Building Online Media Teams that Both Represent Your Print Brand and Generate Revenue for Your Online Brand
Mequoda Summit “Integrating Print & Online Media Teams” Session Review:
While most publishers continue to load more responsibilities onto their existing print staff and require them to learn new skills, those in the know are hiring dedicated writers, marketers and technical staff to run their online business units. These same publishers know how to integrate their print and online teams to leverage editorial assets, cross promote print,
Web and email circulation and create advertising synergies for sponsors who are demanding multiplatform marketing solutions.
In the days of old where publishing companies had fewer products to manage that were typically in one platform (like print), it made sense to organize by function. In other words, you had someone responsible for:
- editorial
- circulation
- advertising
But in a multiplatform world, that paradigm falls apart. A manager can’t be an expert at:
- magazines
- books
- online
- events
- television
It now makes more sense to organize by platform, where you can put one manager in charge of each individual product platform.
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People.com Success Story:
During a 12-month period that corresponds to the organizational restructuring from function-based to platform-based, People.com grew dramatically—from about 200,000 unique visitors per month to more than 10 million today.
The website is no longer considered a companion to the corresponding magazine. The magazine editor and online editor are now peers, and the website is considered a destination product in its own right.
While there is no one, perfect organizational structure or set of job descriptions for a multiplatform publishing business, we do see a pattern that is best described as “ organizing activities around the content.”
In this session you will learn:
- How to hire and staff an online publishing team
- How to build a strong online publishing team the produces dedicated results
- How to write job descriptions for new media and online editorial positions
- Why it’s critical to isolate your online teams before you integrate
- How to eventually leverage all you editorial assets, cross promote print, Web and email circulation, and create synergies for sponsors
- The staffing models of several successful online publishing businesses
