A couple of weeks have gone by since the 2019 Mega-Conference, giving us time to digest the key messages for this year from a jam-packed three days of listening to speakers and customers. This year, iPublish Media Solutions was pleased to see the new focus on how technology powers online sales, not just outside sales teams. With so many options and priorities, publishers often asked a simple question: What do we do first?

Here are a few tips from the speakers that provide some great guidance going forward into the summer:

  1. Think like an e-commerce company, said Bridgett Sibthorp-Moecker, corporate head of circulation for Lee Enterprises.
  2. Email may be your next top sales rep. Many of the speakers focused on the new value of email to power e-commerce sales of B2B and B2C products. Success stories from Lee Enterprises to The Washington Post’s Scott Gillespie included how to build and use email lists.
  3. Become an expert in user experience (UX). Gone are the days of clunky form fills. Subscribe with Google, for example, revealed its slick 2-clicks-to-purchase funnel, with its first test at the McClatchy-owned Miami-Herald “out-performing traditional channels, according to Dan Shaub, corporate head of circulation there. One executive noted that simply removing the requirement of a phone number from a registration form resulted in a 30% lift.
  4. Publishers are looking at how to increase smaller dollar sales at volume with new takes on traditional franchises by using better technology and focusing on the details. Tribune Publishing, for example, showed significant lift by switching to Recruitology, a platform that uses machine learning to match job applicants with companies on the network. They successfully tested a passive recruitment option to post to look alike audiences on Facebook, powered by iPublish Media Solutions.
  5. Seasonal Sales are not just for car dealers. Media marketers are now using email to power their own “online sales” of subscriptions, classified ads and other digital products that can be purchased online.
  6. Better use of first-hand data. As an executive from Lotame advised the audience, “you already own the data. Other companies have to buy it.” The “first-hand data” newspapers own is still one of their core assets as newspapers move into the future. This data can be enhanced by putting tags on pages that track unique users and match them with identities that show, for example, propensity to buy a particular product or offer.

Need some concrete examples of how self-serve platforms are powering new revenues? iPublish Media Solutions develops front-end platforms that power these B2C and B2B sales in a variety of categories: obituaries, automotive, real estate, classifieds, retail, and more. Contact us for a demo.

Our next blog will show you how to identify all the B2B data-sets in the company, for classified ads, funeral homes, and other initiatives.