Association of Online Publishers - Investing In Mobile A Top Priority

The Association of Online Publishers (AOP) in their annual census across 1,500 publishers and brands identified investing in mobile skills as a top agenda item for publishers in the year ahead.

Where To Invest?
Publishers that adopted mobile early will continue to test the promise offered by this channel whilst expanding their efforts into identifying business models that will replace declining revenues from existing channels, keep existing customers engaged and win new audiences. In pursuit of these objectives, investments should focus on the broader distribution of content and improved ability to monetise content effectively.

Investing In Distribution
Currently, mobile apps, almost exclusively iPhone apps, continue to be favoured as the best way of making content available on mobile. It almost guarantees a desirable user experience and whether charging for downloaded apps or providing them on a sponsored basis they are easy to monetise. However, with other smart phones enjoying more prominence, publishers that want to maintain an app only approach will need to develop them across several platforms or risk missing the opportunity to provide services to a broader customer base.

The other mobile channels - mobile internet, messaging, mobile video – also offer publishers a platform for distributing content to their readers, providing sponsorship opportunities to their advertisers and attracting new audiences. These should be considered alongside apps as additional methods for the delivery of content.

Mobile Internet - Data describing handset characteristics and capability is readily available and can be easily incorporated into mobile website publishing systems. This makes it easier to publish mobile sites that will adapt to each handset and ensure that the consumer gets the best user experience regardless of the handset that they are using.

Although it is not yet possible to provide as rich an experience when compared to apps, developments in HTML 5 are allowing the gap to be closed. Publishers wishing to broaden the audience that they can reach without going down the route of developing apps for each platform can still provide consumers with a rich experience through mobile internet sites.

Messaging - Messaging can be used to drive indirect content distribution. For example, SMS can be used to deliver scheduled notification or reminders of content availability. Links can be included with each message to ensure easy and immediate access to that content. Messaging in combination with suitable mobile payment options can also be used to sell subscriptions or support occasional content purchases.

MMS, is typically underused for business applications but it does provide a method for the delivery of rich content that can include text, audio, images and video. Several niche online and mobile only publications are already using MMS to distribute content rich news letters on a free or subscription basis.

Mobile Video - The rapid rate of smart phone adoption together with more readily available access to data subscriptions is allowing more and more consumers to enjoy mobile video content.

Whilst mobile video streaming is highly dependent on the willingness of network operators to provide sufficient bandwidth, the ability to quickly download clips that will last for a few minutes provides a practical alternative to streamed video or mobile TV. Whether it is news, information or entertainment, packaging this type of content as mobile video clips provides a rich, sharable user experience to consumers with appropriate smart phones.
As Publishers continue to invest in online video production, encoding content for distribution via mobile should also be considered.

Integration With Existing Channels – In adopting mobile more aggressively, integration with existing print and online channels should not be overlooked. As an example, some publications are already using 2D codes and short codes in print and online to connect with readers.

2D barcodes or SMS short code / key words combinations can be printed alongside product descriptions or featured articles. Readers can capture barcodes using readers installed on the phone and be directed to a mobile website for further information. Alternatively, readers can send a text message to the short code and receive an SMS that contains links to mobile sites or other downloadable content such as mobile video clips or eBooks that deepen their engagement with the product.

Mobile's Many Angles
There are many areas that Publishers should consider when incorporating mobile as a core part of their digital strategy. Apps are just one of them. Both Mobile Internet and Mobile Video continue to grow in importance and offer the possibility of enabling publishers to distribute a variety of rich content to their readers.