In my previous post, I pointed out how vertical B2B media companies need to focus on their strength, which is knowing their audience, as blogger Prescott Shibles posted. And now I just realized I had a good example on my desk…
We talked to a sales rep for WWJ radio in Detroit, which is weird for a small, B2B company like ours. Turns out that what he was selling wasn’t air time, but sponsorships in a newsletter they send out. Seems they have been able to parlay their close ties with the automotive industry into a publication called “Autobeat Daily“, which is a daily digest of auto industry news. They also have a sister publication called “Autotech Daily” which focuses on automotive technology.
They have 80,000 subscribers to Autobeat, which is a $125 annual subscription. But here is what they deliver that makes them a good example of what Prescott Shibles was saying: They have a demographics on their readers that makes every ad and click all the more valuable to those who are marketing to those types. For example, 43% of readers work for tier-one suppliers. Even more compelling is the fact that 76% of readers read it daily, and before noon.
Technically, the publication is in a PDF file that is easy to get passed around, too. The layout of the newsletter is made to be easy to scan-and-scroll, which I think is a great simplification that makes having to open an attachment acceptable. And they have a pro editor who has been in the auto industry for years. All that being said on the positive, their ad rate is $1,100 per issue for a banner ad, which is apparently still a hard sell based on the filler ads they’ve been running.
Dave,Great post, and thanks for the reference to my blog. You might also be interested in seeing what < HREF="http://www.shibles.com/content/view/13/68/" REL="nofollow">Summit Publishing<> is doing on this front. I’m really impressed with it as well. You can call it a newsletter, and e-book, or an e-zine, but it’s basically a PDF product that is a lead generator by tying back into the subscription files.BTW, I still think vertical search has its place, but it’s offerings like eBuild.com and Global Spec that are the way to go, not Web search. They use product data to create differentiate themselves. People tend to get gung ho on the idea that they can create a livestock news search engine that works better than Google. That’s just tough to make work.Thanks again,Prescott
is doing on this front. I’m really impressed with it as well. You can call it a newsletter, and e-book, or an e-zine, but it’s basically a PDF product that is a lead generator by tying back into the subscription files.BTW, I still think vertical search has its place, but it’s offerings like eBuild.com and Global Spec that are the way to go, not Web search. They use product data to create differentiate themselves. People tend to get gung ho on the idea that they can create a livestock news search engine that works better than Google. That’s just tough to make work.Thanks again,Prescott