B2B Memes

MARCH 11, 2011

In preparation for my talk in an ASBPE webinar on ethic s next week, I’ve been speaking with B2B editors about how they use social media. I’m also careful so it doesn’t look like I’m promoting advertisers/manufacturers. Our readers need good reporters—even in B2B. And I would argue that B2B is easily becoming B2C.

Ethics 100

Ethics Social Media Media B2B 100

B2B Memes

DECEMBER 6, 2011

.” In 2008, Conley’s focus began to shift from traditional trade journalism to content marketing, which at one point he described as “the most exciting part of the B2B world today.” Legacy publishers are telling advertisers that journalists will create content marketing for them.

Content Marketing 100

Content Marketing Ethics Content Vendors 100

B2B Memes

OCTOBER 28, 2011

There’s been a minor buzz this week in B2B circles about recent survey results suggesting that paper magazines and newsletters remain extremely important to business professionals. That doesn’t mean advertisers shouldn’t keep advertising—the numbers of print readers are still substantial. I’m sure it’s true.

Buzz 100

Buzz Comparison Custom Publishing Newsletter 100

B2B Memes

APRIL 16, 2012

Links to the first few years of posts were hard to find, and when you did, they were encrusted with spam advertisements. Now if Filloux will just correct that typo … Related posts: What B2B Can Learn from Jeff Jarvis, Part 2. What B2B Can Learn from Jeff Jarvis. What B2B Can Learn from Jeff Jarvis, Part 4.

CAN-SPAM 100

CAN-SPAM Sample Advertisements Advertising 100

B2B Memes

OCTOBER 22, 2010

In revised guidelines issued yesterday, the American Society of Magazine Editors, or ASME, addressed types of potential conflict between editorial and advertising content that have grown like weeds in recent years. One way or another, content marketing will get its own code of ethics.

Rules 100

Rules Ethics Content Marketing Guidelines 100

B2B Memes

JUNE 13, 2011

As any editor who’s somehow crept into the upper echelons of B2B publication management will know, the language of accounting and spreadsheets rules most boardroom discussions. The old “profit centers,” advertising sales and subscriptions, aren’t very good at the conversion process anymore. They’re pretty good at that.

Advertisements 100

Advertisements Advertising B2B Sales Cost 100

B2B Memes

MARCH 12, 2010

B2B magazines probably have a higher percentage of commodity content than other types of publications. That’s partly due to the prevalence of service journalism in B2B. But it has more to do with the influence of advertisers. But from a business standpoint, it has its merits.

Demand 100

Demand Advertorials Media Content 100

B2B Memes

JULY 16, 2013

Native advertising. Every publisher, every social network defines them in the context of their offer, their platform — what they are able to deliver to the advertiser. Content Marketing native advertising' Content marketing. Engagement. These, my friends, are the buzzwords du jour. Related posts: Journalists as Buzzword Killers.

Demand 100

Demand Peer-to-peer Social Networks Advertisements 100

B2B Memes

APRIL 20, 2012

” but in the actual reading of books, in the actual discussion of text, in the actual pursuit of thoughts and conclusions not predetermined by newspaper policy or the interests of the advertising department. Related posts: Is B2B Ready for Corporate Journalism? Journalism has always been about selling things.

Aggregators 100

Aggregators Advertisements Advertising B2B Marketing 100

B2B Memes

OCTOBER 19, 2010

What set off this latest skirmish was an article in the Guardian by Roy Greenslade (lately a fecund source of inspiration for B2B Memes ) concerning UK editor and blogger Marc Reeves. In a speech last June , he argued that editors should get involved in all sides of a business, even if that meant selling advertising.

Ethics 100

Ethics Transparency Blogger Advertisements 100

B2B Memes

JULY 13, 2010

For anyone trained in B2B journalism, the terms in the above list (and the remaining 86 in Shirk’s list) are obvious no-nos. Many B2B editors cut their teeth rewriting press releases for their publication’s product and services section. Their first lesson was almost always to remove any form of endorsement language.

Ethics 100

Ethics PR Press Fulfillment 100

B2B Memes

JANUARY 27, 2011

Likewise, commodity content is essential to publishing, especially B2B publishing and content marketing. Yes, there are unique and exciting developments to cover in any B2B industry, but most B2B media are built on a platform of commodity content. Far from it. Their output is essential to modern life.

Demand 100

Demand Media Content Fulfillment 100

B2B Memes

NOVEMBER 24, 2011

As one prominent B2B publisher put it earlier this year, “people who write for free will give you exactly what you pay for in the long run.” It’s their job to write, the readers’ to read, and the advertisers’ to pay for it all. Ironically, he made this statement in a presentation he was giving for free.).

Media 100

Media User-Generated Content Social Media Training 100

B2B Memes

SEPTEMBER 22, 2010

As part of a webinar for B2B editors on September 23, 2010, I’m speaking on “Managing Your Career in the Social Media Era.” (The The webinar, “ Enhancing Your Career in the B2B Press ,” is sponsored by the American Society of Business Press Editors.). Future of news: Insider Dave Morgan touts new media. That is no longer true.”.

Social Media 100

Social Media Work Management Media Bandwidth 100

B2B Memes

MAY 13, 2010

As one of the few acknowledged leaders and innovators in B2B publishing, IDG seems always to know when to act on industry trends. The significance of this development will depend on its implementation, but it has the potential to set off a huge shift in the way B2B publishers operate.

Content Marketing 100

Content Marketing Content Press Custom Publishing 100

B2B Memes

SEPTEMBER 9, 2010

While these B2B publishers have a highly evolved understanding of their markets, their inability to sacrifice the “ cash cow in the coal mine ” keeps them mired in the past. Logically, then, the most exciting and successful advances in B2B media should come from those with an understanding of B2B markets but without the old-media burdens.

Media 100

Media Lead Ranking B2B Thought Leadership Verticals 100

B2B Memes

SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

For B2B journalists, the most promising options appear to be either small-scale startups where they share both the risks and rewards, or content marketing groups within those companies formerly known as advertisers. The future of online trade journalism may not lie with large independent publishers.

Ethics 100

Ethics Startups B2B Sales Paid Search Agency 100

B2B Memes

MAY 11, 2010

Three weeks ago, in my last post on this blog, I asked the question, “ Is B2B Ready for Corporate Journalism? Recently, for example, an esteemed B2B journalist I know said that content marketing is not new: “we used to call that PR.&# But it’s also due to a public relations problem.

PR 100

PR Content Fulfillment Public Relations 100

B2B Memes

OCTOBER 8, 2010

For B2B journalists and editors, the transition to the social-media era can be daunting, especially if they rely on their employers to lead the way. As an ASBPE-Medill survey of B2B editors showed last April, traditional publishing companies have offered little new-media training or guidance. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Social Media 100

Social Media Media Lead Ranking Blogger 100

B2B Memes

JUNE 28, 2010

In a comment today on a recent B2B Memes blog post, “ Content Marketing’s PR Problem ,” a reader by the dubious name of Ant Miles raises an interesting point about content marketing and journalism. As Miles notes, journalism is often biased in hidden ways by PR and marketing. In content marketing, that bias tends to be more transparent.

Ethics 100

Ethics Transparency PR Advertising Mediums 100

B2B Memes

AUGUST 10, 2012

But whenever he explains AdVoice, the Forbes approach to mixing editorial contributions from advertisers with more traditional editorial, I start feeling queasy. Where I get uneasy with content marketing, though, is when it starts to look more like advertising. But is transparency an adequate defense?

Advertorials 100

Advertorials Disintermediation Content Marketing Advertising Agencies 100

B2B Memes

AUGUST 10, 2012

But whenever he explains AdVoice, the Forbes approach to mixing editorial contributions from advertisers with more traditional editorial, I start feeling queasy. Where I get uneasy with content marketing, though, is when it starts to look more like advertising. But is transparency an adequate defense?

Advertorials 100

Advertorials Disintermediation Content Marketing Advertising Agencies 100

B2B Memes

MARCH 2, 2011

As she explains, pure content businesses like magazines are just one of three types of media options for advertisers. But now that advertisers no longer need publishers for distribution, what’s left to offer them? Though at first it might seem odd to say that businesses built on content don’t value it, she has a point.

Word of Mouth 100

Word of Mouth Content Distribution Demographics 100

B2B Memes

MAY 6, 2011

In my days overseeing a large editorial group for a B2B publisher, my counterpart in sales was fond of telling me that advertisers found our editors arrogant. They are as nice as anyone else, but if they do their jobs right, they will often rub people the wrong way. They weren’t, and he knew it.

Ethics 100

Ethics Content B2B Sales User-Generated Content 100

B2B Memes

MARCH 9, 2011

For B2B professionals, mixing social media and business requires a delicate balance of giving and selling, sharing and monetizing. For that reason, he’s now including “a modest amount” of advertising in his sidebar. Are profits and social media compatible? Does making money from a friendship make it less social?

Social Media 100

Social Media RSS Media Wikipedia 100

B2B Memes

JUNE 21, 2010

As the media content marketers produce get more and more sophisticated, advertising and even paid subscriptions will likely become viable revenue streams. On one end is the pure publishing model, in which all revenues come from advertising and subscriptions. It’s trendy for content marketers to say that we’re all publishers.

Content Marketing 100

Content Marketing Content Blogger Lead Ranking 100

B2B Memes

JULY 1, 2010

Hold on, it says “ADVERTISEMENT” above the photo. As explained in detail on Charles Apple’s blog , what I mistook for a real newspaper was in fact a four-page advertising wrap. Oh, this whole thing is just an ad for Universal Studio’s new King Kong attraction. Unseemly expletive. In other words, an advertorial.

Advertorials 100

Advertorials Ethics Transparency Trust Marketing 100

B2B Memes

OCTOBER 5, 2012

Via the Media Briefing , this thought-provoking if rambling takedown of publishers’ unwarranted faith in content : “Once upon a time content in this industry was the reworked press releases that kept the advertising apart on the printed page. It was never valuable and it isn’t now.

Content 100

Content Press Conference Demand 100

B2B Memes

OCTOBER 5, 2012

Via the Media Briefing , this thought-provoking if rambling takedown of publishers’ unwarranted faith in content : “Once upon a time content in this industry was the reworked press releases that kept the advertising apart on the printed page. It was never valuable and it isn’t now.

Content 100

Content Press Conference Demand 100

B2B Memes

OCTOBER 29, 2010

With the exploding popularity of mobile form factors, whether phone or tablet, that approach to design will change: “There simply isn’t room for 15 related story links, a most-read panel, and 100 ways to share an article on the screen of a smartphone or small tablet—not to mention advertising.

Design 100

Design Peer-to-peer Mobile Advertising Tagging 100

B2B Memes

JUNE 30, 2010

This was, after all, the 1960s, the zenith of corporate marketing and advertising (think Mad Men ). The movie holds out hope for alcoholics through the intercession of Alcoholics Anonymous. It offers no similar shot at redemption for corporate PR. PR was about controlling the message, not addressing the truth.

PR 100

PR Public Relations Ethics Transparency 100

B2B Memes

MAY 26, 2010

His “freemium” model includes free e-books and audiobooks, donations, a print-on-demand (POD) paperback, a premium hardcover edition, advertisements, and a commission fee for a new short story. Since this is a self-published project, Doctorow wants to keep expenses to a minimum, and that means no outlay for proofreading or copyediting.

Blogger 100

Blogger Lead Ranking Social Media Tagging 100

B2B Memes

OCTOBER 19, 2012

Though B2B publishers will not simply want to copy those strategies, they should pay them close attention. First, B2B publications today still rely far too heavily on articles. But it’s still what too many B2B editors and journalists want to give them. What B2B Publishers Don’t Get: You Can’t Own the Conversation.

Aggregators 100

Aggregators B2B Content Analysis 100

B2B Memes

DECEMBER 15, 2011

Many traditional journalistic enterprises are very concerned with doing content that sells copies and catches eyeballs for advertisers than truly informing the public, which is part of the pain I think Paul describes so well. Jay Rosen, who I do not always agree with, makes some particularly salient points on this very issue.).

Brand Identity 100

Brand Identity Branding Eloqua Custom Publishing 100

B2B Memes

DECEMBER 8, 2011

If I were asked to name one active blogger that every B2B journalist should follow, I would probably suggest Adam Tinworth. Adam Tinworth. For more than eight years, the British trade press editor has blogged about journalism, social media, and much more on One Man and His Blog. Business models is, sadly, the obvious one.

CMS Development 100

CMS Development Peer-to-peer Lead Ranking Press 100

B2B Memes

OCTOBER 21, 2011

Was the problem that you can’t mix consumer and B2B models, or the probability that both approaches are doomed? Are the differences between B2B and consumer media even relevant any longer? My point isn’t that B2B and consumer markets are one and the same. My point isn’t that B2B and consumer markets are one and the same.

B to B 100

B to B Media B2B Ethics 100

B2B Memes

SEPTEMBER 30, 2011

In it, the magazine editor described a frustrating planning meeting with his counterparts in advertising sales. As the old advertising model that powered trade magazines for so many decades withers away, it’s getting harder and harder to sell independent, reader-oriented content. Where does that leave us? It beats me.

Marketing Proposals 100

Marketing Proposals Custom Publishing B2B Sales Inbound Marketing 100