Social Media, Magazines a Match on Experimentation

When it comes to social media, magazines have a lot of leeway, one publishing executive says; plus, plenty of personnel changes among major digital media companies

Social media: Magazines know they must have a presence, but the problem comes in fully achieving it. For instance, when, why, how, and where to post? Or, alternately, do you just hand over all of your content to Facebook Instant Articles and call it a day?

As with any other component of your multiplatform strategy, you must have a plan, but you must also leave enough wriggle room in that plan to experiment.

MinOnline.com recently ran a great interview with a leading executive on social media analytics, monetizing social media, and publishing social media. Let’s start there this week!

Social Media: Magazines Must Test, Test, and Retest

MinOnline took the opportunity to interview Lainna Fader, engagement editor at New York Media, leading up to their Social Boot Camp tomorrow, which Fader will be attending.

“Each of our sites has its own distinct audience, so we craft our social media strategy with that in mind. We rely on Facebook Insights, Twitter Analytics, Omniture, Piqora, and a number of other tools to dig into what kind of content our audience on each platform would like to see,” Fader said.

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“It’s incredibly important to experiment on social before settling on a strategy, and even when you have a general strategy in place, continuing to run tests is critical for long term success. As we all know, Facebook’s algorithm continues to evolve. So we regularly run experiments, look at the data, and then adjust our strategy. … We are constantly collaborating with editorial to figure out the best way to package our stories on social. Each social media editor on our team works on specific verticals – as opposed to dividing up responsibilities by platform, like some media companies — so each social media editor is working very close with the editorial team of the site they work on. For magazine stories, we’re brought into the process fairly early on, before the reporting is even finished. We meet with our director of photography weekly to figure out how stories should be presented online to make them as shareable as possible, in addition to crafting custom content for each social media platform.”

Time Inc. Digital Makes Acquisition, Move

Time Inc. has purchased XO Jane and XO Vain from Say Media, strengthening their digital appeal to women. Meanwhile, the company has moved offices from the Time & Life Building, where it has headquartered since 1959, to Liberty Street in Lower Manhattan, MinOnline reports.

Bloomberg Media Has a New Head of Global Digital Operations

Speaking of Time Inc., Bloomberg has pried away their senior vice president of digital and hired M. Scott Havens as their own head of Global Digital Operations, MinOnline reports.

“Scott is a digital pioneer and innovator with deep expertise in the business and financial digital media space. He has transformed traditional media organizations into digital powerhouses, and has created new category-transforming brands and business models,” Bloomberg Media CEO Justin Smith said in a statement.

“At Bloomberg, Scott will build on our efforts to create the most influential global digital platform for business and financial leaders.”

Struggling with social media? Magazines, make sure to download our free Organic Audience Development Strategy Handbook.

To read more about social media, magazines in the news, visit MinOnline.

 

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