This post is part of the TOC podcast series, which we’ll be featuring here on Radar in the coming months.
As president of Twist Image and author of “Six Pixels of Separation,” Mitch Joel spends a lot more time thinking about digital marketing than most people. Joel sat down recently with O’Reilly’s Joe Wikert to explore the publishing and marketing topics that are currently on his radar. These include:
- “The how versus the why” — Why are you on YouTube? Why are you tweeting? Are those outlets actually suitable for the things you’re trying to say, or are you using them because that’s what everyone else is doing? Joel says it’s important to question the time and energy you’re investing in various platforms. [Discussed at the 6:08 mark.]
- Advertising in books — Placing ads in books (digital or otherwise) is anathema to some publishers, but Joel doesn’t share that view. As magazines and Google have shown, advertising can be made palatable by targeting the advertising to the content. What publishers need to do is resist the urge to “poison the well” with broad-based generic ads. [Discussed at 9:44.]
- Why publishers should “burn the ships” — You can’t look at the media as if it’s the same media it was 5-10 years ago, Joel notes, and that means you can’t look at advertising and marketing the same way either. Cramming traditional marketing models into digital platforms simply won’t work. It’s time for something completely different. [Discussed at 13:46.]
The full discussion is available in the following video. Joel will expand on some of these ideas during his keynote address at next month’s TOC Frankfurt.
TOC Frankfurt 2011 — Being held on Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2011, TOC Frankfurt will feature a full day of cutting-edge keynotes and panel discussions by key figures in the worlds of publishing and technology.
Save 100€ off the regular admission price with code TOC2011OR
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