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Local Media Innovation Mission attendees visited with some of the world's most disruptive and forward-thinking technology and media companies. They were on a search for inspiration, new and cutting-edge practices/business models, answers on how to create a culture of innovation and how to fuel growth at their companies. The report yielded 11 top takeaways including some surprising ones such as: Eliminating inter-company email Why you need to 'feed the monster' - Google+ Shareability is the new KPI Integrated sales teams don't work Disrupt yourself Invest in a data manager Visual journalism will help reach younger consumers Native advertising is hot - jump on this bandwagon LinkedIn's new publisher tool & sales navigator product are going to be game-changing And more… Order full report at www.localmedia.org
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Local Media Innovation Mission Takeaways – July 11, 2014Presented by Nancy Cawley Lane, President, Local Media Association, Brandon Erlacher, Publisher, The
Elkhart Truth & CIO, Federated Media and Chris Jones, Director of Innovation Wire & Publisher Solutions, Deseret Digital
About the Innovation Mission• A six-day study tour to visit with some of the world’s
most innovative technology and media companies• 26 senior-level local media executives participated this
year• Searching for new revenue streams, emerging trends,
inspiration and an understanding of how to create a culture of innovation
About the Innovation Mission• Dates: June 1-6, 2014• Highlight was a private ‘off-the-record’ meeting with
Allen Blue, co-founder, LinkedIn• Goal is to provide actionable and disruptive takeaways
for the local media industry• The 2014 trip yielded 11 top takeaways
INNOVATION MISSION 2014
Innovation Mission Visits
11 Takeaways From the Innovation
Mission
Cultivate a Culture
Creating a Culture of Innovation Requires Major Changes:• Open & Transparent Work Space• Importance of teams/collaboration – no silos
INNOVATION MISSION 2014
Cultivate a Culture• Non-traditional perks
(food, creative days off, etc.) Fun atmosphere!• Importance of vision/
mission (posting on the wall; employees know
it and can recite it)• It all starts with
leadership; must be visible & accessible
• Trust & investing in staff
Open & Transparent
First step to building innovative culture
Share and Share Alike
Shareability is the new KPI• BuzzFeed is obsessed with shareability & we should be as well• Shares are most important metric at BuzzFeed; more than page views
Share and Share Alike
• Solutions like Muck Rack allow publishers to measure their shares• Newsrooms should measure shares in addition to the other metrics & understand what content lends itself to sharing
INNOVATION MISSION 2014
Divide & Conquer
Most local media companies in North America rely mainly on integrated sales teams despite the Borrell research that suggests the opposite is the better strategy.
Those with higher digital advertising percentages know the value of separate staffs:• Russmedia: Digital and print reps compete against each other (digital now accounts for 25% of their total revenue)• GateHouse/Propel Marketing: 100 FTE's selling digital-only for Propel• Borrell data backs this up - http://tinyurl.com/BAreps
Big Data: Jump on This Bandwagon
INNOVATION MISSION 2014
• From LinkedIn: “When it comes to big data, ask the right questions: Measure the right stuff (even if it’s not big data) and take actions - learn from them. Don’t start with the measure.”• People are more apt to like and share stories that have more awe (30%), more anger (34%) and more anxiety (21%). They are less likely to like/share stories that convey more sadness (-16%) - LinkedIn
Big Data: Jump on This Bandwagon
INNOVATION MISSION 2014
• NY Times: launching food and opinion apps based on their data analysis; NYT Now - highly successful 'brief version of NYT' reaches previously untapped audience. • BuzzFeed employs 10 data analysts; this helps them sell based on insights• Many of the IM attendees are hiring a data manager as a result of attending the IM – even a part-time position should produce ROI in a short period of time. • LMIA just released a report on Big Data with a variety of case studies ranging from The New York Times to Shaw Suburban Media.
Complexity for SMBs = Opportunity
INNOVATION MISSION 2014
Double down on Digital Agency Services• SMBs are going to get more and more confused with the new technology and tools entering the market• This is great news for local media companies that have or will launch digital agency services• Google+ is much more than a social network; it's an SEO play and is a must for SMBs & local media companies• YouTube is second largest search engine in the world; videos need to be presented there (even if you are also using other platforms)• LinkedIn's new Sales Navigator tool is about to disrupt sales prospecting; 'social selling' is the new buzzword
Complexity for SMBs = Opportunity
INNOVATION MISSION 2014
• WordPress platform is perfect for SMBs but they don't have the time or inclination to build the site or post blogs• PayPal is about to make the mobile device the wallet of the future; serious implications for SMBs• Native is exploding and SMBs don't know where to start• Mobile is about to explode; 18% of local searches result in a purchase. SMBs need strong, compelling mobile presence• Offline shopping is becoming a new trend with eBay leading the way• "Propel's growth has been extraordinary; we are investing even more" - Kirk Davis, CEO, GateHouse Media
You Have Mail (NOT!)
INNOVATION MISSION 2014
Say Goodbye to Email• O2 – new platform from WordPress that eliminates inter-company email• More than 1/2 of the IM participants are participating in a beta test with them• Helps with efficiency and creating an open, transparent culture
You Have Mail (NOT!)
INNOVATION MISSION 2014
• IM attendee Red Wing Publishing created similar platform using 'Google Community'• Interested in participating in the WP beta? Contact Nancy Lane for details
Turning the Tables:Disrupt Yourself
INNOVATION MISSION 2014
eBay/PayPal - Developing and testing strategies that will enable consumers to pay for everything using their phone.
Turning the Tables:Disrupt Yourself
INNOVATION MISSION 2014
LinkedIn – Disrupted Monster.com & others and now launching “Sales Navigator”
Turning the Tables:Disrupt Yourself
• Russmedia – Two-brand strategy Their free site VOL.AT and their newspaper replica site behind a metered pay wall.
• WordPress – o2 product will change the way people communicate internally.
• GateHouse – New content and design center plus separate business units.
INNOVATION MISSION 2014
Visualize the Possibilities
BuzzFeed – Entire site based on visual journalism.
• Pinterest style designs (including eBay)
• VOL.AT – larger visuals
• WSJ – Added a visual team
INNOVATION MISSION 2014
Visualize the Possibilities
INNOVATION MISSION 2014
LinkedIn’s SlideShare – • Largest community
of presentations on Web.
• Upload and share• The secret Sauce is
visual content + SEO (content is evergreen)
A Platform You Can Stand On: WordPress
INNOVATION MISSION 2014
PHILOSOPHYPlatform: Simple & elegant, but also powerful and flexibleExtensible: Customize via themes and pluginsRobust API’s: Easily integrate with other servicesRapid iteration: Three major releases every year + easy upgradesOpen: Use your own data and code
WordPress is the most popular CMS on the Web. They power one in five websites, this includes 22% of all new active domains,23,000 plugins and more than 1,500 themes.
Get Social or Get Out
• Publishers/senior execs MUST participate in social media – no longer an option
• Google + is an SEO play – post stories on G+; watch your traffic grow
• YouTube - 2nd largest search engine; post your videos there to extend reach
INNOVATION MISSION 2014
Get Social or Get Out
• LinkedIn – “All-Star” for personal profiles
• LinkedIn publisher tools for blogs, etc.
INNOVATION MISSION 2014
Native. It is Here and it Works
• BuzzFeed – Business model is 100% native
• Traditional Media Companies - NYT,
• WSJ, GateHouse and Russmedia all experimenting
• The Elkhart Truth’s Flavor 574 targets
• food nicheINNOVATION MISSION 2014
“We are the newsroom for our brand partners. We are helping them react to events that make sense to their brand.” Matt Trotta, BuzzFeed
INNOVATION MISSION 2014
Participant Feedback
Eric Bright, VP of E-commerce, Deseret Digital Media: “An open and transparent
culture is a must-have. Get rid of email. Big data has dominated the scene for a long
time now but small data is where you can leverage and innovate. We saw true
reinvention in work at Autommatic and eBay. They are responding to the needs of
consumers. Finally, it was amazing to listen to Allen Blue, founder of LinkedIn, and
also the executives at Automattic. They are truly out to improve the world and not
just build a business. Leadership is hard and lonely—we can learn a lot from these
leaders.”Mark Poss, CEO, Red Wing Publishing: “The culture piece of this trip has been the
consistent theme for me over the past three Innovation Missions. Culture and vision
drive your ability to execute. We have made and continue to make many changes to
improve our culture and attract top talent. Other key takeaways for me: shareabilty is
a KPI, seeing how the different companies were approaching native was very helpful
as I start to craft my own strategy, and Kirk Davis’s point about ‘selling digital stuff
versus selling a digital business.’ “
INNOVATION MISSION 2014
Participant Feedback
Shannon Kinney, Founder and Client Success Officer, Dream Local Digital: “I
came away with eight top takeaways: SMB confusion is going to increase and
they need our help more than ever. LinkedIn’s new product line around sales
acquisition is going to be a game changer. Data matters and we need product
management. Big data and audience targeting are getting more and more
powerful. No more email! Google agency PIN; this will help us to assist SMBs.
Company culture matters a lot. Integrated sales teams don’t work.”
David Arkin, Vice President of Content, GateHouse Media, Inc.: “Proper use of
data was a big takeaway for me. Our editors are not using data in the right way
(BuzzFeed has a criteria on how they approach stories – we need to implement
something similar). BuzzFeed is obsessed with shares/engagement and we can
learn from that as well. The CBS Local visit also touched on data and I particularly
like the tailgate videos. Finally, we need to look at WordPress. That was a very
impressive visit.”
INNOVATION MISSION 2014
Participant Feedback
Brandon Erlacher, Publisher, The Elkhart Truth and CIO, Federated Media:
“Things that we are looking to implement because of the IM: encourage use of
Google+ (it directly feeds the index) and use other Google tools to make sure
SMBs are found (and us too!). Become ‘thought-leaders’ utilizing tools on
LinkedIn (gives our brand lift). Rename native marketing to content marketing
(I liked Buzzfeed’s notion of ‘being the newsroom for the brand/client.’) Use big
data to drive decisions on product, content and helping SMBs. Continue to
evolve the culture in our building and businesses.”
INNOVATION MISSION 2014
2014 IM Report How 2 Use It
Have your entire team read it and then schedule a meeting to discuss.
Pick at least three action items to implement by the end of the year.
Call on LMA (Nancy or Pete) for help in any area.
INNOVATION MISSION 2013
QUESTIONS?
Nancy Cawley [email protected]
@localmediarocks
https://www.linkedin.com/today/author/11309770 (6 blogs about the IM have been posted here)
Tumblr: http://nancycawleylane.tumblr.com/
INNOVATION MISSION 2014