AI Programmatic advertising is the future

MAGAZINE BUSINESS’S SECRET GROWTH ENGINE

MAGAZINE BUSINESS’S SECRET GROWTH ENGINE: Custom publishing, long the obscure back office sector within the glamour-filled halls of magazine companies, is having a moment, WSJ’s CMO Today reports. For example, Meredith Co., which publishes Better Homes & Gardens and Family Circle, enjoyed a 35% increase in operating profit at its content marketing group during its most recent quarter, which closed in December. Meanwhile, Time Inc. reports that profits from the digital part of its custom content grew 40% last year, on 20% higher revenue. Custom content “is a hidden gem we need to water and grow,” said Mark Ford, Time Inc.’s executive vice president of advertising sales.

This trend could be taken a few ways. Advertisers are recognizing the storytelling abilities of magazine companies, and valuing it more. Or, advertisers are less enamored with print ads, and seeing a group of publishers whose hunger for revenue can be exploited. That seems to be what is happening with the whole native advertising trend on the Web. Regardless, big brands such as Procter & Gamble, Bank of America Corp. and Jaguar Land Rover are jumping into custom publishing in a big way. Land Rover tapped Time Inc. to “create articles that weren’t about Range Rover at all, [but] that aligned with a lifestyle our consumer would be interested in,” said Kim Kyaw, the company’s digital marketing and social media manager.

Online Shopping Stats - 15% of global commerce

Online shopping is gaining traction worldwide.

1. Though it is growing, it is important to note that e-commerce still represents less than 15% of global commerce. (Source: PwC)

2. U.S. e-commerce sales are expected to increase nearly 16% by the end of 2018, reaching over $526. billion and representing 10% of total retail sales. (Source: eMarketer)          

3. Amazon now accounts for nearly 50% of the U.S. e-commerce market. (Source: eMarketer)

4. The 2018 back-to-school shopping period (July 23 to Sept. 5) raked in $58.1 billion in online sales, most of which came from desktops ($38.5 billion). An impressive 25% of online sales ($14.5 billion) came from smartphones, with the remaining $5.1 billion made via tablets. (Source: Adobe Digital Insights)

5. Consumers will spend $124.1 billion online this holiday season, which accounts for nearly $1 of $6 spent shopping overall during the November-December period. (Source: Adobe Digital Insights)

6. Fifty-seven percent of online retail visits will come from mobile devices (tablets and smartphones), accounting for 37% of total online purchases. (Source: Adobe Digital Insights)

7. People want to know what their peers think before they make their purchase decisions. The No. 1 place they go for inspiration? Social media. (Source: PwC)

8. A whopping 63% of consumers said they are interested in personalized recommendations, with the majority willing to share their data in exchange for benefits such as automatic credits for coupons and loyalty points (64%), access to exclusive deals (60%), the ability to gain points and rewards (56%), and special offers for items that interest them (53%). (Source: Accenture/Retail Industry Leaders Association)

9. Email is the most efficient channel to recover cart abandonment. In fact, 38% of survey respondents indicated they have returned to an e-commerce site to complete a transaction after getting an email offering a discount on the products in their carts. (Source: Namogoo)

10. The same study found that over 55% of respondents said they are likely to click on ads appearing on retailer sites that offer the same product they’re looking at for a lower price. And 80% of visitors who end up purchasing elsewhere are likely to buy again from the site that lured them away. (Source: Namogoo)

11. Nearly two-thirds (64%) of U.S. online adults said it’s important for retailers to offer a buy online/pick up in-store option. (Source: Forrester)

12. It may still be the early days to see voice technology’s impact on the online shopping experience. Only about 2% of Amazon Alexa owners have ever used the device for shopping. (Source: TheInformation)

13. However, 20% of consumers said they would consider purchasing goods and services through a chatbot experience. Forty percent said they want offers and deals that way. (Source: Ubisend)

14. Fifty-six percent of consumers said they are interested in shoppable images, and 63% would consider shifting at least half of their purchases to retailers offering them. (Source: Accenture/Retail Industry Leaders Association)

15. A majority (56%) of consumers said they have used or can’t wait to use immersive technology, such as AR, VR, or 360 video, for online shopping. (Source: Accenture/Retail Industry Leaders Association)