The first step required to accomplish anything new is believing that it is possible
We now have 44 Mequoda Systems up and running for magazine and newsletter publishers and, happily, most are growing steadily in both subscribers and revenue.
Sadly, when a new Mequoda System doesn’t break even or show a profit within 90 days, some publishers want to quit and invest in other marketing programs, expecting a more rapid return on investment. But that’s a mistake, because almost all Mequoda Systems take from six to 18 months to really hit their stride.
Generally, an entire publishing organization, from the CEO, to the online editor, to the product managers, takes about a year to fully understand and embrace the Mequoda System.
That’s because a Mequoda System represents a fundamental change in values, a cultural shift away from the old publishing business model, and the adoption of a new belief system about the relationships between editorial, marketing and audience development.
Change can be stressful. It often makes people uncomfortable because it is unfamiliar, even a little intimidating. And change forces everyone to think differently, which can be hard work.
The Mequoda System requires planning to determine the right premium products to be featured. A Mequoda System relies on recycling premium content for use in marketing. Content that began as a book, or a DVD, or an event is repurposed for building an audience and remarketing those products.
All this necessitates an entirely new mindset for traditional print publishers.
Malcolm Gladwell has written that it generally requires 10,000 hours of practice to achieve mastery of any skill. Similarly, it usually takes a new Mequoda System eight or more months before it really starts to grow traffic and email subscribers, and reflect increased spending per subscriber.
Some Mequoda Systems will show success sooner because they were launched with an existing email subscriber list. But even those systems can be disappointing initially, if the list is filled with old names and undeliverable email addresses.
Fact: The entire Mequoda System content marketing program is foreign to anything most publishers have ever done. Traditionally, publishing company marketers and editors were divided and sometimes even alienated.
But today, the same staffer can be both an editor and a marketer — and often must be both for a Mequoda System to succeed.
You must be a master of service journalism, engaging your readers, allowing them to know you, becoming a trusted editorial voice, and at the same time, being the biggest enthusiast and advocate for every premium product you publish.
Additionally, the online editor must be championed by a senior manager or publisher, often the chief executive officer or the chief marketing officer.
If you don’t have an evangelistic online editor and a C-level backer and facilitator, the result will be a distressed Mequoda System that fails, or takes an unnecessarily long time to thrive, or doesn’t live up to its potential.
How do you manage a Mequoda System? How do you know when it’s working?
The process of fixing a Mequoda System is not much different from fixing any other continuity program, such as a magazine, event or television show. It’s an iterative process.
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The science and the art of a Mequoda System
A Mequoda System has numerous built-in measurements that indicate how successful you are — that’s the science of managing it.
The five key metrics that comprise the science of a Mequoda System are simple to track:
Google Visibility Index — the estimated search impressions divided by total searches for a given keyword universe at a point in time.
Unique conversion rate — email adds divided by unique visitors for a specific period, normally a month. Five percent is a good number.
Revenue per M (RPM) emails sent — email revenue divided by emails sent, often a single effort.
Revenue per M (RPM) impressions — website revenue divided by unique visitors, for a specific period of time.
Email opt-out rate — email opt-outs, both voluntary and bounced, divided by average email subscribers for a given period.
The art of managing a Mequoda System is understanding why some other operators are more successful, and then deciding whether to imitate or innovate.
How high should you set your standards? Do you want to merely match your competitors on every parameter, or differentiate and exceed your competitors on one or two criteria?
Implementing your first successful Mequoda System is a long-haul process that may take 12-18 months to refine and operate competently. But once you achieve mastery, success with your subsequent Mequoda Systems will arrive much sooner.
Witness Interweave, which can now launch a new Mequoda System in as little as a few months — and is about to launch its tenth Mequoda System.
