E-News : December 22, 2009
Top Media Moves
Indianapolis Business Journal re-launched its Web site, IBJ.com, on the ePublishing platform earlier this fall. The resulting revenue and site performance improvements have exceeded expectations while solidifying IBJ’s market leadership as the economy rebounds.
The American Association of Advertising Agencies and the Interactive Advertising Bureau announced the release of “4A’s/IAB Standard Terms and Conditions for Interactive Advertising Version 3.0” for public comment.
Lebhar-Friedman’s Nation’s Restaurant News (NRN) announced changes in its publishing and editorial leadership.
BPA University, a series of free educational seminars aimed at assisting media owners to conduct their business more efficiently in an increasingly digital marketplace, will visit eight U.S. cities in 2010.
Member Event of the Week
How to Monetize Digital Content – A Complimentary Webinar featuring Comcast
Register now for FAST Search & Transfer’s complimentary webinar on January 20, 2010, at 2:00pm EST, and learn first-hand how Comcast is delivering a differentiated broadband portal experience to over 15 million unique visitors per month on their Comcast.net broadband portal, to drive advertising, commerce and subscription revenues.
Phil Marcella, Director of Search for Comcast Interactive Media, will discuss how Comcast is recognizing significant value in developing more flexible search experiences that personalize result sets, expose users to ever more content, and maximize revenue per search in a customer-friendly way.
Click here for more information or to register.
'What ABM Means to Me'
American Business Media is working harder than ever to enhance the value proposition of your membership, and we’re constantly encouraged by positive feedback from our members.
Here in E-news each week will be a member testimonial which reflects how individual members view the ABM value proposition.
“Any business-to-business publisher will find something of value in ABM’s many services and offerings. We joined as soon as we launched the company so we could access the annual cost report, which helps us benchmark our business. As a small publisher, we belong to the Entrepreneurial Committee and find the exchanges with other publishers invaluable. We also participate in the Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Awards. And we find the educational seminars, including the Annual Conference and Top Management Meeting, very, very helpful."
- Robin Ashton, Publisher, Foodservice Equipment Reports, Gill Ashton Publishing
Click here to follow ABM on Twitter!
Click here to become a fan of ABM on Facebook!
Job of the Week
Head of Digital Product Development, Penton Media
In addition to the “Job of the Week” highlighted in each issue of E-news, ABM has recently expanded its online job board to better reach out to the membership and media community with quality career opportunities. Powered by mediabistro.com, the site is updated constantly with openings across the country and enables you to search by industry and location. So what are you waiting for … Click here to begin your search!
Committee Watch
Business Information Council: January 6, 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM EST, Advanstar Communications, 641 Lexington Avenue, NYC
Digital Media Council: January 7, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM EST, Reed Business Information, 360 Park Avenue South, NYC
Media Marketing Committee: January 7, 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM EST, ABM Headquarters
Season’s Greetings from ABM!
Well, it’s been quite a year here at American Business Media! As we reflect on some of the year’s proudest moments and continue working on new initiatives to kick off 2010, we’d like to send you our sincerest wishes for a joyous holiday season and a prosperous new year.
It’s been our pleasure working hard for you this year, and we’re anxious to unveil new additions to the ever-growing roster of ABM member benefits, so stay tuned.
In the meantime, click here for a special ABM holiday greeting.
ABM’s IPC Focused on Protecting Innovation for the B-to-B Industry
ABM’s new strategic plan emphasizes the Association’s leadership role in influencing government policy on b-to-b industry issues, and last week, ABM’s Information Policy Committee (IPC) gathered in Washington for its latest meeting to discuss a wide range of issues and strategize for the coming year.
While postal remains a critical pocketbook issue for ABM members, much of ABM’s focus in Washington is shifting toward new digital issues, such as behavioral targeting and net neutrality, which are affecting ABM members as the b-to-b industry undergoes dramatic transformation. The impact of many of the emerging digital issues may not yet be clear; however, the IPC is focused on advocating for policies in Washington that protect ABM members against limitations on the growth of their businesses and ensure continued growth and innovation for the b-to-b industry.
In order to stay at the forefront of the issues affecting the constantly-changing b-to-b industry, ABM has established an early warning system as part of its new strategic plan in order to become involved in issues that could have a potential impact on ABM members as they arise in Washington. The IPC, along with ABM’s Washington counsel and lobbyists, raised several issues at last week’s meeting that ABM will be addressing in the coming year, including: open access, data breach, liability implications of user-generated content, database protection (or “hot news”) and (although not technically an IPC issue) possible relaxation of content restrictions for periodicals by the Postal Service.
In addition, adhering to its new strategic plan, ABM has developed the “Government Policy Brief,” a one-page document, that will be sent to the membership on a quarterly basis. The brief succinctly outlines the key pocketbook issues that ABM is working on in Washington and highlights their importance and relevance to the membership. Click here to download the first brief, which covers postal, behavioral targeting, shield law, net neutrality and fax issues.
Updated ‘Importance and Value of B2B Advertising
During Times of Economic Uncertainty’ Research Now Available
Reflecting their commitment to the power of b-to-b media, marketers plan to increase spending across all platforms next year.
In fact, of the business-to-business marketers recently surveyed by BtoB magazine, almost 40% plan to increase their 2010 spending, despite the current economic conditions. 73% of them will increase their online marketing budgets, 35% will increase spending on events, and 20% will increase their print budgets.
These are just a few of the many significant findings from ABM’s recently-produced sales tool, “The Importance and Value of B2B Advertising During Times of Economic Uncertainty,” which summarizes the wealth of data that has been accumulated over time. The data clearly demonstrates that companies who either steadily continued or aggressively increased their advertising experienced overall growth as well as continual growth past the period of economic uncertainty.
An updated version is now available here, with data for 2010, supplied by BtoB magazine.
ABM Webinar on Data-Driven Advertising Now Available On-Demand
“Today, one in four advertisers uses data-driven advertising,” said Chris Hulse, founder and CEO of Inflection Point Media, as he kicked off the second in ABM’s series of digital media webinars earlier this month. “The time is now … no one is better positioned to take advantage [of behavioral targeting] than YOU.” (Click here to watch Hulse’s session on-demand, and here to follow along with his presentation slides.)
Hulse began by defining behavioral targeting (“It’s about increasing effectiveness,” he explained), its importance to ABM members (especially publishers) and a brief history of the practice. According to Hulse’s research, spending on behaviorally targeted ads is growing fast, and he predicts that, in the future, behavioral targeting will be a part of every ad campaign. Research also indicates that by 2020, total spending on online ads will surpass that of TV advertising by more than $50 billion.
Clearly, there’s no longer reason to wait if you haven’t gotten involved with behavioral targeting, said Hulse. He shared excuses often given by b-to-b publishers for why they haven’t started a targeted advertising program, as well as valuable advice on how to get started. In addition, he explored in-depth the different ways publishers can get involved, such as with ad networks, media buying platforms, data exchange platforms and ad exchanges.
So, what are the next steps for the b-to-b publisher looking to expand his or her business with behavioral targeting? “Set your goals and create your data strategy; use data on every impression delivered; understand that you can’t afford to wait any longer; and realize that the cost of doing nothing far exceeds the cost of trying something today,” Hulse advised.
Have YOU Taken Advantage of ABM’s Newest Resources, Member Discounts?
Adhering to its new strategic plan, which, among other things, emphasizes the importance of industry research and intelligence, ABM is continuing to create synergies with other organizations that will benefit the business media/information community. As a result, ABM members now have cheaper (or free!) access to must-have industry resources from leading organizations like CEIR, Outsell and Vital Business Media.
Members: Have You Requested Your FREE CEIR Research Yet?
As one of ABM’s ongoing initiatives to deliver valuable products and services to its members participating in the events space, the Association has partnered with the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) to provide ABM members with important, timely information on the world of face-to-face – all at no cost.
ABM members from around the globe continue to take advantage of this exclusive opportunity … Have you?
Some of the top-requested reports include:
- The Power of Exhibitions in the 21st Century, which offers a wealth of insight into how new generations of attendees want to connect, learn and network at events;
- Effective Methods for Visitor Promotion, which analyzes the most and least effective tools for attracting visitors and reveals the average spending on pre- and post-exhibition promotion;
- The Spend Decision, which evaluates the behaviors and opinions of marketing executives at mid to large sized organizations that use b-to-b exhibitions in their marketing mix;
- and many more!
Contact Kate Patton with your request(s), and the research will be e-mailed to you directly.
ABM Offers Member Discount on ALL Outsell Research
As an ABM member, you are now entitled to a 20% discount on all must-read industry reports from leading research and advisory firm Outsell, Inc. Not only will the member discount offer savings on your purchases, but the data and analyses from Outsell will provide must-have advice and essential actions for b-to-b publishers and information providers looking to create revenue opportunities, attract new buyers and achieve competitive advantage.
The Outsell Store houses hundreds of recent research studies delivering fact-based recommendations about markets, companies and trends in the information industry. Click here to enter the Outsell Store, and enter promotional code 101209 during checkout to receive your ABM member discount.
ABM ‘Vital Guide’ Explores Digital Media Trends
Through a new partnership with Vital Business Media’s eMedia Vitals, an online publication covering e-media strategies, ABM is proud to deliver the “ABM Vital Guide,” a weekly e-newsletter containing high-quality, actionable content on the hottest digital media trends affecting the b-to-b industry.
Each week, the ABM Vital Guide tackles one specific digital media trend or product with the potential to dramatically influence members’ digital revenues. Previous editions have thoroughly covered such issues as content aggregation, community-based media, online event models, e-newsletters and subscription management.
Click here to view the latest ABM Vital Guide, on the year in review, or contact Jenna Lisanti to subscribe.
Sign up a colleague for E-news