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BLOG

HomeBlog Content StrategyPublishing Strategy: What’s Most Important Now?
Technology, Process, or Content?
 * Jul 28, 2015
 * In: Blog, Content Strategy
 * 0

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PUBLISHING STRATEGY: WHAT’S MOST IMPORTANT NOW? TECHNOLOGY, PROCESS, OR CONTENT?



Publishing strategies today can no longer be based on content alone. Good
journalism is no longer enough to be successful without strong platforms to
produce and drive content. More and more, we are seeing that it’s impossible to
sustain content revenue without smart investments in technology to create and
distribute content. But technology and journalism alone do not make a publisher
complete. The secret sauce is effective process and workflows.

As content types and channels become more diverse and targeted, processes can
become diluted and break down. The challenge is that the buildup of
sub-processes, workarounds, and just-in-time workflow “cells” creates hidden
costs and fractured collaboration within publishing operations.

Some may argue that lack of clarified process is simply the cost of doing
business today, but smart publishing executives view process as key to
maintaining a solid bottom line. Discounting the need for effective process can
be the oversight that dooms a strategy to failure, purely because workflows were
not assigned enough value to help balance the scales.

Given this increasing shift, two recent articles that explore the issue caught
my interest.

A recent story by Digiday, “How 6 Big Publishers Think About Their Technology
Staffs,” explains how modern publishing is not just about the story, but also
about attaining maximum distribution.

Focused on the shifting ratios of tech staff versus journalism staff, the
article indicates a trend where technologists now serve as a larger percentage
of content teams.

Here are some of the stats cited:

Time Inc.: 1,000 technologists in a global staff of more than 7,000

Hearst: 800 technologists in a workforce of 20,000 worldwide

The Washington Post: 14% of staff are technologists (most embedded in the
newsroom)

The Guardian: 8% of staff are technologists (employed in cross-functional teams)

The Huffington Post: 100 engineers, about 12% of staff (editorial and tech work
closely together)

Business Insider: 40 technologists in a staff of 340 (33 dedicated to UI
and design)

I was also impressed by the depth of a recent report from Folio titled “The
Revolution in Magazine Process,” which captures some key emerging challenges and
realities in the publishing industry. Authors Tony Silber and Bill Mickey argue
that the media company of 2005—or even 2010—is long gone, noting that the “scope
and pace of change in processes through which companies engage their customers”
is in a state of revolution.

I’d add that the need to rapidly implement new technologies has accentuated the
need for new process.

In the article, the authors quote Source Media’s Doug Manoni: “What’s changed is
that technology is transforming every single phase of business. It’s impacting
the business at a wholesale level.”

ALM’s group president of legal media, Lenny Izzo, adds that publishing today is
“a new world of VUCA,” an acronym for volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and
ambiguity.

He explains:

Uncertainty? It comes from new competitors and shifts in advertising models
(programmatic).

Complexity? Tying together new, expensive technologies across business and
content systems (because common platforms are necessary now to survive).

Ambiguity? Lack of expertise to evaluate new technologies and understand new KPI
trends.

Volatility? Not knowing whether a new million-dollar system will be relevant in
18 months.

From the perspective of the article’s authors, “radical changes in process” are
being driven by a number of factors, but primarily by:

 * Emerging technologies that enable new methods of serving markets.
 * A quest within companies for efficiency, driven by economic necessity.

“Media companies…are under enormous pressure to find new revenue opportunities,
while maintaining the same or a better, higher class of service,” offers Todd
Krizelman, CEO of MediaRadar. “It has meant a lot of forced change in
processes.”

Mark McCormick, CEO of Gulfstream Media, adds, “One characteristic of efficiency
comes from the top of the organization, when you have someone that is fascinated
by it. Very rarely are senior executives people who get down into the nuances
and processes of their companies. They usually try to hire it out and delegate
it. And then they’re at the mercy of the people they hire.”

I would argue here, from TFP’s own experience, that if consultants are not in
tune with the business objectives and requirements of a company at a personal
level, they won’t and can’t be effective. It’s essential that team
members establish a close connection to executive vision as well as the daily
challenges and cultures of an organization before they can be of any assistance.

Many of TFP’s clients have determined that a lack of effective systems to drive
a managed workflow process translates into dramatically lower levels of quality
and quantity of content available to be published. In fact, Folio conducted a
survey in June to capture the biggest process changes publishers are dealing
with and workflow management topped the list at 43%.

With respect to content creation itself, the authors note, “Process change has
been evolutionary, and it began a decade or more ago. But one thing’s true now:
If your editors are print focused, or even text focused, they’re behind the
times. And if they’re not fully conversant in content management systems, social
media and data-driven content, then they’re missing huge opportunities for
engagement with their audiences and monetizing that engagement.”

Rodale’s strategy, driven by President Scott Shulman, is focusing on
efficiencies across brands. “Structurally, how do we knit the brands together?”
he says. “We think we can make content offerings better and more extendable
across the brands. Instead of doing things separately, we can do them together
because we don’t repeat and overlap.”

According to Brent Reilly, president and CEO of Randall-Reilly, emerging data
management and analytics programs and practices for content are allowing
publishers to identify unknown visitors and behavioral patterns, in real time.
“When you start putting all that data together and have real intelligence and
marry that with behavioral data, you start to uncover not just the right person,
but the right time,” he says.

Overall, the report contains a broad spectrum of interesting data gathered from
various interviews with industry leaders. If you haven’t read it, you should.

My addition? Publishers are really re-thinking and rebuilding their operations
from the ground up, and if they’re not, they are missing the mark. While in the
past publishers could be successful running siloed operations, today economies
of scale alone dictate the need to build common platforms, leverage
forward-thinking technology investments, and maximize process to brace for the
revolution.

Disagree? Agree? Have another perspective? Let me know…comment below.

P.S. Don’t miss my Book Picks this month, highlighting great biographies from
leaders and visionaries!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CEO Margot Knorr Mancini’s monthly blog on content strategy shares valuable
insights and observations from her experiences in the publishing industry. 

Check out her other articles in our Content Strategy section. Also sign up for
TFP’s newsletter briefings, including Media Metrics and This Week in Publishing,
which highlights our weekly industry news picks and tips to help you stay
informed. Have a suggestion for a topic you’d like to know more about? Drop us a
note!

Tagged with: content strategy, Digital Publishing, Effective Content Backbone,
media trends, Publishing Trends, workflow management

Posted by: Margot Knorr Mancini


A thought leader in the publishing industry, Margot Knorr Mancini has helped
numerous publishers redefine their missions to become nimble content generators
with the ability to repurpose content easily and efficiently. As Founder & CEO
of Technology for Publishing, her analytical mind allows her to remain a step
ahead of the industry, recognizing early trends and developing pivotal best
practices.
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