The Seven Deadly Sins of B-to-B Publishing

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, April 1, 2004 by Anthony DeRico

Byline: Anthony DeRico

Every business has its pitfalls. Take Crystal Pepsi and New Coke; or those black-and-white M&Ms. (Thanks, Dick Clark.) Business-to-business publishers are not immune either. So, we've identified Seven Deadly Sins to avoid:

* LACK OF EXPERTISE

The whole raison d'etre for trades is to give readers expert knowledge about their business that they can't get from the consumer press. Many b-to-bs appear to be savvy industry players, but scratch the surface, and they're held together with duct tape and rubber bands - produced by inexperienced, underpaid staffers who don't have the analytical chops for the job. Some publishers also pride themselves on having their hands in everything - multiple industry segments, print products, Websites and TV. They lack in depth what they gain in breadth.

Solution: Focus where your brand can be the true authority, and growth will follow. Readers respect one solid source. "Not every book needs a TV show or 15 events," says Foote Cone & Belding (FCB) senior vice president/director of media brand planning Tyler Schaeffer. The key is to avoid overextending the brand.

* GROUNDHOG DAY

This is the sin of the overstuffed edit calendar. Many b-to-bs program every issue with special reports, supplements and other "advertising opportunities" at the expense of "journalism opportunities."

Take a look at some of the gadget guides, widget reviews, annual features on the same topic (with the same analysts and even the same art) and "best of" specials that arrive each summer to fatten an issue in a slow month. Do they help readers?

Solution: Don't overprogram the edit calendar. Leave room for the news and insight that editors who are doing their jobs right cover monthly. Special report and supplements topics should be beefy enough to produce a story that you would publish even if it weren't ad bait.

* SCROOGED

The worst ad recession anybody can remember resulted in huge layoffs, but with the stock market rising and corporate profits surging, why do publishers continue to do more with less? I mean editors, reporters and marketers who are critical to the product. Perhaps more than in consumer books (where brands are stronger) b-to-bs are people businesses. A high-profile editor or a top-notch sales force can make all the difference. The first impulse is often to get rid of high-priced talent. "Some of the first to go are highly paid, veteran sales guys," says Scott Patterson of Patterson Advertising Reports. "It's a huge mistake."

Solution: It's still an employer's market. Grab good talent while you can.

* LOOKING IN THE REAR-VIEW MIRROR

"All we have to do is wait for the world to get back to normal, and the pages will come back." Too often publishers look backward to see the future. It's not good practice - especially not in b-to-b media, where the success formula is changing. Leading companies are creating multiplatform, information-rich brands that speak to readers and advertisers on many levels. You can't survive on print alone.

Solution: Look to leaders such as CMP Media, which is finding new customers by offering up to six media options covering every aspect of their market. That includes closely related mags and multiple products, from Webinars to live events.

* LIGHT-UNDER-A-BUSHEL SYNDROME

While the best trades are "the bibles" of their industries because of their in-depth knowledge and expertise, many are overlooked by the mainstream media. Worse, when b-to-b editors break a story, it often gets re-reported and recycled by newspapers, consumer mags, and the TV news.

Solution: Use your Web site to publicize breaking news, issue press releases and make staff available to other media. Get media training for your top editors. Their mugs could be on CNBC too. Clearly it's not a beauty contest.

* WEB-O-PHOBIA

Many b-to-b publishers that got deeply involved in the Web had a world of pain in 2001 and 2002. They retreated into print, which, after all, pays the rent. But not like it used to - growth in b-to-b pages will be in the low single digits this year.

Solution: Publishers must learn to love every medium - including newsletters, Webinars, white papers - that can extend their brands and ad bases. The Web is where the growth is now (see story p. 36). Get over it and get online.

* WHORING THE EDIT

There is a seemingly irresistible tendency, especially in tough times, for b-to-bs to turn a virtue - the ability to precisely target customers for advertising - into a vice. Publishers assume that advertisers will think they're getting better responses if their ads appear with nearby complementary editorial: Write about the widgets, and Widgets Inc. will come.

Ad-inspired edit cheapens the reputation of the brand and is a business disaster too: If you reduced your publication's value proposition to providing adjacency to friendly edit, you have nothing left to sell - no chance to offer advertisers a broader partnership that would help them build their brands in print, online, at seminars, etc.

Solution: Don't sell the edit, sell the expertise - the data, the analysis, the smarts that readers crave. If you can't make a plausible case for your mag's expertise, please revisit Deadly Sin No. 1.