Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

Beyond distribution and a better user experience, being web friendly fits into the Flipboard business plan. The company has begun selling full-page ads mixed in with regular content like what you might see in a high-end print magazine. Larger professional publishers, including the owners of this publication, currently have revenue-sharing agreements in place for their own magazines, but the company plans to expand that to other content and curation creators.

Around two million magazines have been created since the March launch of the DIY tool, and many of the top ones are being curated by enthusiasts rather than pros — photography, maritime shipping, beer, and GIFS are some example themes. There’s a lot of additional reader attention to sell against.

But what about the publications trying to figure out their online (and mobile) business models? Why should they want Flipboard to get a piece of their precious few remaining ad dollars via alternative destinations like native apps and now its own web links?For some of them/us, the answer is going to be that they don’t have the resources to build good web sites and mobile apps anyway. For others, it’s that they can build their own products but don’t know how to monetize them well....

"When the average person is exposed to 3,000 advertising messages a day, you want to make sure that your advertising vehicle will get you to the target that you want," writes Advice Interactive Group.

We met with a non-profit last week in our office who have developed an incredible following on Facebook. However, their approved budget only has line items for television and radio advertisements as their overall marketing budget. This is an issue with many non-profits… directors are a bit complicit as they direct budgets based on grants that have been around for decades.

It’s not that we’re poo-pooing television and radio (we do a segment on radio), it’s just that they’re expensive mediums that need to be properly deployed as part of an overall marketing mix. Digital media offers low-cost, high yield opportunities – especially with non-profit organizations where the employees and customers are so passionate. Online media offers the opportunity for you to spark the fire, and your fans and followers to spread it. It’s truly unlike any traditional source....