How do you determine which new media your magazine should jump into? Very often media companies venture into the vast unknown of the media frontier because they feel they have to or they will be seen as an Old Dog. (Shudder.) Or as a company that is not keeping up with the times. (Wince.)
I often think that my clients launch out into new projects based on how they “feel” about it and NOT based on what the reader, viewer or listener is demanding. For example, one of my B2B publishing clients in the oil and gas sector launched out into Pinterest. They were so proud. They spent a ton of time (which means money) on the project.
They were in love with what they did. So in love that when readers did not immediately begin pinning and purchasing, they were very hurt. “What’s wrong with my readers?” the publisher said… “Pinterest is so cool!” Yes, Pinterest is cool. And it works very well for some B2C, B2B and Association magazines.
But when I asked about the feedback from his most recent reader survey, he responded… “Those are too expensive.”
This point is critical: BEFORE launching new apps or creating HTML 5 tablet projects, you must learn what your audience really wants. Readers are MOST happy when you give them what they want and not what YOU think they want.
This publisher invested no less than 20 hours in his Pinterest project. 20 x $125 = $2,500. I promise you that an online survey is much less than that. Plus, you can then mine and sell the survey data.
Always ask your readers what they want FIRST – and then deliver.
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About this blogger: Ryan Dohrn is an award wining ad sales training coach, a nationally recognized internet sales consultant, international business speaker and is the President and founder of 360 Ad Sales Training, a boutique internet revenue consulting firm with a detailed focus on ad sales training, internet consulting and media revenue generation. Ryan travels the globe teaching media sales training classes and offers detailed coaching help to business owners and media companies looking to make money online.
http://www.BrainSwellMedia.com, http://360adsales.com
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