PPA Market Sector Insight Report

In this keynote session, Amanda Wigginton, Audience Measurement and Insight Lead, PPA and Douglas McCabe, CEO, Enders Analysis debated the headline findings to understand what it means for you and your business.

• Confident leadership: post-covid there is a renewed belief in trusted content. Despite tough market conditions, the industry is optimistic about growth and transformation – especially compared to five years ago.
  
  
• Be market-focused: specialist content has the unique ability to connect communities and drive deep engagement. Your audience should be at the heart of the decisions you make. Use data to test and learn different approaches.
  
  

• Have a talent strategy: putting people front and centre is absolutely imperative to retaining the best team and delivering on your growth goals.
  
  

• Strategic focus and prioritisation is vital: many of us are being asked to do more with less so it’s more important than ever to have a clear strategy that everyone in your business understands and is motivated to deliver.
  
  

• It’s the specialists that win, not the generalists. You are an agent of change. Digitalisation continues to reshape the way content is accessed and consumed. Print and digital platforms coexist in an ever-shifting balance, offering readers both the tangible experience and the convenience of instant access to content at their fingertips.

Monetise your data to create demand gen products

The speakers in this session looked at how to build demand gen products that add measurable value to independent publishers and deliver more sales for both client and audience.

• Blend marketing and subscription services. The goal is to enhance the customer journey to create a single seamless experience.
  
  

• You can only do as much as your resources allow. Ask yourself, where can you make the difference and what will work for the majority of your customers – that’s where you should focus the majority of your efforts.
  
  

• Curate, create, and continuously improve. Offer a variety of content from thought-leadership to events. It’s important to reflect on performance, using research and insight to analyse and inform your decision making.
  
  

Speakers: Andrea Charles, Head of Custom Content, Citeline. Kate Daw, Head of Marketing, Newtrade Media. Sukaina Virji, Senior Associate Partner, ICR Consilium. Tom Wright, Executive Director, Arc.

How publishers are using AI to their advantage

Whether it’s ChatGPT or Midjourney, AI tools are changing our sector fast. Publishers are integrating back-office function to improve workflow, researching stories, and understanding more about the audiences they serve – all whilst working ethically and transparently.

• Don’t listen to self-proclaimed experts, there are none. AI is a rapidly evolving technology and you know what’s best for your business, but it is important to use guardrails and not to be naive about the limitations and issues. AI is not the answer to all your questions, make sure you do your research.
  
  
• Encourage experimentation. There are many ways you could use AI to streamline your workflow. You may need different tools depending on the job, for example, you could repurpose a podcast into an article using Trinit or ChatGPT to summarise the audio.
  
  

• Judgement and taste are essential. AI might be able to ‘make’ 95% of content but it’s the 5% that customers are paying for. Everyone has access to AI tools, your content is distinguished by your deliverables and blending of human creativity.
  
  

Speakers: Carl Myers, CTO, Faversham House. Charlie Beckett, Director, The Journalism AI Project, Polis, LSE. Dickon Ross, Editorial Consultant. Katja Eggert, Head of Strategic Development, Immediate Media.

Delivering sustained, year-on-year subs growth

For many independent publishers subscriptions remains the number one source of revenue. There are new ways to reach key audiences, innovative pricing strategies, onboarding, reducing churn, and much more.

• Take advantage of content distribution partners. For example, Apple News+ has done exceptionally well for Motor Sport, allowing them to grow as more people discover their content.
  
  
• Use technology to maximise user experience and offering. You may need to be patient for results, but informed decision making and a clear strategy will ensure you reach your goals. Make sure you set specific objectives “we need a new subs buyer flow” isn’t good enough.
  
  
  
• Audiences change, you need to accommodate that. Yes, people like freebies, but there are other opportunities and you should communicate value adds with your subscribers. Knowing what your audience wants and personalising their experience is important.
  
  
• Be prepared to pivot – assume nothing works unless you’ve tested it yourself, and use data and insights to refocus as needed.
  
  

• You don’t always need to shoot for gold across the board – “good” is sometimes fine. It’s also important to be realistic with your investment and be brutal in asking if you will see the needed return. You should focus on what drives long-term business growth but also plan for some early wins.
  
  

Speakers: Carolyn Morgan, Managing Consultant, Speciall Media. Joanna Edwards, Marketing & Communications Director, FT Specialist. Mark Beard, CEO, Prospect Publishing. Zamir Walimohamed, Head of Digital, Marketing & Subscriptions, Motor Sport.

CEO confidential: a front row seat in the boardrooms of today

This was an exclusive opportunity to have a seat in the boardroom and hear what publishing CEOs are planning for 2024. They covered surprising successes, the things that didn’t quite work out, and where they’ll next be placing their bets. They were candid, here’s what we can share with you…

• A focus on marketing skills is key. Figure out ways to bring marketing expertise in every role, be it content or graphic design. Aim to train the digital team in marketing to some extent.
  
  
• Beat the algorithms by studying audience behaviour. Make sure you understand what your audience likes and how like they to consume – then tailor your content and curate a personal experience.
  

Speakers: Diane Young, Co-Founder and CEO, The Drum. Ian McAuliffe, PPA Independent Publisher Network Chair and CEO, Think. Jon Bickley, Co-Founder and CEO, Anthem Publishing. Sarah Cox, Co-CEO, Burlington Media Group. Tobi Oredein, Founder and CEO, Black Ballad.

A workflow masterclass for independent, digital-first publishers.

Workflow guru James Naylor shared the secrets of a fully integrated publishing eco-system. Previously Production Director at Hearst, James walked us through his experience of Teams, Slack, Dropbox, Trello, channel neutral CMS, DAMs, and all the other tools Slimming World uses to publish content seamlessly to every platform.

• There’s no such thing as a fully integrated publishing ecosystem. But workflow tools can be powerful in supercharging productivity.
  
  

•  Asset-first thinking can simplify your IT landscape.
  
  

• Digital-first content approach can unleash reuse and reduce rework.
  
  

• Be platform agnostic – it’s not necessarily about a specific supplier, but rather about the concept. Whichever platform fits your budget, the theory still applies.
  

Speaker: James Naylor, Core Systems Architect, Slimming World. Moderated by: Craig Llewelyn-Williams, Principle Consultant, The App Lab.

From purpose to paywalls: How to build long-term B2B value through membership models

As the UK’s largest sustainable business media brand with 25 years’ heritage, edie is undergoing its biggest phase of growth to date – driven by a brand-new corporate membership offering. Here, edie’s publisher Luke Nicholls explained how the brand has taken a purpose-led approach to its free-to-paid business model transition, and the key lessons learnt along the way.

• Align your membership offering with your brand’s growth ambitions, and the broader market context. What are your goals? How is the market evolving? How would membership play into these areas?
  
  

• Establish a value hierarchy. Look at what your audience likes most – and least – and build your subscription offering around that. Don’t make assumptions.
  
  

• Make your product positioning clear. Have an aligned statement prepared for your paywalls, and connect the messaging back to your purpose.
  
  

• Use names that resonate. Consider naming the subscription tiers using terms that mean something to your target audience, rather than “bronze/silver/gold”.
  
  

• Lead queue prioritisation is key for memberships. Make sure your most engaged audience members are the first to be called.
  
  

• Create moments throughout the year. Use the big industry events as a membership sales opportunity – adjust your comms to tie in with this, and ensure there is a good cross-selling process in place between other products/events and your subscription offering.
  

Speaker: Luke Nicholls, Publisher, edie. Moderated by: Tessa Parry-Wingfield, CEO, The Power of Words.

‘Independent Witness’ discussion with Katie Vanneck-Smith and Matt Kelly.

A rare interview with Hearst UK CEO Katie Vanneck-Smith by Matt Kelly, the award-winning founder and editor of The New European.

• Be solutions-focused. People might already know the solution, but they’re probably used to telling you the problem. I don’t let anyone tell me about a problem without a solution. Or three.
  
  

• Data isn’t everything. It won’t give you answers, but it is a good sense-check – use it to make informed decisions, but remember you and your team still need to bring your expertise.
  
  
• We’re in the business of passion. Connecting with our audiences emotionally is more important than just pushing out content. With AI advancements, it’s more important than ever to go deeper and give your audiences something only you can produce.
  
  

• People are everything. Empower your teams to be bold and strive for exceptional. The great thing about independent businesses is that everyone has a seat at the table, prompting debates and new ideas.