Today I attended a Hubspot webinar ‘Why Publishers Need to Think Like Marketers.” Since I work for a traditional publisher on the editorial side, I was excited to hear new ideas about how to make our content work harder for us.
Here’s what the webinar promised: “There’s a fundamental shift in publishing that’s occurring right now. Publishers are still thinking in terms of reach and brand strength, but advertisers are measuring leads generated and revenue. In this live Webinar, Seth Nichols, owner and CEO of Longitude Media, makes the case for why (and how) publishers need to think like marketers to survive and thrive in this new landscape.”
My Takeaway:
Selling impressions, clicks and reach is a commodity. Time to knock down the silos and have marketing/sales/editorial work together as a strong, cohesive team that offers more value for advertisers. Having everyone on board with the big-picture vision results in better content, more advertisers, and a growing audience. It’s about working smarter, not harder.
This webinar seemed to have more of a B2B focus, but that’s ok, since we’re all headed towards a human-to-human realization. I’ll also note that content to sell a product or service is different than when the content IS your product (such as for a magazine). But either way, key teams working together will result in better results for advertisers while continuing to wow readers.
My Tweet Notes:
- Ready for #inboundpub webinar – why publishers need to think like marketers with Seth Nichols!
- Beware of old business models – not enough for your customers.
- Publisher’s advertisers are looking for specific end results, not overall reach and demographics.
- Creating quality content is hard, but that doesn’t mean a publisher’s clients are not able to do it. Do it different/better.
- All leads are not the same – not a commodity – find the specific value for your customer.
- Funnels are not linear. 70% of research is done before talking to a sales person. Use as an advantage.
- Align sales organization! Sales people need to understand marketing, not just sales – marketing and funnel metrics.
- Sales Value Adds – if you must, bring it as marketing expertise.
- Align Editorial. Understand real business goals – how content relates to the funnel!
- All content assets/channels should lead towards purchase.
- Align Circulation. Reach vs. quality. This is where relevance comes in (needle in the haystack).
- Acquire the tools and expertise you need to be relevant. e.g., use automated emails based on reader action.
- Be able to prove how your content played a role in your client’s buyer’s journey.
- Publishers are in a good position to pick up on purchase signals – the research before the sales cycle.
- Highly valued content is key.
- Marketing automation requires marketing/editorial talent.
- Editorial content is critical – you never know when someone very quiet in your database is going to be ready for something.
- Use a simple survey to prove the value for your campaign (return on marketing investment).
- Your client’s need for pipeline is evergreen.
- Challenge: keep your client’s desire for traditional metrics (harder to control) while educating them on purchase intent metrics