Lesson of the iPad, Growing Focus on Push, Hoffman Media’s Print Success, Forbes’ Diversification Plans, Media Metrics, InDesign Tip: Size and Position Settings in Object Styles
Welcome to Technology for Publishing’s roundup of news, stories of interest, and tips for media industry pros! This week, we’re sharing posts about the years publishers lost on customizing their content for the iPad, an increasing focus on push notifications, why Hoffman Media is staying the course on print, how Forbes plans to diversify its business and grow its editorial team, and more.
As Apple again gears up to challenge Amazon in the e-books business—with a new e-reader in the works and recent hires from Amazon and Barnes & Noble—a Bloomberg Businessweek columnist wonders about the opportunities media partners lost out on in chasing the promise of the iPad, which just celebrated its eighth anniversary. While e-book publishers saw some benefit from their efforts, news and magazine publishers spent “precious time and money following Apple down the iPad rabbit hole” when they should have been putting their resources into other key endeavors, like social media, video, smartphone apps, mobile, and their own subscription models, the article says. Although lessons were learned, it adds, customizing content for the iPad ultimately turned out to be “an expensive detour.”- While driving only a small percentage of traffic, push notifications are taking on more importance—especially with Facebook’s recent decision to “deprioritize” news publishers’ articles in its News Feed, according to Digiday. “The competition for space on users’ phone lock screens has gotten intense,” the report notes, and every “sliver of audience” counts. As such, the level of sophistication and customization of push notifications is increasing, says one push technology provider. Publishers “consider their push audience their most loyal, their most engaged audience” because readers have to either download their app or follow them via a news platform like Apple News or Google Play Newsstand, explains Tow Center research fellow Pete Brown. Check out a related post on ABC News’ 400,000 Apple News alert followers.
- Hoffman Media President Brian Hart Hoffman offered some insights on how the publisher of almost a dozen Southern special interest magazines is beating the odds with consistent growth in print revenue. Last year, the company reported newsstand sales reached a record high, and over the past three years, it launched four new titles with a fifth planned for this year. In a Q&A with Folio, Hoffman discusses recent redesigns, growing readership in new markets, the impact of social media on print, and more.
- As with most big media companies these days, Forbes sees diversification as a key revenue-building strategy going forward. In a video interview with FIPP, two company executives reveal the company’s plans for 2018, including a push into branded content, research, and events. And while newsrooms industrywide have seen cuts and layoffs over the past year, Forbes is expanding its editorial team, growing its contributor network and news operations in Europe: “Now it feels like the right time,” says Forbes Media’s Charles Yardley. “We’ve got the right momentum that we can build on that, and build a more substantial footprint throughout the continent.”
On the Technology for Publishing Blog
- TFP’s Media Metrics roundup brings you key reports on the latest industry trends, including the rise of phablets, a surge in mobile video traffic, consumers’ growing reliance on tech, behavior tracking, and more.
- InDesign Tip: Object styles let you define dozens of specifications and apply them to an object with just one click—and now, additional size and position settings offer even more benefits! Check out this week’s tip from Monica Murphy.
- In case you missed it, our latest Infographic Pick highlights 16 tips and tricks to help you organize your Gmail inbox and better manage your email.
Image: Bloomberg Businessweek
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Posted by: Monica Sambataro
