According to Forbes, 5G is the future of mobile, chat bots are going to go from good to great, connected clouds will transform our lives. And let’s not forget the cool new advances in development for AI and AR.
So what does the new year hold for niche magazine publishing? That’s the question we posed to our Niche Brain Trust. These professionals know what they’re talking about. Read on to learn what to watch for in 2019:
Bill Thompson, III, Editor & Publisher, Bird Watcher’s Digest
“Not really a trend, but…we’re looking at killing our magazine’s app/digital edition and going to a responsive, platform agnostic website version. Nearly all of our growth in revenue is from brand extensions.
Some trends on our radar for 2019:
- Sponsorships are way up for our two podcasts, especially short-term (less than 6 months) sponsorships
- We’ve extended our brand with a retail channel selling products our readers love. http://www.redstartbirding.com
- Our reader travel experiences (Reader Rendezvous) continue to expand. In 2019 we’ll go to Panama, South Africa, Ecuador, and Spain
- We’ve done away with BOGO and half-price subscription offers and so far the results are positive
- Circulation is climbing for the first time since dirt was invented due to our use of content-rich lead magnets to find new subscribers”
Ryan Dohrn, Founder of Brainswell Media and Sales super trainer
“Conversations around using automation and AI as a differentiating factor in marketing will increase. Data-driven marketing is outpacing many past media marketing opportunities. Media companies that do not have a data-driven editorial and sales plan will be left behind. Niche media companies that embrace sales automation and marketing AI as a viable way to increase their audience and sell more precisely to advertisers will excel in 2019 and beyond. ”
Michelle Schneider, Publisher, Modern Luxury
“The need to present our clients with a fully integrated marketing plan that includes print, digital, social and events! We must get creative and think out of the box in order to maintain and grow market share.”
Rob Ristagno, CEO Sterling Woods Group
“Rates for digital display ads will continue to decline by at least 10%, making it critical for publishers to diversify with new revenue sources.”
Sharon Houghton, Managing Director, AIM Media
“Marketing Services. Niche media publishers have audiences that are highly engaged and responsive. We are also tapped into our industries in a unique way, which is a key opportunity to position ourselves as strategic partners alongside our “advertisers” to deliver greater solutions than just an ad. Can you help them with their creative, content, video, research? You may be doing all these things internally already. And that means you have the expertise and manpower to make it a service your partners will pay for.”
Brand extensions, new revenue streams, automation, AI—the future is looking bright, Niche Nation.
What are YOU going to focus on in 2019?
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Niche Media has the best events, education, and training in media! Our super niched-out events & content give target-audience publishers in the B2C, hobbyist, B2B, city & regional, and association markets the tools they need to build revenue, audience, and more.
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