Social Media - Mary E. Morrison
Whether they're creating their own blogs and Web site communities or participating in existing outlets such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube, publishers are finding that social media efforts can be an effective way of extending their brands and delivering content wherever readers happen to be.
Social media is at the heart of Ziff Davis Enterprise's strategy, Roman said. “I don't think there is any kind of initiative that we're taking that isn't social media-related,” she said.
The company last month launched a beta version of an online community for IT professionals called eWEEK Labs. The site (labs.eweek.com) mixes the product reviews of analysts with reviews from enterprise IT professionals. It will also include discussion forums, comparison tools and product scorecards.
Social media networks are very useful as a content distribution network, Shibles said. “It's a paradigm shift,” he added. “Before, you were trying to bring everyone to one specific location [your Web site]. Now, it's about extending your brand everywhere.”
Pfeifle said United Publications' blogs have become an important part of the company's online strategy, driving 20% of overall site traffic. “People are really identifying with them; they've done a good job reminding people to come back every day,” he said. “It's hard for us to put a three- or four-source story out every day, but we can put up a blog post or two every day easily.”
Also, each of United's editors has a Twitter account, Pfeifle said, which drives about 2% of the publications' site traffic. “We've been doing that for about six months, so to get 2% of our traffic online from that in six months is pretty good,” he said. “And it takes me five minutes a day.”
United's publications also have Facebook pages, he said, which drive about 1% of the sites' traffic. “It took us one hour—maybe—to set up,” he said. “So why not do it?”
