Publisher Strategies
Publishers should continue to maximize their opportunity in audiobooks. At the same time, they must respond by designing content for listening and other modes of digital consumption rather than pursuing a direct translation from books.
This requires rethinking the definition of product in a fundamental way. The product is no longer just the format or purely the content. It’s in the delivery of stories and information, conveyed the way people want to consume them. Some may want a brief audio, video, or written synopsis. Others will want to go deeper and get a more complete picture, whether it’s an extended version or a set of related stories from multiple sources. Publishers must adapt to consumer desires for options and think more expansively about the audience they can address, an audience broader than readers. This means getting away from the book- and print-first mode of organization, development, distribution, and consumption.
Potential Strategic Pathways
Publishers should examine their own advantages and recognize there are opportunities Amazon is not as well-positioned to address.
Strengthening Author-Reader Relationships
Publishers could work to strengthen the author-reader relationship and involve readers in the journey of book development. This could take the form of a centralized platform for discovery and engagement, offering ways for authors and readers to connect and pursuing models that serialize novels and release them in chapters. Instead of writing being a solo exercise, writers could bring readers in on the journey of story development and also provide additional commentary in video, podcasts, and other formats.
Platforms and Services for Brand Development
Such a platform could also address additional challenges authors and experts face today. For example, struggles with audience development and brand development. There may be ways to centralize and make the author experience of blogging, social media, and establishing connections with individuals and communities more efficient.
Productizing Data and Services
Some periodicals are working on monetizing their data, though this approach faces challenges given current debates on user privacy. Hearst recently announced they will launch a 20-person “data studio” to provide advertisers with insights on how audiences respond to ads.
Strengthening Digital Marketing
As one recent example, at Book Expo in May 2018, Penguin Press presented their story on how they worked with Goodreads to promote Celeste Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere, which encompassed providing advanced reader copies to booksellers, preorder announcements on Goodreads, and driving “Want to Read” selection on the platform through email campaigns, influencer strategies, giveaways, and other methods. The results are impressive. Three months ahead of publication, it had 4,888 “Want to Read” shelvings.
Newspapers and periodicals like the New York Times, Financial Times, Time Inc., and Vice have all acquired marketing agencies to help them better serve their audience and advertisers.
Platform Partnerships
Publishers should consider new models of partnership with the platforms that people use most. Tech companies like Google, Facebook, and others are investing heavily in content and engagement strategies. Some efforts will benefit the publishing industry. For example, Google recently announced they will invest $300 million in their Google News Initiative, with the goal of “helping news organizations and journalists thrive on the web.”
Collaboration to Create an Ecosystem, Streaming Service, or New Technology
All the aspects above could come together in an ecosystem involving creators of both written and other content and audience. This could be organized based on interests or in other ways. Creators could be encouraged to write shorter content designed for the web. The publishing industry could consider new models of collaboration that unify their efforts and business models based on subscriptions and/or micropayments to read snippets of content or support authors more directly. This could evolve further into a marketplace for authors to find editorial, marketing, skills development, and other services and presents opportunities for advertisers and technology partnerships. Making it an open ecosystem would allow third-party developers the opportunity to contribute and add value for users as well.
Where to Start
The question of how to allocate scarce resources in the digital space is difficult. There is no singular future for the industry as a whole. Each publishing segment and each company will have a different set of opportunities and capabilities to address them.
The starting point is the same. Deeply understanding the customer, creators, and consumers. This means being an anthropologist, analyst, designer, and strategist. When you have a crisp understanding of the customer, the problem you are uniquely well-positioned to address will become apparent.
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