Here at Briefing Media we had a bit of a development review the other day and just like all readers of TheMediaBriefing are doing at the moment, we started a conversation about what to do about our mobile strategy.
We are pretty typical. We talk about it a lot, but still haven't settled on a clear approach. We have mobile sites, of course - three of them. All are on different platforms and none are making real money, at least not yet. We need to fix that.
We talked about apps and app editions for mobile devices. We worry that off-the-shelf page turning replicas won't deliver a good user experience. What would we do with the ads? Do we repeat all the ads in the print product? That sounds unlikely to be very effective for users or advertisers.
But if we sell mobile ads, what do they look like and how would we price them? Do we need apps, or can we make mobile sites work? If we build native apps we could be digging a big cost hole with multiple platforms to serve. Some publishers, most notably the Financial Times, have made HTML5 apps work. But is that right for us? Is the print content even the right place to start when thinking about apps?
Show me the money
Maybe we should be building lots of workflow tools in app format - products separate from the normal flow of news content. But if we do, what’s the revenue model? We operate in niche markets, so volumes of downloads are never going to be huge. So where is the money?
So I am like you. I can see more and more usage of our digital products coming via mobile devices. I know I need to have a mobile strategy, not just a list of mobile things I am going to build. I need to talk to some people. I need to hear what other people are up to. But who shall I ask? The guys at Enders analysis perhaps? Or whoever built FT.com's HTML5 multi-device web app, or maybe find out how Dennis Publishing is doing – they have done lots of experimenting with different app platforms, including iOS/HTML5 hybrids.
I bet those folk at Informa know something about monetising specialist audiences. What about Google! I need to understand what they are up to, but how can I do all that before our next strategy review in October? Show me the money!
The answer is of course that all those companies and more are speaking at our own Mobile Strategies event on 25th September. I shall be taking notes. I think you’d better be there too. Come and join me and we can work out our mobile strategy together.
Tickets for Mobile Media Strategies are still available - click here to get yours and see our unbeatable lineup, including Future Publishing, O2 Media, Google, Dennis publishing, FT.com, Informa, Enders Analysis and more.
See our delegate list to see which leading European media companies are already coming.
