News from the top digital publishers: the job description behind content distribution platform liaison, plus ecommerce content strategy and long-form video
The top digital publishers have risen – and stay – there because they’re willing to experiment, evolve, and tread along the cutting edge of industry-wide best practices while pushing out ahead of the pack with new practices of their own. This includes everything from hiring trends to social strategy, mobile video trends to ecommerce website design.
To start off this week, let’s take a look at Digiday‘s coverage in those four areas and then some.
Why Are the Top Digital Publishers Hiring Platform Wranglers?
As publishers jump onboard the multiplatform train and embrace social media distribution, the need for dedicated staff to manage relationships across channels is growing, Digiday reports.
“Many publishers have taken an ad-hoc approach to managing platforms, but they ultimately need someone to own the relationship — someone who’s department-agnostic and understands the implications for both edit and revenue, said Edward Kim, co-founder and CEO of SimpleReach, which measures content distribution across platforms. He has seen cases where publishers have missed the chance to get in on a platform early because it wasn’t clear whose job it was,” Lucia Moses writes.
Hearst Is Getting Serious About Ecommerce Content Strategy
With the establishment of BestProducts.com, set to go live any moment, Hearst has thrown its hat into the ecommerce ring in a big way. This digital-only product will have 15 staffers and represents the first launch from the top digital publisher’s new CMS, Digiday reports. BestProducts.com will feature editors reviewing and recommending products in various verticals, including food, gadgets, fashion, and more.
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The Economist Tries Monetizing Video Content With Long-Form
After a few months of cutting and trying, The Economist Films has settled on a formula that produces 12- to 15-minute-long videos, Digiday reports. It gets even crazier: The videos have no ads. The rationale? More engagement depth on weightier topics.
Catching Up With Condé’s Shift in Focus From Desktop to Mobile
Highly recommended interview with Condé Nast U.K. Group Digital Director Wil Harris that touches on the desktop-to-mobile paradigm shift, Facebook Instant Articles, and more.
“When designing Web pages, you can get obsessed by what your homepage looks like on desktop. Homepage desktop readers are less than 4 percent of our audience in the U.K. The people who follow us are those that follow us on YouTube and Twitter. Their Twitter feed is their homepage, and they see every article we post there,” Harris told Jessica Davies.
“Social is now a bigger source of traffic for us than search. That happened at the beginning of this year. We spend a lot of time looking at why, and the answer is mobile. So we’re having to educate journalists, advertisers and clients on the fact that if the first half of this decade was desktop and search, the second half is social and mobile. We spend more time optimizing for social than search. Facebook is the biggest source of referral traffic.”
Are you looking to join the ranks of the top digital publishers? The best place to start is our free Multiplatform Publishing Strategy Handbook!
To read more about the top digital publishers in the news, visit Digiday.
