The World is Going Digital, Social and I Feel Fine

by Mike Corthell

   The struggle by newspaper publishers to find new sources of revenue in the digital media age is taking longer and proving more difficult than expected. Some of the causes are lack of vision and fear of the unknown but the one thing that is absolutely certain is that someone will come out on top. I advise publishers not to back the wrong vision of the future. Don't be like Thomas Edison fighting with George Westinghouse over whether direct current is the wave of the future or alternating current is the way to go. (Westinghouse won btw)

   Today’s consumer is sophisticated and becoming more so each day. When they want something, They want it personalized, and they want it RIGHT AWAY. Only the Internet environment can meet these kinds of demands. We are right smack-dab in the middle of an information age revolution and the one thing that can be guaranteed is that the marketing industry is going through a major disruption. When it emerges from this sea change it will be permanently altered. This is a really BIG DEAL!! 

   Now for a few facts:

• Revenue from print advertising continues to fall, and those losses aren't being made up by the relatively small increases in digital revenue. The papers surveyed are losing roughly $7 in print advertising for every $1 they gain online.
• Because print advertising still provides the bulk of most papers' revenue - typically more than 90 percent - that remains the focus of most companies' sales efforts. The number of print-focused sales representatives outnumbered digital-focused reps by about 3-1 at the papers surveyed.
• Most papers studied focus most of their digital sales efforts on conventional display (such as banner ads) and digital classifieds. Those categories are the largest but are not growing.
• Targeted online advertising - in which ads are customized based on a consumer's online behavior - is less of a focus for the papers studied, even though those kinds of ads are expected to dominate local digital revenue by 2014. Only 40 percent of papers said targeted ads were a major part of their sales effort.

   The newspaper business, researchers said, is paradoxical: Print is shrinking yet still provides most of the industry's revenues. Digital remains a small slice of the revenue pie yet is growing, though not fast enough.   As the famous management guru Peter Drucker said, “Business has only two basic functions: marketing and innovation.” And those who market without a solid CQI - Innovation axis will fall by the wayside.It's time to embrace a term that been around for a while, 'Social Journalism' - IT IS THE FUTURE of PUBLISHING people!

   The word newspaper will take on a much different meaning, like 'record album' or 'TV show'. It won’t go the way of the horse and buggy, and it will continue to describe some of the most famous brand names in the print world. Social media will play a very big part in that transformation. As the dynamics of our society change, as institutions go public or private, or disappear entirely, the need to report these events in a responsible manner will be even more critical. SOCIAL JOURNALISM is more than just a buzzword, it’s the way social media will save the newspaper and magazine industry. (and as I've told many people in Mt. Washington Valley over the last few weeks Amazon.com's Jeff Bezos is all over this concept - follow the leader)