BtoB Media Business - July 2010 - (Page 15)

FEATURE ■ BUDGETING FOR 2011 Going allin Publishers bet big on digital, events and paid content, as print continues to languish BY SEAN CALLAHAN L ast year hit most business media companies in the same way— hard, with an industrywide print ad page decline of almost 30% topping a long list of pain points. ¶ This year, as publishers revise budgets for the second half and begin to look ahead to 2011, they are experiencing the recovery in similar ways. At most companies, print is still in decline, although the freefall has ended. Digital and event revenues are up, sharply in some cases, and it’s in these growth areas that most companies are investing this year and next. first choice for b-to-b marketers. “I believe that a marketer’s dollars are invested in social media, online development, SEO, Google AdWords first—and then they explore b-to-b media outlets,” said Scott McCafferty, WTWH managing director. McCafferty and Associate Publisher Mike Emich continue to evolve WTWH with this belief in mind, focusing on delivering such marketing services as lead-gen- Many b-to-b media companies are also setting aside funds to experiment with paid content and research as a means to extract revenue from end-users. WTWH Media, which is based in Manhattan Beach, Calif., and publishes Design World, is typical of many companies in the current environment. Moving well beyond print, it operates with an understanding that a traditional business media company is no longer an automatic eration programs. “We see continued growth in custom Web development combined with integrated media programs that deliver ROI goals,” McCafferty said. “Online continues to be our market driver.” WTWH has hired five people in recent months with an eye on investing in custom Web development, infrastructure, online editorial and video. At the same time, McCafferty said, the company is still investing in print. “Our print titles have experienced significant gains due to maintaining high quality standards in paper and circulation, with 100% qualified first year,” he said. CFO Publishing, which publishes CFO magazine, has an outlook that resembles that of many other business media companies. The company was created to acquire a majority stake in the CFO brand from the Economist Group earlier this year. Competition is coming “from all sides,” said CFO Publishing PresidentCEO Frank Quigley. Nonetheless, he’s guardedly optimistic. “We’ll finish up a few percentage points in 2010, compared to the previous year’s revenue. That’s an all-in estimate and will take a lot of focus to get there,” he said. CFO Publishing’s print revenue is down only 1% so far this year, while digital has seen a double-digit increase and events, a single-digit gain, Quigley said. “We are seeing the Big 4 accounting firms begin to come back after a long absence from outbound marketing,” he said. Looking ahead to next year, Quigley said he plans to invest in many areas, including paid content. “Our ‘Audit Fee Report’ was introduced in April, selling for $1,200,” he said. “We’ll do well by yearend. We’re estimating a six-figure gross. That was a beta and set the stage for rolling out more data reports and benchmarks for corporate finance.” CFO Publishing also intends to expand its conferences. “We think that narrower-topic, daylong or half-day venues might be attractive,” Quigley said. “For the CFOs, the consideration isn’t how much the conference registration costs them but how much time they must give up to attend.” Quigley said the company will also invest in a content management system, improving its reader database and, possibly, acquisitions. “This will be an active area for mediabusinessonline.com | July 2010 | Media Business | 15 http://www.mediabusinessonline.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of BtoB Media Business - July 2010

BtoB Media Business - July 2010
Contents
Great Media Websites
Events Special Report
Budgeting for 2011
Sales & Marketing
M&A
Audience Development
Production
People
Benchmarks
Endnote

BtoB Media Business - July 2010