1. Convergence journalism:
the new rules (and roles)
of content creation
Joe McEntee
Group Editor, IOP Publishing
SSP IN Conference, 19 September 2011
Email: joe.mcentee@iop.org
LinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/joemce

2. Agenda
 The headline take
 IOP Publishing
 A few numbers
 Multimedia services: one of our big
stories – one of your big stories?
 Case study: online video journalism
 Analytics, measuring success
 Convergence journalism: 10 top tips
 Summary and Q&A

3. The headline take: IOP Publishing
 A leading international science publisher
 For-profit publishing arm of Institute of
Physics (IOP), a not-for-profit professional
society with 41,000 members worldwide
 Our portfolio includes…
 60+ research journals
 High-profile partner publishing
programme
 10+ magazines, online communities
 Specialist education products

8. Number-crunching: IOP Publishing
 Headcount
 Approx. 300 staff, seven international
offices
 Publishing financials
 FY 2010 revenues: £40 million ($65
million); +5% vs 09
 Professional-society membership
 FY 2010 membership: 41,000+

10. The headline take: Group Editor
 My brief covers…
 Editorial leadership for online/print
journalism teams
 Editorial leadership of multimedia content
team, spanning online video, audio and
webinar services
 Customer-research programme focused
on e-publishing requirements of research
scientists, research libraries

11. Multimedia services: one of our big stories
 Timeline looks something like this…
 Summer 09: initial R&D investment in
editorially led video, webinar, audio
 Q4 09: R&D roll-out on physicsworld.com,
flagship website of IOP membership
magazine Physics World
 2010 and 2011: learn lessons, scale-up,
rethink editorial/production workflows,
transfer know-how to other content teams
and product groups

13. Case study: online video journalism
 The story so far….
 Over 50 video reports published online in
past 24 months
 Output from 19 separate filming projects –
12 in UK, four in Europe, three in US
 Video now an established part of the
editorial and production workflow
 No increase in editorial headcount!!

14. Online video: a few rules of engagement
 Content=marketing
 And high-value multimedia content =
high-value, high-impact marketing
 Content with a purpose
 Content designed to prompt a response
 Think viral, think social
 Push content to where your potential
readers/viewers are spending time online
 Discoverability is key
 Online video – a great way to help people
find our products (needle) on the web
(haystack)

15. Online video: harnessing those network effects

18. Online video journalism: learning by doing
 The story so far (continued)…
 Editorially, we have played to our
strengths – i.e. expert commentators,
story-telling, A-list contacts book
 We have reinforced all of that with
specialist third-party expertise (filming,
postproduction, training)
 Cross-platform marketing opportunities
ensure maximum ROI (e.g. the special
issue will never be the same)
 Bottom line: editors and marketeers
have embraced the new world of
convergence journalism >>PLAY

19. Video analytics, business outcomes
 Video gives you interesting new ways to
think about user engagement
 We have published >50 exclusive videos
on physicsworld.com since Sept 09
 135,000 unique views to date
 500,000+ minutes total view time
 That means collectively those viewers
have spent…
 A whopping 348 viewing days engaging
directly with our products and services

20. physicsworld.com e-newswire subscription growth

21. physicsworld.com: e-subscriber acquisition 2009-11

22. Promoting journal usage: video as a driver
 Culture of experimentation – using video
to seed viral marketing campaigns
 Objectives…
 Raise visibility of journal special issues or
keynote review articles
 Drive referral traffic, usage, downloads
 A catalyst for content, marketing teams to
collaborate on diversified campaigns
 Open up new audiences we might not
otherwise reach via traditional channels

23. J Phys D: using video to drive engagement

24. J Phys B: using video to drive engagement

25. Industry recognition: physicsworld.com multimedia
 Best Specialist Site for Journalism, Online Media
Awards 2011
 Finalists included the likes of Forbes.com,
ESPN.com and FoxSports.com
 Best Editorial-Marketing Collaboration, SIPA UK
Awards 2011

26. Convergence journalism: 10 top tips
 First up, and most importantly, be clear
about outcomes and what constitutes
success
 Use analytics to monitor, track progress
and fine-tune if necessary
 Secondly, play to your strengths – don’t
try to do it all
 You’re not the BBC or HBO
 Thirdly, choose your partners wisely –
and to suit your budget
 Use your editorial network to source

27. Convergence journalism: 10 top tips
 Training is essential, but so is learning by
doing
 Be prepared to fail, but fail fast, learn, and
move on
 Get started – even if you’re unclear what
the service will ultimately look like
 It’s OK, you’ll figure it out soon enough
 Think social, think viral
 Get your content out to where your
potential readers/customers are spending
their time online

28. Convergence journalism: 10 top tips
 Lead from the front (of the camera)
 Yes, that means you!
 Give younger members of your editorial
teams a voice and a platform
 They get all of this stuff, they’ve grown up
with it
 Think laterally
 Video as a platform for new product
development

29. Convergence journalism: 10 top tips
 Redouble your emphasis on the
fundamentals:
 Hire great people, look after them, train
them well, challenge them (and yourself)
 Know your readers, viewers and
customers (as they are now and where
they’re headed in the future)
 Customer research – make time for it
 And one more for good measure...
 Joined-up project management is THE
critical success factor

31. Thought for the day
 From Seth’s blog
Existing publishers have the power to
change the form of what they do, increase
the value, increase the speed, segment
the audience, create communities, lead
tribes, generate breakthroughs that make
us gasp

32. Thanks for listening…
 …now over to you for questions
 And enjoy the rest of the conference