Tag: social media marketing

We often hear about predictions for digital magazines; how they will grow, the revenue generation expected throughout the industry and the time frames associated with these numbers.

These predictions are important, as they help publishers better prepare for the future. What’s more interesting, however, is discovering how people who are already consuming digital magazines are enjoying their experiences.

We aim to be one of the best sources for magazine trends online, but we do it with a whole lot of help from our brothers and sisters in the industry.

Below we’ve compiled a list of the best portals, the best influencers, and the best reports on magazine trends available online. If you have more to add, please share your favorites with us in the comments.

Social media marketing for magazines has become an art form of sorts, and some publications are leading the pack
It’s 2018: If your magazine doesn’t have a social media presence by now, then you’re light years behind the competition. It used to be a struggle to get buy-in from the higher-ups and prove the value of

This handbook takes you from the big picture of building an audience to the minute but critical details website architecture that helps you build email lists. You’ll learn how the most successful publishers optimize entire sites for Google, from picking keywords to writing optimized content.

How to become a better content marketer, editor, and writer by listening to these content marketing podcasts

The first time I knew people listened to podcasts in their free time was back in 2007-ish when I went to an event called PodCamp, and while it wasn’t solely focused on podcasting, there was an abundance of fans

No publisher can hope to have a successful subscription based website without getting the marketing right. So if you have, or plan to launch, one of our three subscription website business models – a portal, magazine website or newsletter website – it’s worth studying the winning strategies used by savvy publishers, including, of course, our own clients.

Because we quantify everything, Mequoda has identified nine (coincidentally) deadly subscription website mistakes that are commonly made when publishers build their online presence.

The sphere of publishing events is expanding every week, and we’re happy to see it, since they’re a crucial component of the Mequoda Method for multiplatform strategy. But few events can compare to the one happening next week in Berlin when it comes to digital publishing innovation.

Among the organizers of the Digital Innovators’ Summit are our friends at FIPP, the Worldwide Magazine Media Association, so you know it’s the real deal.

If you can’t make it, don’t worry: The Digital Innovators’ Summit blog continues to be generous when it comes to sharing interviews with publishing executives who are attending, and so we’re able to present this preview, full of wisdom from some of the best minds in the new media industry.

Welcome to a special all-niche edition of our daily news post, wherein we’ll drill down on the topic of niche advertising, a crucial component of any magazine business model for enthusiast publishers.

Keep more revenue while offering a better customer experience by ditching the app and launching a web magazine
In our eyes, there are two digital magazine publishing software giants: Adobe and Mag+. When we work with publishers developing digital magazine apps for tablets, we recommend Mag+, a spin-out company that sprung from Bonnier Corp.’s very early Popular Science app.

We

Claim your FREE digital copy of Organic Audience Development Strategy: How to Convert Website Visitors into a Profitable Email Subscriber Base now.

Social media is used by the majority of companies that understand the need to be active with their audience.

March 14, 2014 – BOSTON — A complete, painstakingly documented handbook on audience development for Internet publishers has just been released. The 260-page handbook, Organic Audience Development Strategy: 68 Audience Development Strategies for Building a Robust Audience Development Plan, was written by Don Nicholas, a leading magazine industry consultant and CEO of Mequoda Group.

If you’ve ever contemplated attending one of our Subscription Website Publishing Intensives, but the time – and budget – just haven’t been right, I have a new way for you to learn the proven, profitable Mequoda Method right now.

Introducing, the new Mequoda Pro. If you’re a member, you can log in right now. If you’re not, keep reading.

Write less but create powerful headlines

Which of the following headlines do you think will perform better?

Gutenberg is dead. And you will be, too, if you don’t make the transition now to meet the public’s growing demand for digital information.

Fortunately, there is one resource, one unique program that can change the way you, your staff and your entire organization think of the Internet and help you catch up to the future. Mequoda’s Internet Marketing Intensive has guided some of the oldest and most respected publishing companies in the world including Meredith, Rodale, Interweave and more, in growing a single-digit percentage of their revenue from online sources to earning 20%, 30%, 40% of their revenues digitally. And because the demand for digital products is growing exponentially, so will their revenues.

Will yours?

Six membership site ideas all digital publishers must follow

How to make a membership website is a topic many publishers struggle with. Membership and subscription websites can be hugely successful in generating revenue for publishers with evergreen and updated content.

However, understanding how to make a membership website is often overlooked during the planning process. Let’s take a look at six tips publishers must adhere to while making a membership website.

Aside from three days of content on developing a digital publishing powerhouse, the Internet Marketing Intensive offers networking with like-minded digital publishers.

These networking opportunities have two major benefits:

Mequoda’s Audience Development Summit 2012 is more than just talking heads. Not only do you learn the secrets and strategies of the leaders in Internet marketing in six eye-opening sessions, you get to pick their brains, too!

Take home proven strategies for successful digital publishing, niche marketing, content strategy, marketing digital subscriptions and more. Then ask our speakers anything you want at our Audience Development Roundtable AND the Audience Development Power Panel!

A rare opportunity to learn from the best in digital publishing

Many publishers of digital media will spend their entire careers and never meet the stars of their industry, let alone learn their secrets. This is your chance to avoid that fate. Mequoda’s Audience Development Summit 2012 delivers two of these stars, and if you’re there, you’ll learn digital publishing solutions to all your problems.

Consumer confidence appears high with tablet devices

Tablets play a major part in making a digital revenue stream viable for publishers. Recent statistics have shown that digital publishing apps are one of the main sales destinations for tablet owners.

eBooks also present a relevant digital revenue stream. The market has seen tremendous growth as sales have increased by 300% for the second year. Additional information shows that eBook readers consume more content, including print books, than other consumers.

For success, digital publishers rely on driving website traffic. During the Digital Publishing Bootcamp, you will learn dozens of ways to drive traffic, including SEO, link building and social media marketing.

These strategies aren’t complete until we share additional information on using your website’s architecture to build your email marketing file.

The nuts and bolts of protecting your content

SIPA’s quarterly Memorandums From Counsel are written by the highly esteemed law firm of Levine Sullivan Koch & Schulz, L.L.P., specifically for SIPA. With a new one due to come out shortly, let’s quickly review the Winter 2012 issue (titled The Nuts and Bolts of Protecting Your Content)—in case you missed it. These Memorandums are member benefits, so to see the full text or to receive the next issue, you have to be a member.Topics for the Spring 2012 issue include: (1) Emerging legal trends in social media marketing; (2) tips for handling subpoenas and newsroom searches, and (3) briefs on copyright legislation and Copyright Office fees.

A look at digital publishing changes and a glimpse into the future

This summer alone has seen some major changes that can affect the digital publishing industry. Although some of these changes won’t directly impact digital publishers, these changes may certainly change the way they operate by putting a focus on the Internet community. Let’s take a look at some of these changes.

On Awards, Content, Integration and European Privacy

It’s all about awards here at the SIPA office for the next couple days. The deadline for our SIPAwards competition is tomorrow, March 2. We’ve been very pleased with the enthusiasm so far among members (old and new) in responding to the new categories we’re offering. What will also be of great benefit are the many successful ideas, campaigns, blogs and websites that we are being alerted to that we were not aware of before. I can then pass those successful entities on to you in these articles and in Hotline. So please keep the entries coming in!

Montes de Oca Delivers on Social Media Insights

True or false, asked Wendy Montes de Oca, best-selling author of Content is Cash: Leveraging Great Content and the Web for Increased Traffic, Sales, Leads and Buzz, at a roundtable at last month’s Marketing Conference in Miami. “I don’t need to market my social media accounts; people will find me with the right keywords.”

R.D. Whitney, Chief Operating Officer of the Institute of Finance and Management, Greenhaven Partners, Greenwich, Conn.

SIPA: What was your first job out of college and how did you get into this business?
R.D.: In college I took a volunteer internship at IDG, and that helped me get my first job in the information industry at Yankee Publishing as a production assistant. Sidenote: My salary in 1990 was 1/3 of what my daughter’s yearly college tuition is now!

SIPAwards Brings New Profile to Respected Program

Usually in this space on Mondays you’ll read profiles of SIPA members across the globe. But for today’s Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday in the U.S., we want to present a profile of a different sort. The SIPAwards represents another element of a new era for the association, where SIPA better reflects the industry-shaking changes taking place and the exceptional work being done by members to adapt to these changes.

Special Reports Highlight New SIPA Website

The new SIPA website houses a treasure trove of information on the industry. One of the best sections is the Resources where the Specialized Information Publishers Foundation Library sits. That’s where you’ll find the just-released Memorandum From Counsel, the Independent Publishers Legal Handbook, MarketingSherpa’s 2010 Social Media Marketing Benchmark Report and the Salary Survey (conducted by the University of Georgia).

Tim Baskerville, Principal, Media Service Group, West Hills, Cailf.

SIPA: What was your first job out of college and how did you get into this business?
TIM: As a senior in high school, I decided I wanted a career in broadcast journalism. Every week I’d call up the woman at CBS in Hollywood who managed editorial assistants, and every week she’d say I was awfully young but that I could call back in the future if I wished. My regular calls continued for a year, when she eventually said the teleprompter typist scheduled for the coming Saturday night wasn’t available, and if I’d fill in for that one shift it might lead to something. I was 17. After that night I worked in a variety of roles virtually every weekend at CBS for the next five years, before and after college graduation.

Trends to Watch for in 2012

Here are some predictions of trends for 2012 from editors at Nieman Journalism Lab – followed by some from our members.

There’s no doubt about it—publishers got much smarter about their online marketing strategies this past year. It’s not clear which empire(s) paved the way and made it “ok” for everyone else to jump on board (sort of like the day Oprah discovered Twitter) but we’re glad it happened. More attention is being paid to socially savvy customers than ever before, and it’s a good thing because consumers are becoming more socially outspoken by the minute.

A Look Back at Some SIPAlert Daily Highlights

Here are some best-of SIPAlert Daily moments from the year:

1. A quote from Steve Jobs: Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower. If you are involved in a growing industry, think of ways to become more efficient; more customer friendly; and easier to do business with. If you are involved in a shrinking industry—get out of it quick and change before you become obsolete; out of work; or out of business.

Publishers need to embrace organic marketing methods for audience development purposes. Utilizing only premium models is a mistake that isolates the single biggest channels for adding new subscribers to your database like search engine optimization and social media marketing.

It’s important to understand that in a content-driven world you need at least one of two different types of subscription websites: the portal and the blog. Both of these content models are Google-friendly options, which makes it easier for your content to get noticed, crawled by the Google bots and ranked within search engine results pages.

Any marketing campaign has the same end goal: make more money for the company. The only difference between a traditional marketing campaign and a social media campaign is that social media marketing is based on loyalty instead of making a quick buck or generating a quick lead.

In our 90-minute Facebook for Publishers webinar, you’ll discover the only three things you need to know about Facebook marketing:

Say goodbye to selfish social media marketing and say hello to its free-loving hippie cousin

When marketers hopped tracks from the outbound to inbound marketing trains, many seem to have forgotten that the only thing consumers still want to know is what’s in it for them. You can’t go around telling people what you do, how great your articles are, or how successful your company is because honestly, who cares?

With social media, you have limitless opportunities to connect clients, customers, editors and resources in the blink of a tweet. You can publicly compliment someone while driving traffic to your website and even generating revenue for a product or event. This week, try these three approaches and I guarantee you’ll see a different response than you did previously. Be sure to post your results in the comments, too.

Order this new, 90-minute webinar and discover how the “new’ Facebook has affected publishers everywhere, and how we’ve learned to love these adjustments

Catch up on the Mequoda Daily’s blog posts for this past week

The beauty of scheduling tweets and the love for more focused community building
One thing that the Twitter community has done so well over time is turn a simple 140 character tweet into a work of character graffiti. The insipid word #and isn’t even sacred from a hashtag anymore.

What we like about this, however, is that it gives us lots of ways to write tweets so that we can mix it up day by day. The thing about mixing it up day by day though, is that you need to be paying attention all the time, which can take about twenty hours per week when you sit down and really start counting the hours (…I do).

If you want to attend the Mequoda Summit East 2011 for a reduced fee, today is your last opportunity – Register now and save

With the Mequoda Summit East 2011 exactly two weeks away, it’s time to commit to making your online content-based business stronger.

The Mequoda Summit East 2011 features:

Training Can Increase Staff Engagement and Retention

At the recent SIPA 2011 Conference, I spoke with Caroline Frost (pictured left), director of learning and development for Informa Business Information in London—and a new SIPA board member. “Young people want training,” she told me. “It gets them engaged in a different way. And it doesn’t have to cost a lot of money or staff time. We just do it at lunch sometimes. It also provides some added motivation; employees want to feel they’re contributing to something. So employees who present for us are coached beforehand and then thanked and recognized publicly afterwards to show our appreciation.”

Frost said that at IBI, they are “working to create a ‘Learning Culture.’ Volunteer programs for staff seem to be hitting the spot. Staff are aware that their development is important and, in general, are given every opportunity to attend courses to develop their functional skills as well as their management skills. We have received extremely positive feedback from staff on our courses and the fact that opportunities are open to them. We haven’t yet measured the shift in staff engagement and retention but should be in a position to do that” later on.

Increase website traffic by using this handy tool to start Twitter conversations

As always, I’ve been researching new social media productivity tools that publishers can use to spend less time and be more affective at social media marketing.

One of my newest tools that is incredibly impressive is InboxQ.

If you were at the Mequoda Summit earlier this month, you would have heard me talk about how important it is to reach out to people. Waiting for people to come to you isn’t going to gain you any new followers anytime fast. The more willing you are to reach out to new people, the bigger of a net you’ll be able to cast.

Leading dot-com companies from 2000 have almost the same market cap as today’s leading social media companies…should there be worry?

A potential social media bubble has recently become a hot topic.

In a March 27th article from The New York Times, a correlation was shown between the dot-com bubble in the late 90s and today’s social media boom.

Tips from Jeanne Jennings, Email Marketing Consultant, at the Mequoda Summit West 2011

For all the naysayers out there, no, email is not dead.

In fact, it offers the highest ROI of any direct marketing channel. In 2009, $43.62 was made for each dollar spent on email. Following in a distant second was Internet search advertising at $21.85.

Catch up on the Mequoda Daily’s blog posts for this past week

Catch up on the Mequoda Daily’s blog posts for this past week

Current Early Bird Pricing Expires Tuesday, March 15

Register now for the Mequoda Summit West 2011 and save

The Mequoda Summit West 2011 is only a few weeks away. Can you believe it?

We are extremely excited for this spring’s program and expect it to be the most comprehensive and informative Summit yet.

How the Social Media Marketing Workshop at the Mequoda Summit West 2011 goes beyond typical social media courses

Recently I taught in London at FIPP’s Digital Publishing Course. Towards the end of the week-long course someone said to me, “I didn’t see social media in the curriculum for this course.”

After hearing that statement, Kim and I looked at each other. If we said Twitter once, we said it 20 times over the last four days.

Uncertain times require additional training to garner job security

Online editors need to master the art of blogging to be an asset for modern publishers.

Nowadays, editors have the task of creating and publishing more content than ever before to stay competitive in their markets.

Catch up on the Mequoda Daily’s blog posts for this past week