Specialist Media Show * Exhibition * Workshops * Conference * Intelligence * Networking * 24 May 2012 ThinkTank Birmingham

Colin Morrison had a positive message for specialist publishers in his opening presentation at the Specialist Media Conference on 24 April.

While digital is causing mayhem in the media world, those niche publications that are prepared to adapt to change and use technology to engage more deeply with their community, have a real advantage over mass media.  

Successful specialist publishing businesses are built around a niche community.  Both consumer and business publishers have always run live events for their readers, and many have had lively letters pages or forums.  But as digital media bring communities of interest closer even across geographical boundaries, so publishers have become more focussed on nurturing their online communities and developing live events. 

In b2b in particular, events are one of the revenue streams expected to grow in the next two years, potentially exceeding print circulation, according to the 2013 Specialist Media Insights research.  Even consumer publishers are developing more live events, and social media is becoming an important source of web traffic, data and insight.

Digital platforms are transforming how publishers can distribute their content, and they are opening up previously inaccessible international markets even for small publishers. Now you may have a replica of your magazine on Apple Newsstand, but that is just scratching the surface. 

The speakers in the mobile platforms panel at the Specialist Media Conference on 24 April will stretch your thinking and show the opportunities even for smaller publishers to reach new audiences.  They'll also share some practical ideas you can implement straight away.

Here's a sneak preview of the content of the session, based on a meeting with the speakers this week.

Traditional display advertising is in decline, and standard digital ad rates are falling, so what are the alternatives for specialist publishers searching for new commercial revenues?   And as marketers and agencies have more media options available and are under increased pressure to prove ROI, how must media owners change how they pitch and deliver ad solutions?

Our advertising panel at the Specialist Media Conference on 24 April 2013, will address these questions, with a focus on the practical issues facing niche consumer and b2b publishers. We got them together recently, and discussed the topics they will be covering in their session: here’s a quick preview.

All specialist publishing businesses are built on a specialist community, and it's increasingly by bringing that community together that publishers can develop new revenues beyond content sales and advertising.  Business to business publishers have long seen live events as an important part of their business, and are busy expanding this, testing new formats both for live events and online.   And consumer specialist publishers are finding that building an online community leads to opportunities to sell new products and services to a committed audience.

Our panel on building communities and events to grow new revenues at the Specialist Media Conference on 24 April brings together some very innovative publishers.  Here's a preview of the topics we will be discussing, based on a recent meeting with the participants. 

As news stand sales fall and advertising yields struggle, subscription revenues have never been so important for publishers.  Yet subscription marketing has never been more complex, with print, web and mobile products to juggle and a bewildering array of marketing techniques available.  For specialist publishers with niche markets and small budgets and teams, it's difficult to work out how to price, where and how to promote and how to manage the data...

This week I held a meeting with the speakers in our subscriptions panel at the Specialist Media Conference.  While they certainly don't have all the answers, they do have some interesting experiences to share across a wide range of consumer and b2b titles.

New Year. New targets?  Have you got higher subscription targets for 2013 – but less budget to deliver them?  Marketers are always being challenged to find new initiatives to help reduce the cost of acquiring new subscribers – and measure what works.

Join our exclusive free webinar on the latest digital subscription techniques.

Most publishers are aware their website is an important channel to acquire new subscribers, to print and digital publications, but many aren’t maximising the potential of online subs acquisition.

Carola York has an impeccable CV in subscription marketing, ranging from Emap to the Economist, plus niche titles like the Spectator, and now runs Jellyfish Publishing.  At our recent online event Carola ran a workshop on new innovation in online subs acquisition:  here’s the highlights, plus how you can watch the full workshop online.

Yet magazine publishers, who decades ago pioneered the subscription business model, are struggling to evolve.  There are pockets of success, but as an industry their end of term report would say, “given the talent and experience, they should be doing better”. 

So what are the characteristics of the most successful online publishers? Miles Galliford, co-founder of Subhub, shares his top five observations.