Presentation made during the 2013 Digital Media Asia Conference organized by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA). Targeted for news and magazine executives and owners on how the utilization of social media is different from that of brands, and how to grow a monetizable audience

1. 2013 Digital Media Asia
Leveraging Social Media as
a Distribution Channel
Kien M Lee | SENATUS.NET

2. About Me
2001 - 2007: IBK Merrill Lynch; Strategy Deutsche Bank
2007 - 2008: Facebook Applications > 1 million users
2008 - Present: MD/ Editor-at-Large of SENATUS.NET
✦ facebook.com/senatus: ~ 70,000 subscribers
✦ special projects & advisory in social/digital media
About SENATUS
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facebook.com/senatus.net: > 780,000 fans
Regional: > 100,000 fans each in Singapore, Manila,
Jakarta, New Delhi; ~ 5 Million Pageviews/month
Asia Digital Media Awards: 2010 (Gold) 2012 (Silver)
Best in Online Media - Magazine Website
Portfolio of FB pages ~ 1 million fans
YouTube channel views ~ 700,000 views

3. Objectives
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Not about how AWESOME social media is
Not about my 17 year old son and his friends using
social media to read news
Not about “print is dying”
About how to use social media to fulfill business goals
About how to identify ways to maximize your returns
on, and monetize your digital presence

4. Changing Media Landscape
Evolved Consumption Habits Drove Digital Publishing
✦ Print & Traditional Media
✦ Digital Media (pre-2005)
✦ Social & Digital (New) Media
Communication/Marketing Mindset Shift
✦ Brands Aspire to be “Media” Companies
✦ Media Companies Evolve to become Curated Channels
Brands do not realize yet that a “monotone” editorial
voice becomes stale very quickly
Most of the thought insights and leadership discussions
on Social Media are meant for product brands not for
media companies; Our use-case is different

5. Print Media Strategy
CONTENT
READERSHIP
DISTRIBUTION
As a logistical delivery mechanism
Places an upper limit (bottleneck) to readership

6. Consuming Digital Media
Digital publications need to evolve to meet changes
In the “pre-Social Media” Internet era,
✦ Website
✦ Search Engine Optimization
✦ RSS subscription or Browser Bookmarks
With the advent of Social Media,
✦ Readers customize inflow of news on social networks
✦ “Influencer” effect: Each reader’s network of friends
provides an exponential increase in distribution
Social Media has become a direct distribution channel

7. New Media Strategy
CONTENT
DISTRIBUTION
READERSHIP
A distribution channel via social media is no longer a
bottleneck, but can shape content and grow readership
Opportunity to find and redefine “monetizable audience”
Requires re-education of Stakeholders & Advertisers

8. Uses of Social Media
For a Media Company,
✦ Branding Tool/Mechanism
✦ Growing Readership
✦ Selling Content
✦ Shaping Knowledge
✦ Influencing Opinions
✦ Sourcing Content
✦ Facilitating Discussions
Media companies have been thrust into the roles of
arbiters, moderators and mediators
Challenge remains keeping brand identity separate

9. Types of Social Media
Facebook
Images, videos, text and links *algorithm-throttled*
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Twitter, Weibo
Text, links, (some) images/videos *unfettered*
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Instagram, Pinterest
Product Placement vs Product Catalogue *unfettered*
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YouTube, Google+, Tumblr, WeChat
User behaviour on social networks differ; Facebook and
Twitter remain the most effective for news publications

10. Content Strategy on Social Media
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Set the tone early: What kind of content you choose to
build your social media presence with, determines the
kind of readership and has monetization implications
Leverage on pre-existing brand recognition, if any
“Low Hanging Fruits”
✦ Breaking News (Elections, Disaster)
✦ Political & Social Issues (Scandals, Trials, Protests)
✦ Controversial editorial or reader submissions
Do you want premium subscribers, readers, or trolls?
A vicious cycle does not beget a virtuous cycle
Are you maintaining the integrity of your brand?

11. Facebook: A Case Study
Facebook by virtue of key factors, remains the best
suited for a media-rich publication, e.g. SENATUS
FB uses an algorithm (formerly “Edgerank”) which takes
into consideration >1,000 factors to determine whether a
fan sees a news feed story from an FB page
FB focuses on facilitating “High Quality Content”
✦ Technical: Deploying the necessary “OG:” Tags
✦ How and whether FB users interact with your content
✦ Image-friendly; Lead with teaser to links
✦ Sharing links: FB has improved size of thumbnails
✦ Crowdsourcing; User participation; Citizen Journalism
✦ Community moderation and Insights tools

12. Which Numbers Matter?
What are the business goals? At what stage of life-cycle
is the social media account?
✦ Pageviews, Readers, or Engagement Rate?
✦ Enhance branding of publication?
✦ Drive traffic to increase ad impressions?
✦ Grow paying audience: Convert Freemium to Digital
Subscription (Paywall)?
✦ Encourage mobile app download?
✦ Drive print sales?
A strategy seeking large numbers on social media is a
vanity exercise if it does not contribute to the bottom-line
Key remains making your digital presence monetizable
and harnessing social media to achieve that objective

13. 2013 Digital Media Asia
Questions?
Kien M Lee | SENATUS.NET
kien@senatus.net facebook.com/senatus