Category: Publishing

Why B2B Publishers Can Be Effective Content Marketing Partners

2016 Idaho Potato Chefs Calendar
Annual Idaho Potato Chef’s Calendar distributed through Plate magazine

Before going on your own to develop and distribute custom content you may want to explore a partnership with industry publishers. B2B publishers are in a unique position of knowing the audience you want to reach. They know what interests them, what their concerns are, and how to engage them.

Current topics, issues and trends are something publishers cover every day. You can use their arsenal of talented writers, designers and project managers to take your content to the next level. Get access to the markets you want to reach. Enhance your position in business-to-business markets and distribute your content efficiently.

Custom content can take many forms including branded or unbranded articles that are identified as advertorials, calendars, or supplements to name a few. A publisher who knows your audience and business objectives can offer insight on the type of content that will best engage readers.

Understand the publisher’s brand and mission

Custom content that appears in an industry website or publication places your business within a context of trust and knowledge. But first, you need to understand the publisher’s brand and its mission. It’s likely you are already familiar with publications serving your industry, but if you are new to the market, you can search online, or via SRDS to learn more.

Review the publisher’s magazine, website, and blogs. Read a few feature articles and look at the various sections. Online you can learn a lot about their mission by reading the About page. Contact the publisher and ask for a media kit to learn about their audience and reach. Review the editorial calendar to find topics they will be covering and when.

Identify your objectives for the custom content

Know what you want your content to do and how it will serve the intended audience. Here are several common objectives for custom content projects.

Position your product as on trend

Sunkist ran a series of advertorial articles in Plate magazine highlighting lemon-inspired desserts and cocktails. The articles ran opposite their advertisement. It provided additional editorial coverage for the Sunkist brand while describing creative uses of their product for Plate’s audience, professional chefs.

Position your company as a leader in the industry

To be viable, a sponsored article that addresses a new trend should include research data and quotes from respected industry leaders. In the food service industry clean label is something operators are just beginning to be impacted by. We recently gathered data, interviewed sources and wrote an article for a food service client on this topic to be published in an industry magazine.

Demonstrate product versatility

How are your customers using your product? Share their stories to show its versatility. That’s what the Idaho® Potato Commission does with its annual Foodservice Chef’s calendar. Each month highlights a chef’ along with their potato dish and recipe as well as industry events. It is distributed with the Nov/Dec issue of Plate magazine.

Affirm subject expertise

Share deep knowledge on a topic with custom supplements or whitepapers. These long-form content projects may be inserted and mailed with the B2B publisher magazine or featured online. As a pullout section in a print magazine, they provide readers with a unique reference and in-depth coverage of a topic.

Drive traffic to your website

B2B publishers may offer distribution of a custom e-newsletter directed toward your target audience. The same compelling content you find in print can be adapted for a custom e-newsletter, offering additional opportunities to measure results with special offers, downloads and increased web traffic.

Custom Content Continues to Work Long after the Published Date

Custom content has the advantage of being owned by you. This means you can share your custom publishing content with customers and prospects online and off. Its impact can go well beyond what appears in the publication. Use it in an eblast, for social media and as a blog topic. Extend its reach by distributing print content at trade shows and meetings or send a special mailing to your best customers.

Content for Biz is pleased to have media partners in the food service and construction industries who rely on us to develop custom content. We encourage you to take advantage of the unique role industry publishers have with their audience to make the most of your custom content.

Make Custom Content Work for Your Trade Publication

DifferentiatationB2B publishers are operating in an increasingly competitive environment. Today there is a multitude of ways for advertisers to reach niche audiences. Marketers are experimenting with different media and increasingly looking for measurable results.  The days of six and 12-time print schedules are a distant memory.  In many industries similar trade publication names, circulation and editorial content make it increasingly difficult for marketers to differentiate between publications.

Due to budget restraints, trade publication reps who once came into sales calls heavily armed with readership and market data that separated them from the competition, find themselves with nothing more than a rate card and editorial calendar.

One way to appeal to advertisers is to offer something unique or limited in supply. In the past it might have been a cover position or a special mailing. But today’s advertisers are looking for more.  Many are looking for custom content that advances a relationship with a customer or prospect throughout the buying cycle. Publishers have as a core competency an ability to develop original content to attract a desired audience. Developing custom content allows advertisers to capitalize on this core competency, while bringing in added revenue.  Unlike content developed by an agency or client, a publication has the added advantage of offering immediate access to an audience.

Developing custom content also offers publishers other benefits.  Custom content brings publishers closer to their advertisers. In the process of finding a solution for the advertiser, publishers gain a deeper understanding of an advertiser’s objectives and challenges. And the publication becomes differentiated  based on the knowledge and expertise employed to advance the advertiser’s interest.

Where to start

Custom content can take many forms, both in print and online.  Here are a few ways to start developing a concept that advertisers can buy into:

  • Find readers who will share their expertise on a topic aligned with the advertiser’s interest.
  • Leverage publication-specific data that can be analyzed to meet the needs of the advertiser.
  • Identify key industry trends and relate them to the advertiser’s offerings.
  • Increase engagement with multi-media content.
  • Use the seasons for inspiration.

Moving forward

Once advertisers are sold on a custom content solution, publishers need to manage the process to ensure customer satisfaction and profitability. Advertisers and their agencies often require a lot of attention. Custom content typically requires multiple layers of approval and a lengthier schedule. This is a foreign experience for most editors and sales staff. Taking on a project of this nature is likely to impact their other responsibilities. A better solution is to assign a dedicated project manager who keeps everyone on track and conveys advertiser expectations to the entire team. The publisher’s custom content team, consisting of the project manager, writer, designer and other creative talent, whether staffed internally or outsourced, then becomes an extension of the agency or client’s staff.

If you work it right, custom content can set your publication apart.