Ninety-seven per cent of ‘business decision makers’ use B2Bs online

B2B websites are used by 97 per cent of ‘business decision makers’, a new study conducted by IPSOS for the Association of Online Publishers (AOP) shows.

The results, quoted from the AOP’s release:

• 97 per cent stated that B2B websites are the form of media most used for work
• 60 per cent ranked business websites as an essential source of information in their work
• 60 per cent consider business websites as providing information that they couldn’t get elsewhere

B2B websites are the first port of call when:

• Researching/informing business decisions (56 per cent)
• Researching/informing purchase decisions (55 per cent)
• Gathering sector news (54 per cent)

“51 per cent choosing B2B websites as a preferred source of business information; B2B websites are also favoured over two and a half times more than TV, Radio, Magazines and Newspapers sources combined,” the AOP reported, in a release.

B2B sites are also shown to provide a highly effective medium for advertisers:

• 43 per cent are more likely to respond to advertising on a business website than advertising in other media
• 53 per cent of users are more likely to have confidence in, or do business with, a company, if it advertises on a business site they know
• 74 per cent trust a website more if it comes from a source that they know already (eg. business publication or industry body)

“82 per cent of all business decision makers use at least one B2B digital delivery mechanism for work, rising to 91 per cent among regular B2B websites users.

“Email alerts/newsletters are the most popular (51 per cent) followed by platforms which provide feedback: peer reviews, blogs and forums; but other systems such as RSS feeds, online seminars, podcast, vodcast and video streaming are gaining momentum.

“A core minority of respondents are currently using five or more of these delivery mechanisms; and overall 39 per cent, of those surveyed, expect to increase their use of digital delivery mechanisms in the next 12 months.”

Of those using five or more digital delivery mechanisms (70 per cent) found that B2B websites offer more engaging content and advertising than other business information sources and considered them to:

• Offer instant access to information (79 per cent)
• Save time (77 per cent)
• Offer innovative ways to access information (74 per cent)
• Allow business decision makers to interact with peers more efficiently (69 per cent)

“This is an important snapshot of the business community and their use of B2B websites, and further supports the insights gathered in the AOP Census 2008 which showed that our members are increasing their investment in content delivery methods including IPTV, mobile, vodcast, podcast and RSS feeds,” Liz Somerville, the acting director of AOP said, in the release from the AOP.

Similar posts:

• Press Gazette: FT.com gaining European business readers, says survey
• Online publishers in ‘bullish mood’ despite economic downturn
• WAN Amsterdam: Digital will account for 43 per cent of newspaper advertising growth by 2012 according to PricewaterhouseCoopers
• Future websites attracting over 11m unique users per month
• Behavioural ads form of ‘free speech’, says Newspaper Association of America

AOP: Current TV joins UK’s Association of Online Publishers

Similar posts:

• Johnston Press joins AOP
• AOP: BBC Worldwide joins AOP
• PaidContent: AP signs up 500 newspapers for online marketplace
• AP offers digital analysis to members as papers bypass agency content
• AP: Associated Press to shrink staff by 10 per cent in next year

AOP 2008: At yesterday’s digital sweetshop - best of the rest

It was all a bit kids in a sweetshop at yesterday’s AOP Digital Publishing Summit, if we forget all the problems with wifi, of course.

The main aim, for most attendees, In all likelihood, was to talk to all the people they know in online life, but rarely get the chance to talk to in person – over coffee (and odd looking cake/pastries) and lunch during the day, and drinks in the evening.

The programme ranged from panels to energetic speakers with a broad range of digital publishing topics covered - though perhaps not as much new discussion was initiated as some participants hoped, despite Peter Bale from Microsoft attempt to get some answers from YouTube’s Jonathan Gillespie.

A few additional highlights to add to our coverage so far:

Emily’s Bell’s vision for Guardian’s international reach: In the panel introducing ‘the digital pioneers,’ Bell, director of digital content for Guardian News & Media, said the group sees now as a ‘uniquely’ timed opportunity for the brand to expand internationally - and to do so before their rivals do.

Speaking to Journalism.co.uk afterwards, Bell elaborated on her example of the Economist’s well-established grasp of the international market.  Although it happened for the Economist over a 20-year period, she told me that a similar endeavour in 2008 is ‘compressed’ by the web.

Bell also pointed out during the panel that the Chinese words for ‘crisis’ and ‘opportunity’ are one and the same (I tried to keep that in mind as my laptop charger physically broke and the wifi went down).

The Guardian’s move stateside was also referred to by Saul Klein, partner of Index Ventures and moderator of later panel ‘Growing in the Digital World’.

Quoting Simon Waldman, Guardian Media Group’s director of digital strategy and development (and Emily Bell’s boss), Klein said the Guardian’s acquisition of ContentNext was ‘well set up to exploit’. Waldman explained how moves like that prepared the group for a US audience.

The ‘Unlocking the mobile internet’ panel: In the spirit of the thing, TechCrunch’s Mike Butcher gave out his mobile number for questions before probing the panel on their respective views on mobile internet’s future.

Is 2009 the year of mobile? Melissa Goodwin, controller of mobile at ITV says not: “I don’t think it’s next year, I’m hoping it’s 2010.”

“We just want to give you anything you may want,” she said of ITV’s mobile strategy, though she admitted that building advertising revenue was very much an ongoing issue.

Goodwin also revealed that consumers can look forward to Friends Reunited on two iPhone applications in the first part of next year, as reported in more depth over at PaidContent.

Stefano Maruzzi, president of CondeNet International, on outlining Conde’s digital development: As reported over at MediaGuardian and PaidContent, CondeNet, the online arm of Conde Nast, has got lots of ideas about lots of things:

• Rolling out a Wired website worldwide (and in different languages, he told PaidContent)
• Keeping Tatler’s online presence minimal
• Engaging with the iPod user audience

Similar posts:

• paidContent appears on Guardian site
• ContentNext begins UK expansion with paidContent recruitment
• DNA 2008: CNN says no ‘mojos’ for five years
• Andrew Bagguley hired as consultant for Guardian mobile drive
• AOP: RBI takes four prizes at Digital Publishing Awards 2008

AOP: UK regulators are stifling international expansion, says i-level founder

Andrew Walmsley, founder of digital marketing agency i-level, livened up the panel discussion on the future of the media industry at yesterday’s Association of Online Publishers (AOP) Digital Publishing Summit.

Media regulators in the UK are holding publishers back, said Walmsley, and digital innovations that would thrive in the US, such as Project Kangaroo - the video on-demand service being jointly developed by the BBC, ITV and Channel, are being stifled here.

Journalism.co.uk caught up with Walsmley off stage at the conference and asked him what the regulators should be doing (apologies for the ‘jazzy’ music in the background, not my choice…):

Similar posts:

• Q&A: Nir Ofir, founder of iamnews
• Goodbye pop-up player - BBC to embed all video
• Velocix launches free multimedia content delivery systerm
• NOTW’s reporting on Max Mosley was out of context and unethical, says undercover reporter
• FT Digital Media conference: BBC iPlayer stats

AOP: Today’s television ‘may not be worth sitting still for’, says US author Clay Shirky

Even children can’t concentrate on television anymore, says Clay Shirky, the US-based internet educator, consultant and author of ‘Here comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations’.

In his speech at yesterday’s AOP Digital Publishing summit Shirky told an anecdote about the four-year-old daughter of one of his friends watching a film: “[S]he jumps round behind the TV and [starts] rooting around in the wires, looking for the mouse.”

Today’s television ‘may not be worth sitting still for’, but the computer is for everything.

The problem for media professionals is that the industry still holds the perception that everyone sees publishing in the same way, he explained.

But, he said, citing the example of Flickr, material may be ‘in public but [it's] not for the public. The cost of putting something out in public has fallen so low.’

“This is a reversal of the usual pattern,” he said. ‘Gather and share has been the usual pattern [of publishing] since time immemorial’, but now grouping comes first.

He split his talk into three categories: the sharing culture of Flickr; the collaborative nature of Wikipedia; and the collective action of internet groupings, citing the use of a Facebook group to force HSBC to reverse its decision on withdrawing students’ interest-free overdrafts.

These examples, he said, show the ‘the environment that’s coming’ and a need to re-think the model’.

“If you wait to hear what the business model is you will hear that your competitors have perfected it,” he said.

Shirky compared today’s media trends to London’s 17th-century gin craze: at first people didn’t know what to do with what they were consuming, but they then learnt how to share, collaborate and collect.

“The action is where people are going after the consumers. Not just consuming, but producing and sharing.”

Similar posts:

• Online Information 2008 kicking off now
• Express Newspapers staff plan three-day strike
• Social Media Journalist: “Facebook is overrated. The novelty is wearing off and people are getting bored” Matthew Buckland
• contentious.com: Why the New York Times should show its sources
• Wired: Flickr groups reject new video feature

AOP: ‘This is no time for vanity publishing’ - full audio of Sly Bailey’s speech

In her opening speech at yesterday’s Association of Online Publishers (AOP) Digital Publishing Summit, Trinity Mirror CEO Sly Bailey called on publishers to integrate digital plans into their businesses, without relying solely on the anticipated growth in digital revenues to bring future success.

Here’s her speech in full:

Similar posts:

• AOP: UK regulators are stifling international expansion, says i-level founder
• Online publishers in ‘bullish mood’ despite economic downturn
• LinkedIn Europe managing director talks about forming new publishing partnerships
• Wall Street Journal appoints chief technology officer
• Telegraph.co.uk: Felix Dennis to launch The Week in Australia, India and Canada

AOP: RBI takes four prizes at Digital Publishing Awards 2008

Reed Business Information (RBI) won four of the 16 awards handed out at last night’s Association of Online Publishers (AOP) Digital Publishing Awards.

The publisher was named best online publisher in the business field for the second year running, as well as picking up prizes for best business website, best B2B online community for Farmers Weekly Interactive, and best online advertising sales team in the business category.

Sky News’ website was awarded the gong for best consumer website, while parent company BSkyB was named best consumer publisher online.

The Guardian picked up an accolade for its Katine project and FT.com for use of video online.

The full list of winners (courtesy of a release from the AOP):

Launch 2008 award - Guardian News and Media for www.guardian.co.uk/katine

Editorial team (business) - Accountancy Age, Incisive Media

Editorial team (consumer) - NME.com, IPC Media

Research & insights project - The Origin Panel - Women’s Space, IPC Media

Online advertising sales team (consumer) - Future Publishing - digital agency team

Online advertising sales team (business) - RBI e-newsletters

Innovation 2008 award - Financial Times, Mockingbird Model

Cross-media project - WKD Nuts Football Awards, IPC Media

Commercial partnership - Ford Bite, Channel 4

Use of video - FT.com

Mobile site - Sun Mobile, News Group Newspapers

Online community - Farmers Weekly Interactive, RBI

Best website (business) - XpertHR.co.uk, RBI

Best website (consumer) - Sky News, BSkyB

Best online publisher 2008 (business) - RBI

Best online publisher 2008 (consumer) - BSkyB

Similar posts:

• Full shortlist of Association of Online Publishers award nominees
• Postscript to Advertising and Digital Media Awards
• PPA Magazines 2008: Grazia scoops PPA magazine of the year award
• Newspaper Society Advertising and Digital Media Awards: the results on and offline
• Telegraph wins top AOP award; Guardian wins three others

LinkedIn Europe managing director talks about forming new publishing partnerships

You can watch an online interview with Kevin Eyres, managing director at LinkedIn Europe, at the AOP site.

He is talking to them ahead of next Wednesday’s AOP Digital Publishing Summit in London, where he will talk about LinkedIn’s existing and future partnerships with publishers.

“We feel very strongly that communities are gonna be part of the publishers’ future,” he said.

Eyres says that the professional network site, on average, attracts one member every two seconds.

Similar posts:

• Robin Hamman: Don’t forget social skills in social media space
• CNN’s iReport marks second birthday with 175,000 contributions
• JEEcamp: online revenue models - the Waghorn way
• Washingtonpost.com: WaPo signs up TechCrunch for online syndication deal
• Johnston Press joins AOP

Johnston Press joins AOP

Regional newspaper publisher Johnston Press has joined the UK’s Association of Online Publishers as an affiliate member.

“This will give us access to some of the best current thinking and will also enable us to contribute to the debate at a very exciting time for online publishing,” said John Bradshaw, Johnston Press head of digital, told AOP.

“We are looking forward to working with colleagues across the industry to drive innovation to satisfy the ever-changing needs of the communities we serve.”

Johnston Press publishes over 300 news and information websites in the UK.

Similar posts:

• Online revenues up for Independent and Johnston Press, but print ads fall
• No integration for the Sun and the News Of The World
• Adrian Jeakings will replace John Fry at Archant
• PPA Magazines 2008: BBC must collaborate with digital media, says Yentob
• Archant’s director of business development, Ian Davies dies in plane crash

Online publishers in ‘bullish mood’ despite economic downturn

Digital publishers in the UK saw a 52 per cent growth in total digital revenues last year, according to the Association of Online Publishers (AOP) annual census of its members.

The figures show the industry to be in ‘a bullish mood’ despite holding concerns over the economy’s impact on the industry, said Ruth Brownlee, director of the AOP, in a press release.

With regards to the future of the industry, members said high speed broadband provided the greatest opportunity for their businesses, while competition from non-traditional outlets is perceived as the biggest threat.

When questioned on content distribution 64 per cent of respondents said publishers should make their content available on third party websites, as well as a range of other platforms.

The figures suggest support for this distribution model with increased investment in IPTV (up 30%), mobile (20%), vodcasting (22%), podcasting (17%) and RSS feeds (9%).

The key findings from the census include:

• members forecast an 8 per cent total business growth with digital expected to grow by 31 per cent;
• 80 per cent of members expect to increase the number of digital staff hired this year with 62 per cent saying cross-media skills will be significant in the future;
• revenue from online advertising increased by 33 per cent last year and 80 per cent of those questioned said the current online advertising model was ‘a sustainable revenue stream’;
• high speed broadband (92%) and behavioural targeting (84%) are viewed as the biggest opportunities for business – other possibilities included content streaming (70%), mobile (74%) and user-generated content (84%).

Just over half of those questioned were in favour of a standard online measurement system - which would be a focus of the AOP’s working groups, Brownlee said.

Similar posts:

• WAN Amsterdam: Digital will account for 43 per cent of newspaper advertising growth by 2012 according to PricewaterhouseCoopers
• Future websites attracting over 11m unique users per month
• MediaGuardian: Ruth Brownlee quits as AOP director
• Online revenues up for Independent and Johnston Press, but print ads fall
• Ninety-seven per cent of ‘business decision makers’ use B2Bs online