Examining the role of the publisher portal in an industry dominated by platforms; plus, a magazine media president on the importance of your brand
By now, you must have read us go on and on about the Mequoda Portal, an integral part of our multiplatform strategy for digital magazines. Fact is, the publisher portal is an oft-overlooked and even neglected part of media companies’ approach. But it’s of paramount importance, if only because a solid home base for your brand frees you up to do so many other things.
Recent coverage at TheMediaBriefing.com includes a couple of takes on the publisher portal. Let’s pay them a visit!
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The Publisher Portal Is at the Center of Multiplatform Strategy
With a message that will resonate for many a Mequoda Member, TheMediaBriefing.com outlines how crucial the publisher portal is to keep your operation together and going smoothly when everything seems to be splintering off.
“In 2016 and beyond, sustainably successful online publishers will be those that distinguish themselves not just by the words on a web page but through the whole user experience they offer to their audience. They must bring to bear the entire arsenal of technologies and interactions the web affords to deliver something different. But that isn’t possible when you’re playing in the confines of the platforms,” Ricky Robinson writes.
This is where your website can excel. Your website is where you can create unique reading experiences. With more of your content going to the platforms, use your website to deliver an experience that is different to everyone else’s. And you can do that, because having your own website means you can do what you want. You’re not locked into the platforms’ innovation cycles. You can experiment with new forms of storytelling. You can bring in third party technologies to create experiences for your audience that they can’t get from the platforms. That’s what your website is for.
Impact of Publisher Portal on Digital Advertising
Interesting piece at TheMediaBriefing.com about how prominently your website can figure in generating digital advertising revenue, along with other considerations.
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“With all the talk of ad blockers, understanding the value of your advertising real estate has never been more complicated for any media owner. … In essence relevant audience, relative scale, targeting ability, environment and advertising format remain the key revenue drivers for advertising. However, in fact, when asked, top media buyers rated format as the least important in their criteria for developing media plans and investments,” Abba Newberry writes.
“The factors in order were relevant audience, scale, accuracy of targeting, breadth of targeting, price (including historical return on investment, environment, ability to track across platforms, and finally, and the ad format itself (source: Far June 2015). The battle for digital eyeballs and advertising revenue is in fact all about creating advertiser value via the brand + reader data + engagement with content + distribution as well as the format itself.”
Bauer Xcel Media President on Importance of Magazine Brands
So we can see what the value of your website and publisher portal is. But what about your brand? And is it being diluted if you depend primarily on channels like Facebook Instant Articles for distribution? The short answer is yes. For the long answer(s), check out TheMediaBriefing.com’s excellent interview with Bauer Xcel Media President Christian Baesler.
“We realised that we need a completely different mindset of people and a totally different structure to be successful and to adapt quickly. The idea is that we have complete separation of the legacy brands…and the online or digital edition. The kind of content that works and the kind of distribution that you need to leverage is very different from a print mindset,” Baesler told Chris Sutcliffe.
“The most successful publishers have global brands like Huffington Post, Daily Mail or Buzz Feed. At Bauer Xcel Media, we take our most successful brands and leverage our technology to launch them globally as well.”
Is your publisher portal as open and efficient as it could be? Please discuss any problems or pointers in the comments!
To read more about the publisher portal and other industry trends, visit TheMediaBriefing.com.
