveness, measurably and performance of digital media for publishers, advertisers and agencies."

Leveraging the resources of DoubleClick, Google was able to improve the metrics for advertisers and offer "more precise metrics in order to judge the effectiveness of their campaigns." With improved metrics came better documentation of the effectiveness of search and and improved sales.

The year 2008 was also the year b-to-b print advertising, a medium challenged with documenting results, started to falter. Coincidence? Hard to say.

But let's look at the present. A recent study of b-to-b marketers from Marketing Sherpa showed budget allocation for paid search is now ahead of print advertising, no small feat for a medium where ads often cost between 30 cents and five dollars each. Think traditional media does not compete against search for ad dollars? Think again.

Do your media reps know how to position their products against paid search? It would be best if they could.

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Data Quality: The Digital Advertising Priority

Bill Mickey — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 09:55:24 -0400

Arguably, publishing is quickly heading toward digital dominance. Strategies for the migration are way past overdue. However, some of the strategies that ruled print media are being abandoned for digital media, and that’s a mistake. It still should be about reaching the right customer at the right time with the right message. With digital marketing and the data it generates, publishers can be more accurate about the right time and message. Publishers can use customer information to improve their content and sales quality. Here are four ways to improve yours.

1. Analyze and Optimize Premium Inventory: Digital publishers spend too much time worrying about the valuation of their remnant inventory, who sells it, and who gets a cut of it. Remnant inventory can be just as valuable as premium if you put it in perspective. You should be looking at all of your inventory holistically and assigning true values to each ad slot instead of differentiating between premium and non-premium (remnant) like we have done for the past 10 years. That means measuring the value of ad slots by content relevance, brand safety, and viewability. Learning to differentiate inventory is a complex task. “Premium” shouldn’t just be the homepage and a page with a user cookie. Learn to accurately evaluate all of your inventory based on quality, actionable information about the page—not just old-school cookie data.

2. Get Information, Get Data: The best way to value digital publishing real estate is to get the best data on who visits it, what they do when they get there, how long they stay and how your content relates to the audience and creative. In short: customer engagement. There are literally dozens of exchanges and RTB companies that will be happy to track that and store that information. But it’s the publishers who need it. It’s the publishers who don’t have it. You need customer engagement metrics to compete for the best advertisers and the highest revenue. We see a lot of great digital publishing companies with brilliant content that are not getting paid what they deserve because they don’t have enough data to prove the true worth of their inventory.

3. Ease Common Concerns for Advertisers: Quality inventory will avoid some of the pitfalls that advertisers are generally concerned with. Publishers need to make sure they automate to guard against suspicious activity. At AdSafe, for example, we can analyze and score the risk that a website is associated with suspicious activity on a 1-1,000 rating scale—specifically including click fraud, which occurs in pay-per-click online advertising when a person or program imitates a legitimate user of a Web browser; and impression fraud, which occurs in CPM advertising when a person or program imitates users by repeatedly loading a page or advertisements on a page for the purpose of generating higher fees. Buyers of online media are able to purchase inventory informed by AdSafe’s risk score, while sellers of online media are able to better manage their inventory by eliminating fraudulent activity if discovered. This also means eliminating the concern of ad collision by having the data and tools to make sure brands are on pages that aren’t crowded with other ads.

4. Redesign for Viewability: Like the doctor said when you got your first tetanus shot: “This is gonna hurt a little bit.” And it will. But many publishers will need to optimize yield only after they reposition their content and ad positions to be viewable and valuable. Currently several industry organizations are working on viewability standards. If an ad is not in view when the page loads, or never comes into view during a user session, basically, a publisher isn’t going to get paid for it. That pushes premium positions toward the top of the page. It will probably reduce a publisher’s viable amount of inventory. And as stated, it means you will need to charge more for each ad.

In the end, the goal is to meet brand goals and objectives, whether they center on sales, marketing ROI, awareness, brand lift, or conversions. If publishers bring data quality back into balance with quantity, publishers will be well positioned.

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Angie, On Why Angie’s List Publishes a Print Magazine

traphael — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 15:12:02 -0400

Angie Hicks Bowman, co-founder of the home service rating company that carries her name, is one of the smartest marketers I have ever interviewed. She started her company as "Columbus Neighbors," personally going door to door in Columbus, Ohio to sign up members and collect ratings on local contractors. After her first year of door knocking, her company had 1,000 members. Today, that number is over 1.5 million paid members.

When my wife Lynn became an Angie’s List member, a monthly print magazine started showing up at our Brooklyn brownstone. I was intrigued. In a time when many marketers are scaling back print magazine marketing investment to favor digital media, here was a prominent digital content company publishing a print magazine. Retro marketing? Not on your life. In an interview with Angie I found her rationale for using print magazines so rooted in common sense I wondered why no one had thought of explaining it her way before.

When I asked Angie why she is sticking with print magazines she said, “I think people interact with print publications differently than they do with online content. Angie’s List is essentially a problem solving service. When people say, “Oh, I need a plumber” they come to us. But our print magazine allows us to interact with members when they are not in need of a plumber.” Angie added that her magazine helps differentiate her company in the crowded online market: “It’s one of the neat differentiators about us. We are not only collecting all of this content but actually packaging it into this kind of “news you can use format.”

In addition, Angie said her print magazine helps drive incremental activity by educating members: “Maybe someone had not thought about buying a geo thermal heating and cooling system, but read an article about it in Angie’s List magazine. That person may not have gone on our website to read the article but read it in our magazine, and it created incremental interest.”

The magazine also serves as a way to introduce new members, said Angie. “Angie’s List members are busy people, and getting the magazine delivered to them can be a very easy, great way to kind of break in.” She continues, “I get tons of e-mails but on Saturday I might sit down to read a magazine at home, where I don’t want to be sitting in front of my computer. Our members are very passionate about our magazine and a lot of consumers leave it sitting out on their coffee table.” And members love the magazine. Angie recalls, “I remember getting a call from a member who had a hospital stay during which her daughter came in, cleaned her house, and threw away her Angie’s List magazine collection. She was so upset she called and asked if we could send her a whole new set.”

For those of us marketing print products in an ever more digital world, for my money, Angie’s best wisdom came when she described how magazines keep her customers engaged even “when they are not in need of a plumber.” As more marketers abandon print budgets to fund digital initiatives, her comment reminds us of print’s unique marketing value, which is not easily duplicated online. When a print magazine arrives in a home or office it can be read in any physical location, and does not compete for online time with other websites.

In addition, website content is often “purpose driven”—designed for users to choose their own sequence of information as they search for content and solutions to problems. The magazine experience is different, because an editor selects the sequence of content within an area of interest. The magazine read may offer fewer content options, but sometimes it’s really nice to have someone who really knows the neighborhood be the tour guide. Like many websites, Angie’s List is a problem solving service, so a print magazine is the perfect complement.

Need a book? Go to Amazon.com. The latest political news? Politio.com. Tech news? Mashable.com etc. But what about when you do not need a book, political news, tech news, or a plumber? Maybe you are sitting on your couch just reading a magazine, maybe the one published by Angie’s List.

PS: Watch a video produced by American Business Media on our initiative to help publishers sell more print adverising by selling the value of 3rd party media HERE.

Josh Gordon is president of SmarterMediaSales.com where he works with publishers to maximize their online and print revenue through training, consulting, and representation.

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To Sell More Print Ads, Pitch Digital First

Bill Mickey — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 16:23:58 -0400

Many media reps who sell both print and on-line media lead their client conversations talking about print. Since it can take as much time to sell a $7,000 print ad as a $1,000 banner ad, this can look like the fastest way to meet quota...or is it?

I have found the opposite is true. Starting with print can lead to lower print sales. Sound crazy? Here are three reasons why:

1. Advertisers would rather talk about digital options than talk about print. Digital media is new and more interesting for them. Honestly, what is there to say that is new and exciting about print advertising that can compare?

2. When calling on smaller and mid-sized accounts there is a very real opportunity to be a hero by helping them understand the chaos that is digital media today. Many of the organizations you call on don't have on-staff expertise who keep up with the changing digital marketplace. If you keep up, you can be of real service to them.

3. Finally, digital media is more strategic than print because of the metrics that show up after a campaign. When you can look at the results together, a great detailed conversation can result.

If focus your client time first on where their interests are, you will simply have a better conversation and make a better connection which will be more rewarding for both of you.

I find that by talking about digital options first I become far more valuable to my clients, find out more about their needs, and uncover far more opportunities.

When more client understanding, trust, and opportunities are developed far more productive ways to work print into the media budget present themselves.

The best way to sell more print advertising is to have client conversations directed by what is most interesting and useful for your customers, not commissions. Most often, this means starting your conversation about digital.

This post originally appears on Josh Gordon's Ad Sales blog.

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Are You Swapping Analogue Dollars for Digital Dimes?

Tue, 26 Jun 2012 16:53:09 -0400

This post originally appeared on Josh Gordon's Ad Sales Blog.

If you follow the traditional publishing business model in an ever more digital world, it is inevitable. The traditional magazine business model is based on creating content to attract eyeballs, and then to sell exposure (advertising) to them. This basic plan has kept magazine publishers profitable for over a hundred years. But this model faces harsh challenges in today's digital media world. The problem is a far more efficient way to deliver eyeballs online, called "search." Every marketer knows that they can get far more eyeballs and clicks per dollar for their website by buying “search” instead of digital media from traditional publishers. Why every publisher does not know this is a mystery to me.

To understand the problem let's look at a rough example with the math:

Say you publish a magazine that charges $6,000 for a page of print advertising and gets $1,000 for a banner on it's website. What if running either a print or newsletter ad gains exposure to many eyeballs and results in 75 click-thoughs to an advertiser’s website? Depending on the expense of appropriate keywords, a click-through generated by Google, or another search engine, could cost as little as 20 cents or as much as $5. So, Google would charge between $15 to $375 for the same number of clicks you are asking advertisers to pay $1,000 or $5,000 for. Argue all you want about the quality of your clicks. With this big of a price difference, it is going to be hard to make it stick.

If you don’t think the online advertisers in your niche are impressed by this math, think again. According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) [chart below], almost half of all online ad dollars (46.5%) now go to search. A recent analysis of where Google gets its ad dollars shows penetration into niches traditionally held by publishers.

But there is a better way to compete. The core strength of digital media is not in its ability to deliver exposure to eyeballs, but in its ability to deliver interactive experiences. Why sell one-way communication (eyeballs) for what is a fundamentally interactive medium? With this in mind, a new model for publishers is emerging:

Use content to build data on potential customers. Use that data to build sponsorable interactive customer experiences.

In this context, a piece of data is either the location of an individual (address, phone number, name, company name, e-mail address, zip code, etc.) or information about the individual that explains his or her behavior (buying intentions, current products owned, income, demographics, sex, ethnicity, political orientation, type of car owned, etc.).

What can you do with this kind of data? Let’s look at that rough magazine example where they are charging $5,000 for print ads and $1,000 for web banners. With the right data, what else could they sell?

Targeted sponsored webinars.

Cost of sponsorship: $7,500 to $15,000

Live sponsored events.

Cost of live event sponsorships: $5,000 to $15,000

Market research to sell.

Cost of market research: $2,000 to $15,000

Market consulting opportunities.

$7,000 and up

Highly focused direct marketing based on opt in lists (e-blasts).

$2,000 to $4,000

These are not digital dimes.

IAB online ad revenue for 2011 shows the continued growth of search.
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