The business user is changing
Business magazine publishing has dramatically changed in the past 5 years. These changes are being forced by evolving needs and expectations of the typical business user. Business information and intelligence is no longer something that can be provided on a simple ‘observe and report’ basis, the user requires peer review and multiple viewpoints and examples. Authoritative editorial is becoming the start of the discussion rather than the end, and the audience now no longer just considers itself an audience.
There is no doubt that business markets still require an authoritative information solution, and that legacy business media can be that solution. However, the expectation of the user is to be able to participate in the discussion and to be involved in the community, and this means that the business media brand, in order to meet the needs of the market, has to enable this to happen.
Firestarter enables Business Media brands to quickly and easily start on this path and to begin to meet the needs of their customers without undermining legacy business or having to make major changes that could create business risk. The central tenet of Firestarter is that the editorial authority remains, but instead of being seen as the end result it is seen as the start of the conversation. Your editorial authority remains, Firestarter helps make it more effective in engaging your community.
At the simplest level you can introduce reviews, ratings, comments and forums to your online media brand. Firestarter enables you to bring in social networking, a feature that is proven in many markets as a useful tool for users to connect to each other to facilitate introductions and business contact. Firestarter also enables you to consider personalization – where a user can ‘build’ their own personal information solution on their own dashboard page, including RSS feeds, alerts, news feeds and keyword-based article feeds and authorized subscription links.
To discuss how we can help your business media brand evolve, contact us today.
