Friday 24th March: The benefits and limitations of formats

March 24, 2023

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Formats

Formats are the workhorse of publishing

https://www.therebooting.com/p/formats

This is an intriguing look at formats from Brian Morrissey. Story formats - how information and stories are structured - are increasingly being used as a core differentiator for publishing brands. Think BuzzFeed's listicles and quizzes, Axios's Smart Brevity, and more recently Semafor's Semaform, which Max Tani told us more about in last week's podcast.

Formats are important, but as Morrissey points out, are also invariably limited. "Often you're just putting new packaging on the same stuff," he notes. "Ultimately the product is going to live or die on the basis of its substance, not some amazing new format."

The other point is that successful formats will inevitably be copied and dilute any competitive advantage publishers have - look at how many places now try and use the Axios-style bullet points. I'd actually completely forgotten Stories was originally a Snapchat invention...

Why recirculation should be one of your KPIs and how to increase it | The Audiencers

The real-time metric that leads to higher engagement, loyalty and propensity to subscribe - all of which directly correlate with revenue

https://theaudiencers.com/operations/why-recirculation-should-be-one-of-your-kpis-and-how-to-increase-it-with-takeaways-from-the-independent/

Getting people onto your site is one thing. Keeping them there, and showing off the rest of your excellent content is quite another. That's what the recirculation metric aims to measure. Madeleine White looks at why recirculation should be a key KPI, and pulls in some tips from The Independent about how to increase it.

Publishing in the permacrisis – Wessenden Marketing on how media businesses are clawing their way back after some turbulent times - FIPP

Given the ongoing fallout of the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the climate crisis it’s not surprising Collins chose ‘permacrisis’ - defined as an ‘extended period of instability and insecurity’ - as its word of the year for 2022. How, then, have media businesses been coping during these tumultuous times? The latest report by mediafutures mostly paints a positive picture.

https://www.fipp.com/news/publishing-in-the-permacrisis-wessenden-marketing-on-how-media-businesses-are-clawing-their-way-back-after-some-turbulent-times/

Wessenden Marketing's latest mediafutures report is absolutely packed full of useful info - I'm not even halfway through it yet. FIPP has pulled out some of the overarching themes here. Three-quarters of the UK's leading media companies are currently seeing turnover growth at an average rate of 10% year-on-year, and despite the economic difficulties, 90% are in profit. "The industry's key metrics are moving upwards - turnover, profitability and headcount - and that is linked to confidence, self belief and resilience," the report's author Jim Bilton says.

The Independent’s digital-only journey was forced and is successful

Forced by revenues to go all digital in 2016, The Independent has made a profitable business by digging into the details. For example, in looking at the niche quadrant — where high engagement meets low traffic — The Independent has narrowed down what content is likely to convert users to a subscription.

https://www.inma.org/blogs/conference/post.cfm/the-independent-s-digital-only-journey-was-forced-and-is-successful

“In 2016, we made that brave decision to cease print and go digital only,” Jo Holdaway, chief data and marketing officer at The Independent told attendees at INMA’s Media Subscriptions Summit in Stockholm earlier this month. “The reason that we had to do that was financial. We were a loss-making business. We were forced to go digital only. We did not have a choice. And I think, because of that, we knew that we had to make it work.”

More from Media Voices

Substack UK's Farrah Storr on why to embrace paid newsletters

Farrah Storr tells us about why more mainstream media brands should be investing in Substack, why you need a huge profile to start out, and more.

https://voices.media/substack-uk-head-of-writer-partnerships-farrah-storr-on-why-every-magazine-should-embrace-paid-newsletters/

This week we hear from Substack UK’s Head of Writer Partnerships Farrah Storr. Over the past decade she’s worked in leading editorial roles at some of the biggest lifestyle magazines in the UK before leaving ELLE to join the newsletter platform. She tells us about why more mainstream media brands should be investing in Substack, why she doesn’t believe you need a huge profile to start out on the platform, and what problems with the wider internet ecosystem Substack is trying to solve.

How to turn a journalist into a broadcaster

Journalists are excellent storytellers, but that doesn't always translate to podcasting. However, many of the skills can be easily built up.

https://voices.media/how-to-turn-a-journalist-into-a-broadcaster/

Platforms don't owe publishers a living, but they do owe them compensation

The Public Interest News Foundation's Jonathan Heawood explains why the tech giants should be compensating publishers, and which models would work.

https://voices.media/platforms-dont-owe-publishers-a-living-but-they-do-owe-them-compensation-heres-why/

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