Denise
Great job by The Economist social team in audience building but that the key step is monetising this audience to make it meaningful.
Sorry for a lengthy reply but its a great topic!
Obviously a number of publishers are wrestling with the same conundrum, attempting to combine the reach of social networks, with their own business goals with differing objectives. Evidenced by the shifting sand of social networks with algorithms and revenue-sharing agreements!
Being prepared to adapt and change is crucial, and whilst The Economist has done well in this respect, some publishers have more work to do. In some cases the ship may have sailed.
I agree that social should not monopolise audience engagement, but it has an unparalleled reach advantages, so an approach might be for publishers to synchronise a social platform they control, with social networks to gain combined advantages? These are coming…
Publishers can then own audiences and conversations, with innovative content, control of their own social business models on demand, with live audience insights. It’s an incremental proposition aligned with their objectives.
The further opportunity is incremental social revenues that come as a result, paid social consumption of content, ad inventory revenues, data sales, and sCommerce, and some engaging innovative formats with enriched audience data, making other business models such as retention finally viable. Partnerships can be transformed too.
Direct to consumer seems the way to go, and with a new generation of capabilities it can redistribute social revenues. Happy to share our experience in more detail with the group — all feedback welcome.
