The evolution of B2B magazines

Susan Currie Sivek, a journalism professor at California State University, Fresno, writes for MediaShift about how business-to-business magazines are adapting to reader demands.

Sivek writes, “Today’s successful B2B magazines have redefined themselves as multi-platform brands that provide a variety of information and services to their audiences and advertisers.

“‘We wouldn’t be here if we continued to say we wanted to be a traditional print magazine,’ said Rich Reiff, CEO of Advantage Business Media, which produces a variety of technology-oriented B2B magazines and web media.

“Publishers are now applying their B2B magazine brands to a variety of products that serve their already existing audiences in new ways. Some are developing webinars, sponsoring trade shows, and creating online databases of information related to their topics, in addition to the now-commonplace websites, social media outreach, and digital editions. For example, Reiff’s company is creating a ‘self-service digital directory’ that will list industry-specific companies and the products or services they provide.

“The role of actual print B2B magazines has shifted as well. Most of the news that these magazines once offered can now quickly be found online, so their publishers have had to focus on other kinds of content and find ways to play upon the unique strengths of print.”

Read more here.