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executive

 
Executive Report - By Thomas Baekdal - March 2011

Blogs, Newspapers, and Magazines vs. Social Media

Sharing is the primary element in your strategy. Your content is the driving force. Your new front page is on Twitter, Facebook and all the other social channels. It is the flexible link between.

After writing, "No, Facebook is not Killing Your Website. New user behavior is." several people asked my how it applies to the media industry. What if your product is a blog, a digital newspaper, or magazine?

In that article, I wrote about how the old internet strategy of channeling everything to your website is wrong, and how you should instead put your customer in the center. In other words create a direct path between where people decide to follow you, and what it is you have to offer them.

All of this is based on the very simple principle of driving up conversions by removing as many obstacles as possible. Every time people tell you to go to another destination, your potential conversion rate drops by 60-90%.

But all of this is based on brands producing some kind of product. Like Ford creating cars, Coca-Cola creating soft-drinks, Build-a-Bear creating toys bears, Gap selling jeans, and etc.

When brands force people to go to a website, they introduce an unnecessary step. It drives down your conversion rate and has a negative impact on the sale.

What about the newspapers, magazines, or blogs?

With media properties, like newspapers, the same principle applies. You don't want people to take unnecessary steps. You want to put them in the center, and provide a direct path to your articles.

The big difference, however, is the product. With brands like Gap, your website is a channel, just like Facebook and Twitter. But with newspapers, your website is your product. It is not a channel. It is the target of your conversion strategy.

You want people to end up buying your product, so for newspapers - many driven by advertising - you want people to "buy" your website.

It is not that the principle is different from other brands. It is just a different product.

 
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What is Baekdal?

Baekdal is a magazine for media professionals, focusing on media analysis, trends, patterns, strategy, journalistic focus, and newsroom optimization. Since 2010, it has helped publishers in more than 40 countries, including big and small publishers like Condé Nast, Bonnier, Schibsted, NRC, and others, as well as companies like Google and Microsoft.

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Thomas Baekdal

Founder, media analyst, author, and publisher. Follow on Twitter

"Thomas Baekdal is one of Scandinavia's most sought-after experts in the digitization of media companies. He has made ​​himself known for his analysis of how digitization has changed the way we consume media."
Swedish business magazine, Resumé

 

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