Digital publishing news for July 23, 2013
MarketingpProfs has new research dedicated to the most effective words in email subject lines. In the study, performed by British marketing firm Adestra, “Emails with the word “alert” in their subject lines have a 38.1% higher than average open rate and 61.8% higher click rate”.
Publishers should take note that they also included words that had a negative effect on open and click through rate. For instance the words “report (-23.7% average lower open rate, -54.8% click rate), learn (-35.5%, -60.8%), and book (-4.6%, -25.4%) had a negative effect. Newsletter showed a marginal effect on open rates (+0.7%), but had an adverse effect on click rates (-18.7%.)”
As always, testing subject line keyword effectiveness with your own list is the best way to determine the impact of open and click-through rates.
Tech Blogs Need to Be More like Trade Pubs
Kevin Roose from New York Magazine wants tech blogs to become more like trade publications. Tech blogs have been coming under fire recently for their bias slant they take with certain start-ups. Roose proposes the following:
“Instead of trying to shame tech blogs into covering Silicon Valley more critically, let’s stop holding them to the standards of traditional journalism and start thinking of them instead as trade publications.
In trade publications, readers don’t expect searing takedowns or accountability for powerful figures. They expect news about prominent industry leaders, new and notable companies, relevant trends in the industry, and maybe a page or two of job announcements. A trade publication cheering on the industry it covers isn’t a bad thing; it’s the publication’s entire raison d’être. It would be odd if Air Line Pilot ran a feature called “The 100 Worst Pilots in America” or if Garden Trade Specialist spent an entire issue calling gardening a piddling waste of time. And it would be equally odd if, say, the Columbia Journalism Review criticized Candy Industry Magazine for conflicts of interest with lollipop producers. Aggressive, adversarial journalism is simply not what trade publications are built for. And few people expect it from them.”
He also adds, “positive, insider-y tech coverage shouldn’t be the whole of tech journalism, but it can be part of it, especially now that more outlets are giving Silicon Valley the oppositional treatment it deserves.”
Online Subscription Sales Growth in South Africa & Denmark
Subscription Site Central has details from PriceWaterhouseCoopers Global Entertainment and Media outlook report that you may be interested in:
“Digital newspaper circulation spending in South Africa is expected to grow by 75.2% by 2017, which translates into about 215 million rand ($21.7 million). Current digital sales are estimated to be about 48 million rand ($4.8 million), while print sales are estimated to be about 2.6 billion rand ($262 million).”
Subscription Site Central also reports on a new study by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism in which they found that the people of Denmark really like digital subscriptions, “63% of respondents saying they’ve bought a digital subscription to access news in the past year.”
Above the Fold Hoopla
It might be time to reevaluate the effectiveness of your above the folds ad units. Adweek has a report on a new research study from The Washington Post in which they found “visitors scroll quickly on certain types of pages, and when they do, they’re more likely to see ads low down on the page than at the top.”
“Based on the research, the Post created an ad unit to combat quick scrolling by following the viewer for the first seven seconds of scrolling. After seven seconds, the “Superview” unit floats back to the top of the page. Tests with four vendors resulted in viewability increases of 9 percent to 19 percent. When one vendor, Moat, tested engagement, it found the unit scored 31 percent higher than the control unit.”
Time Inc.’s New CEO
Time Warner has named Joeseph Ripp the new CEO of Time Inc. AdAge reports, “Mr. Ripp is CEO of OneSource Information Services, a business information provider. He previously held a series of posts at Time Warner and Time Inc., which he joined in 1985, including senior VP, CFO and treasurer at Time Inc.; exec VP and CFO at Time Warner; and vice chairman of America Online. His appointment is effect in September.”
Ripp will be facing new challenges but maybe in better position to make a difference in the company as its parent company Time Warner lets Time Inc. become its own business entity.
