In part I of this post, we talked about the lessons inherent in the NY Times digital innovation report and key points in thier renewed focus that can help all publishers to advance thier digital strategy. There are numerous nuggets of wisdom in this report, hence, we tried to break them up into digestible parts. To recap:
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Make Your Editorial Department Digital First
Social Media and the Disrupters
In part I of this post, we also made several mentions of social media as an integral part of the package. But, let’s focus on it in the context of the competition. The Times report calls attention to the fact that while visits to the homepage are dwindling with publications across the board, traffic from social media is on the rise. There are numerous ways to harness that power, yet, the report cites an instance where the Times tweeted a 161-year old story on Oscar night, Gawker grabbed it and fashioned their own story and that story went viral—the Times barely seeing the traffic generated by their original tweet.
As the report explains, disruptors will always be there and they become competition when they offer a product that is good enough for readers (even if it isn’t the best), but the Times has the advantage of a vast trove of content—dating back to 1851—that they can leverage and breath new life into with social media and the right taxonomy. They can give readers the context they are looking for, in a timely fashion, if they approach their archive with a social eye. That’s a good thing to focus on.
Here are a few lessons emerging from the report, which serve as a checklist to get started toward innovation with your digital brands:
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