Content Matters

About a year ago, David Meerman Scott released a free e-book called "The New Rules of PR".  He posted it to his WebInkNow blog as a free download. 

It became an overnight viral marketing success, with more than 15,000 downloads the first week and more than 150,000 downloads over the course of the past year.  For those who haven't read it, the New Rules describes how smart companies are using press releases to reach consumers directly, rather than as a means of attracting traditional media attention.  Web practitioners have become skilled at leveraging SEO-rich press releases to drive traffic to their sites.

David has just released an updated second edition of the e-book, also available free at his blog.  And, of course, since David follows his own guidance, there's a press release describing the new version.  The second edition includes a forward by David McInnis, CEO of PRWeb (a Vocus company).  This version also features a snazzy new color cover as you can see above.

David has also posted a link to the presale of the companion hardcover book, due this spring.  In addition to having an even snazzier cover, the book will include a number of case studies, some of which have been previewed on David's blog in recent months., like this one on CruiseCompete.  If it's anything like his previous book, Cashing In With Content,it's sure to be a practical and relevant read.

Every senior manager in the media or publishing industry the past ten years has struggled with decisions about how to align their organization for e-media.  Do you have your print ad sales team sell online or bring in a dedicated team?  Is SEO a core competency or do you use outside consultants?  Should we centralize our web development or let each brand do its own thing?

And while it seems like we’ve debated this issue forever (or at least for a decade), the deliberation continues today.

Executive recruiter Cara Erickson (Managing Partner of New Coordinates) and Outsell Lead Analyst Chuck Richard have collaborated on a fascinating new study, “Creating the E-Media Organization.”  The study is based upon interviews with CEOs and e-Media executives at 18 magazine and news organizations.

The authors describe four potential frameworks:
1. Publisher’s pure play: the e-Media organization is completely separate from the traditional print organization, with its own P&L, reporting to the CEO.
2. Centralized structure with a corporate e-Media group servicing each of the business units.
3. A hybrid/matrix approach with online P&L’s rolled into the brand P&L’s.
4. Brand-integrated, where the e-Media function is fully integrated into each brand.

The “pure-play” approach was common in the mid-90’s as publishers sought to take advantage of this new, disruptive channel.  According to the study, only 2 of the 18 companies surveyed still employed a pure play model today.

The hybrid approach is the most commonly used today, with eleven of the eighteen companies surveyed using it.  In this model, the online business may have a separate P&L but it is rolled up into the brand P&L.  The benefit of this approach is that the online leaders interact with the traditional business leaders, which should lead to knowledge transfer over time.

The brand-integrated structure is clearly the preferred model in the long-term.  Business leaders should be focused on brands, not on platforms.  That being said, there are risks for companies looking to rapidly move to this approach without having the talent (both executive and through the ranks) to support it.

The report delves deeply into the leadership skills required to run today’s diversified media business.  The authors discuss the value of “straddlers”, whom they define as “executives with a traditional media background, but who’ve spent the past 5-10 years in interactive media.”  As they point out, not only are straddlers crucial in understanding the issues the business faces, but they are critical magnets in attracting online talent, otherwise hesitant to bring their digital media skills to an old media brand.  The need to infuse traditional media organizations with digital understanding often creates conflicts with the traditional publishing model, where management comes up through the ranks.  More and more, traditional publishers are going outside their organizations for new leadership, or finding that talent through acquisition of online properties.

Either way, the survey describes a huge imbalance between supply and demand.  Virtually all the companies in the study had more online vacancies than they were able to fill and one executive indicated that the “demand for e-talent is five times greater than the supply”.  The change in skills cut across all aspects of the business – in addition to the obvious needs in marketing, product and technology, the dynamic nature of online media has had a similar impact on sales and editorial.  Perhaps most critical, the study points out the need for nimble leadership at the top, capable of making fast decisions and recalibrating on the fly.  Or, as Outsell describes it, the need to “fail faster”.

For those who’ve spent the past decade leading media and publishing organizations through change, these issues are not new.  What may surprise some is the fact that ten years in, we’re still struggling to solve these issues and most media companies have yet to fully integrate online with their traditional platforms.  More importantly, the next five years will likely bring a more rapid pace of change than the past five.  Web services have lowered the barrier to entry for online content, so you’ll see more competitive pressures than in the past.

While there's no simple plan for managing this change, it's helpful to understand where you stand in comparison to your peers. 

To order a copy of the study, visit Outsell.

If you’re an organization seeking digital leaders to fuel growth, or if you’re a straddler (and if you’re a reader of this blog, there’s a good chance of that) seeking new opportunities, reach out to at New Coordinates.

The concept of content does not typically get a lot of coverage outside of those who create and sell it.  That’s why it’s interesting that there are two new, compelling books, covering the world of content.

Having spent the day in the jury pool at the US Federal Court's Southern District, I've gotten a great opportunity to catch up on my reading.

John Battelle’s analysis of Google, The Search, has cracked the top 100 list at Amazon and has been selected as one of five nominees for the FT/Goldman Sachs "Business Book of the Year."  I will post a review of The Search shortly, particularly if I find myself selected for this jury.

At the same time, another new book has emerged, sharing case studies on companies who have successfully leveraged content on the Web.  David Meerman Scott’s Cashing in with Content is not a content industry book, per se.  Instead, it’s geared towards marketing professionals, business leaders, and anyone looking to communicate a message effectively, whether for marketing, awareness, recruitment or other purposes.

The heart of the book is a series of twenty case studies of organizations which utilize content effectively.  They are broken into three groups: E-Commerce, Business-to-business, and Educational, Healthcare, Nonprofit and Politics.  The case studies are well set-up and include interviews with key executives at each organization.  Do yourself a favor and read through all twenty, not just the ones "in your target area".  For example, I found that the practices of Aerosmith, Kenyon College and Tourism Toronto were all somewhat relevant to my e-commerce sites' needs.

The book concludes by defining a set of twelve best practices, exemplified by the twenty organizations profiled in the case studies.  Some of these practices may seem painfully obvious (“If you serve a global market, use global content”) but are often ignored by those developing websites.  Others take traditional offline practices and reinforce the need to apply them in the online world, such as “Link Content Directly to the Sales Cycle”.  Each of these best practices are then tied back to the specific case studies which support them.  For example, in supporting the sales cycle, the Tourism Toronto website supports those travelers first thinking about visiting Canada, then helps them throughout their trip planning.  The site also lets users self-select a path, depending upon whether they are an individual planning a vacation or business trip, a tour group or an organization planning a conference or meeting.

Business books are often either too ethereal or focused on practices only the largest organizations can afford.  David Scott’s Cashing in with Content is neither.  It offers a series of straightforward practices, supported by numerous real-world examples, in an enjoyable, quick read format.  If you want to be sure that your organization’s message is being communicated effectively, buy a copy, read it and put it into practice. 

Also, be sure to check out David Scott’s Web Ink Now blog, where he continues his focus on how to leverage content to generate results.