Be future ready publishers via building a digital supply chain of your content. Here is a 10 step guide for publishers.

2. But first, a few questions
#Sourcing
We have a good team
of in-house writers and
ad-hoc contributors
across the industry.
What other channels
do we use to generate
content?
#Production
Apart from the usual
articles, we produce
videos, audios, chats,
surveys and listings.
How deep is their
integration with our
mainstream content?
#Packaging
Our archive has five
years worth of stories
on every aspect of
people management.
Can readers find and
experience our content
based on their habits?
#Distribution
All our content can be
accessed on our web
and mobile sites.
What is our visibility on
our audience’s most
preferred platforms for
media consumption?
#Metrics
We generate several million pageviews a year and are
know as the top media platform in our niche.
But do we know which audience segment generates
most of these page views? Or the location? Or device?
Or time of day? What intelligence do we have?
#Monetisation
Advertising, both in print and online, is our primary
source of revenue. We also have a modest income
from corporate and individual print subscriptions.
Can we charge a premium by being innovative with our
inventory? How do we encourage digital subscribers?
What
can
we
change
to
plug
these
gaps
in
our
publishing?
Let’s
pick
just
10
points
of
ac-on.

3. Segment
audiences
by
industry
and
role.
Then
use
list-­‐based
tools
to
track
their
conversa>ons
and
preferences.
Look
for
and
engage
with
topics
or
influencers
with
high
social
gravity.
Include
these
in
our
editorial
checklist.
Establish
our
lists
as
great
resources
for
the
industry
to
follow.
Each
list
must
also
be
developed
into
a
good
sample
userbase
for
any
content
we
produce
in
that
segment.
Similarly,
use
Google’s
keyword
and
trends
tools
to
track
rising
searches
in
various
segments.
This
will
ensure
that
our
content
machine
responds
in
>me
to
changes
in
audience
interest
and
rides
these
graphs
to
their
peak.
These
tools
will
give
us
a
very
wide
pool
of
topics
to
address.
How
will
we
ensure
our
content
throughput
keeps
up?
1. Build a list-ening grid #sourcing

4. Our
team
of
in-­‐house
writers
is
finite.
And
they
can
never
be
experts
at
everything.
Hence,
user
contribu>ons.
Brands,
industry
leaders,
even
bloggers
seek
a
share
of
voice
in
their
niche
media.
But
their
contribu>ons
are
usually
one-­‐off
appearances
and
inconsistent
over
>me.
Build
rela-onship
programs
that
connect
with
all
types
of
influencers,
map
them
to
an
area
of
exper>se
and
then
assign
and
retrieve
regular
contribu>ons
from
them.
Outreach
for
content
will
also
improve
our
speaker
selec>on,
lead
genera>on,
talent
referral,
even
audience
development.
Conversely,
can
we
get
such
non-­‐editorial
ac-vi-es
to
generate
content?
2. Set up contributor programs #sourcing

5. The
Internet
Retail
Expo
‘14
sessions
can
be
accessed
as
trailers,
full
videos,
slideshows,
Storifys,
even
audience
data
charts.
Can
such
event
archives
evolve
into
a
paywalled
and
searchable
knowledgebase?
Our
events
—
we
do
several
each
month
—
aggregate
the
industry’s
best
around
meaningful
conversa>ons.
Why
do
they
need
to
have
a
shelf
life?
Document
every
interac>on
as
a
mul-media
recap.
3. Get content, data at events #sourcing

6. 4. Structure your content #production
Create
content
like
code
—
in
modules.
Modules
can
be
reused
and
repurposed
across
mul>ple
stories.
They
are
more
adap-ve
across
pla?orms
or
contexts,
and
easier
to
search,
sort
or
filter.
Use
natural
language
processing
(NLP)
to
automa>cally
and
thoroughly
bag
and
tag
each
module
of
content.
This
structure
also
allows
us
to
produce
stories
with
mul-ple,
dis-nct
sources
and
creates
possibili>es
for
co-­‐crea>on
with
our
users
—
even
with
programs.
With
structure,
we
can
also
allow
users
to
follow
specific
topics,
writers
or
stories
instead
of
the
en>re
site.
But
how
will
we
ensure
content
relevance?

7. Once
content
is
structured,
we
have
room
for
everything
from
gamifica-on
and
loyalty
programs
to
engagement
tracking
by
module
type,
number
of
modules
per
visit,
and
more.
The
key
is
relevance.
Know
who
and
what
our
audience
reads,
the
order
they
read
it
in,
the
plaorms
or
devices
they
read
it
on,
the
>me
of
day
and
loca>on
they
read
it
at,
people
they
share
it
with.
Plan,
produce,
deliver
content
accordingly.
Merchandise
it.
In
>me,
each
user’s
experience
will
be
customised
to
his/her
preferences.
But
how
will
we
extend
these
insights
to
macro-­‐level
editorial
planning?
5. Personalise #production #packaging

8. Audience
insights,
however
granular,
show
pa^erns
over
>me.
Broadcasters
have
always
used
these
as
the
basis
for
their
channel
programming.
That’s
why
we
know
that
Star
Movies’
Fridays
are
comedy
nights
and
Sunday
a`ernoons
are
thriller
marathons.
We
need
to
build
audience
habits
and
push
related
proper>es
that
we
want
to
be
known
for,
based
on
insights
gathered
in
sourcing
and
produc>on.
Set
up
an
editorial
calendar
to
start
building
monthly
themes
and
recurring
genres.
Then
assign
story
ideas
and
formats
to
writers
and
contributors.
Now,
do
we
bring
the
audience
to
the
party
or
just
go
where
the
audience
is?
6. Ride the audience’s habits #packaging

9. Connected
audiences
today
consume
news
and
informa>on
in
bits
and
pieces
from
mul-ple
streams
—
mobile
no>fica>on
screens,
email
newsle^ers,
social
feeds,
aggrega>on
apps,
etc.
We
need
to
be
everywhere,
no
excuses.
The
key
is
to
automate
just
enough
of
the
process
for
it
to
stop
being
an
effort,
and
manually
coordinate
the
rest
so
users
don’t
feel
there’s
a
robot
across
the
channel.
But
what
happens
when
people
talk
back?
Social
media
management
is
exactly
like
running
a
contact
centre.
Be
quick,
be
relevant,
don’t
screw
up.
Set
up
guidelines.
At
a
cri>cal
mass,
our
communica>on
will
evolve
beyond
posts/replies
to
reminders/
sugges>ons.
How
will
we
know
when?
7. Show up and follow up #distribution

10. There’s
no
point
to
measuring
everything
if
we
don’t
know
what
to
do
with
it
—
and
when.
Hence,
lifecycles.
Use
cookies
to
iden>fy
users
and
compile
their
online
habits.
Assign
to
various
stages
of
the
audience
lifecycle.
Transi>ons
between
stages
can
trigger
user
prompts
to
dive
deeper
or
stay
on.
Track
acquisi>on,
reten>on,
leakage,
et
al.
Iden>fy
affini>es
between
user
or
content
segments.
Build,
act
on
data.
Correlate
these
with
performance
data
on
our
topics,
formats,
even
authors.
With
all
these
numbers,
can’t
we
also
give
adver-sers
beDer
opportuni-es
to
connect
with
our
audience?
8. Track the audience lifecycle #metrics
Visitor
New
Contact
Engaged
Contact
Evangelist
Contact
Slipping
Contact
Dropout

11. 9. Create new inventory #monetisation
Why have just display ads? Why not brand
multimedia content like infographics,
photos, videos, live chats, ebooks, more?
Note how IBM chose power of data as the
single theme for useful content in various
formats, then aggregated them in one unit.
Sponsored widgets are a tremendous way
for brands to build a reputation as a source
of useful content in their niche.
For users, we should also experiment with
freemium subscriptions, micropayments.
Steps 1 to 9 are all key changes in product,
workflow and culture. How will we execute
them without bringing the house down?

12. 10. Work with iamWire #smartpublishing
Sourcing
• List-ening Grid
• Event Content
• Social Gravity
• Relationship
Programs
Production
• Tools, Strategy
• NLP Effects
• Structured
Content, Data
Packaging
• Programmed
Publishing
• Content
Merchandising
Distribution
• Tools, Strategy
• Social, Email,
Mobile, UI/UX
Management
Metrics
• Tools, Strategy
• User Research
and Tracking
• Performance
Metrics, Alerts
Monetisation
• Inventory
Innovation
• Subscription
Programs

13. Pawan Gupta
Founder & CEO, www.comezzo.com
+91 90087 88500
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pawanguptacomezzo
Twitter: https://twitter.com/guptapawan
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