Brand Publishing

Audience development is fast becoming a priority for brand publishers as they reckon with challenges that throttle their audience growth.

Shorthand’s director of content, Matt McGregor, believes the greatest danger for brand publishers “is to say something no one cares about, and no one reads.”

A wave of new generative AI tools is vying to win spots in brand publishers’ toolkits, as the race to help brands with content production ramps up.

Brand publishing teams prioritize flexibility to stave off cuts.

Expertise and domain knowledge may be less of a differentiator in a world of generative AI

Technology companies are cutting brand publishing teams as they slash budgets more broadly

As brands’ journalistic ambitions grow, questions around how to define and maintain editorial independence are getting more difficult to answer.

Budgets contractions haven’t been as painful as some expected, and brand publishing executives see reason for optimism.

Some companies are evaluating whether their brand publishing efforts could generate revenue directly. Experiments range from paid products and to exclusive community features, while others are trying advertising, affiliate sales and event sponsorships.

Companies are publicly drawing lines between brand publishing and content marketing in an effort to gain audience trust, attract higher quality talent and retain dwindling budgets.

We asked some of the smartest people in brand publishing what they expect from the year ahead.

Expectations came back to earth as challenges emerged and economic conditions tightened.

Editorial director Tracy Middleton on selling test kits, low testosterone and the future of brand publishing.

Lack of consistency and a clear editorial proposition can be dangerous for brand publishing initiatives.

As marketers brace for a recession, they must make brand publishing departments as efficient as possible.

Editorial staffers from ‘traditional’ media backgrounds are navigating new goals, expectations and dynamics.

Registration walls can help brand publishers build deep and ongoing relationships with audiences via content.

The software company has a unique editorial focus on work, productivity and teamwork.

With an economic winter approaching, companies will need to assess their brand publishing ambitions carefully.

Brands and publishers are scrambling to cover the hottest topic du jour. But the bubble may be readying to burst.

Brands that operate in the increasingly complex global economy are well positioned to help explain it.

As pandemic restrictions disappear, brands are experimenting with new events that offer much-needed physical connections but also act as foundational pieces for overall editorial strategies.

Food is a hot topic for brands looking to build owned publications. One of the more notable entrants is Resy, the reservations software that was purchased by American Express in…

Optimizing for trust and incorporating content into the wider marketing organization are top priorities for brand publishers and content marketers.

Hiring creators to staff brand publishing operations an be a shortcut of sorts to building audiences and gaining distribution quickly.

Explainers provide a powerful tool for directly addressing audience needs, and their evergreen nature can mean they pay dividends for months, or even years.

Brand publishing is having a moment because people are at once open to new sources of information, and much more discerning of what they consume.

One of the most effective ways for brand publishing teams to create genuinely engaging and valuable content is to develop internal “sources” that inform their content and output.

Drawing lines between these disciplines can help put in the place the right KPIs and mindsets.

As gambling companies push into media, some are opting to buy properties while others are partnering or building their own.

Google makes a big change that will reward content that is designed with audience needs in mind.

Content focused on a highly specific need or topic often finds an audience much quicker, and provides much clearer opportunities for differentiation.

Two years into advising a plethora of brands, here are our top takeaways from the work we’ve done with brand publishers.

Tighter economic conditions will mean leaner, more productive brand publishing teams.

Before they get into creating processes and distribution frameworks, brands should ensure reporters are part of a content team, not just columnists.

Lowering trust of the media and the accompanied decline in engagement presents a new reality for brands, who for years employed sleight-of-hand tricks to make their content look and feel as close to traditional media offerings as possible.

A downturn will lead to inevitable pullbacks but could present glimmers of opportunity for those with strong editorial propositions.

Brand publishing can help companies collect valuable first-party data to fuel various parts of their marketing operations and practices.

The tactic can enable brands to forge closer relationships with audiences and help drive valuable data collection.

Editor Jessi Craig Shikman of First Round Review says she focuses on a blend of service-oriented and aspirational content.

Mastering a handful of common and established content types and formats — and learning to use them effectively — can quickly help any content creator engage audiences more effectively.

Brand publishers should ensure formats are distributed appropriately so they have the best shot at growing and reaching the right audience.

Brand publishing is growing up, which will benefit the discipline in the long haul.

Content formats are not the same as distribution, and in order to be successful at creating valuable, engaging content and extracting the most value out of it, teams must nail one before the other.