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Walk Like a Publisher – Don’t Evolve Like One

Publisher Content Strategy, iPhoto of dinosaur by Shelly Bowen“Businesses need to think like publishers.”

This statement stinks. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard it at marketing conferences, and by the looks on people’s faces, I imagine they’re thinking, “Why the heck would I want to think like an industry that moves like a dinosaur, is evolving slower than mud, and is at risk of extinction?”

But … those marketers are right. You should consider the publisher’s content strategy. Here’s why:

  1. Publishers know what their target audience craves and focus on that.
  2. Publishers seek out experts and content to fill that need.
  3. Publishers nurture those experts and develop the content. Both become assets.
  4. Publishers plan ahead with detailed calendars.
  5. Publishers make a lot of valuable content available to everyone via print, Web, and other mediums.

Publishers can not afford to throw noodles at walls. Profit margins are tight and they’d tarnish their reputations with faulty information or poorly executed creative. That’s why they have this publishing process in place. They may not be nimble, but they do have:

  • Reach. Published work often takes a flight path of its own, reaching audiences you’d never predict.
  • Respect (from their audience).
  • A platform for awareness.
  • A unique and proprietary asset.

When you’re developing your Web content strategy, you might not want to think like a publisher — but maybe just walk like one. Following the footsteps of their publishing process helps ensure you produce valuable content that is more likely to attract your key audience and stay relevant for generations to come.

Note: Thanks to Suzanne Delzio for suggesting this topic!

    Posted by Shelly Bowen on May 20, 2010. Filed under Web Content Strategy

     

    9 Comments | RSS feed for comments on this post

    • Awesome, well-reasoned post. Thanks for this.

      Comment by Tiffani Jones Brown on May 20, 2010

    • Nice post, Shelly.

      For me, a key learning from the publishing industry is the structured focus on consistent quality. Whether text, video, audio, or image, great web content exceeds users

      Comment by Dan Haley on May 20, 2010

    • Hi Shelly. I like your points on walking like a publisher. However, I do use the phrase thinking like a publisher. Publishing itself is not broken. I’ve talked to many niche publishers recently that are thriving. What’s broken is advertising as the main revenue channel.

      Marketers are at an advantage because most can measure the success of their content outside of advertising, which is actually a huge advantage to competing for engagement time with traditional publishers.

      Regardless, it’s all semantics. We are saying the same thing.

      Really like your stuff.

      Joe

      Comment by Joe Pulizzi on May 21, 2010

    • Dan, yes on quality! A well-planned content strategy and dedicated editorial team can help drive content quality for businesses across platforms. Thanks for pointing that out.

      Joe, I agree — The revenue model for most traditional publishers isn’t working anymore, which is why I get those quizzical looks whenever the phrase is used. I highly respect the quality work of publishers (that’s where I started my career, in book publishing) and appreciate the talent and attention to detail most use to ensure a valuable product and experience.

      Comment by Shelly Bowen on May 21, 2010

    • Hi Shelly,

      Great post. The purpose and process of publishers is what marketers should focus on – as you’ve done a great job outlining. I think what confuses people is the distribution model and the slowness to adopt new technologies.

      For example, where many traditional book publishers still want to “control” inventory by not creating a Kindle version of a hardcover book until they’ve earned back much of their investment, today’s marketers have discovered that different formats and syndication efforts can be the key to gaining higher exposure for their ideas and expertise – not to mention attracting customers.

      Content is the publisher’s product. For marketers, content is the stepping stone to their products.

      Comment by Ardath Albee on May 24, 2010

    • Ardath, thanks, so true. And for businesses, content can be both a stepping stone to their products and a valuable product/asset on its own, even if it doesn’t have a price tag. Exceptional “free” content can support, represent, and educate consumers about a product or the whole industry category, which can make it more valuable and sought after by consumers.

      Comment by Shelly Bowen on May 24, 2010

    • At its heart, is this another version of an old, familar rivalry – that between the creative and the businessman? One capitalizes on ideas to engage, the other engages numbers to capitalize. Both need the other to achieve success, and always have; the difference today may be that
      the creative is gaining more respect as a business driver, not just an afterthought to a business strategy.

      Comment by Julie Zier on May 24, 2010

    • How about looking at it as micro-segmentation of markets? With each business as a magazine publisher? A whole new way to divide markets and fund info distribution. Probably in the end there will be room for everybody (the good ones anyway): from the New Yorker to Costco’s brand mag and all the internet pubs in between.

      Comment by Suzanne Delzio on Jun 01, 2010

    • [...] else do publishers have to offer businesses? An excellent editorial publishing process. Hmm, could publishers literally help businesses publish better [...]

      Pingback by What If Newspapers Helped Businesses Become Publishers? | Shelly Bowen's Pybop: Exceptional Web Content on Aug 18, 2010

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