As Traditional Media Shuts Its Doors, Content Marketing Is Having an Open House

The shifting tides of the digital revolution are causing tsunamis in traditional media.

Discussions around paid vs. non-paid writers sparked fierce debate among media professionals and now the Washington Post’s decision to charge readers for access to its website has reignited the discussion around a choice many traditional media outlets are weighing: To paywall or not to paywall.

In a social sharing economy, it’s terrifying for media companies to completely shut the gates to the magic kingdom, as that would reduce their relevance in everyone’s Twitter Timelines and Facebook Newsfeeds.

That’s why traditional media outlets like the New York Times have forged ahead with metered paywalls that allow limited open access to online content, which is revoked once readers pass a threshold of “free” content.

The paywall is attractive because it extracts a reliable, reoccurring revenue stream from the reader. But it’s also off-putting, since it essentially pulls the welcome mat out from under readers’ feet and tells them to cough up the dough or go home.

The Washington Post was considered one of the last paywall holdouts among the major newspapers and many hoped they’d remain open and free, in contrast to the Times. But the sobering numbers for the paper’s print and digital advertising make it hard for its owners to resist the sweet consistent revenue of digital subscriptions.

Joel Achenbach, a staff writer for the Post, recognizes that the newspaper’s decision won’t be popular in a blog post on the paper’s site. But he also emphasizes that quality media requires real investment.

The market will determine what our work is worth, and we certainly need to try very hard to produce stories and photos etc. that people will want to pay for. But giving it away for free makes no sense and I’m not sure it ever made sense. Yes, you can find lots of free content on the web — and you generally get what you pay for.

If we accept that good content requires investments in quality talent and costly processes, what’s the best path to achieving fiscal viability in digital media? 

Many digital media companies have pinned their hopes and dreams on “native advertising” or sponsored content. BuzzFeed, a leader and innovator in the space, has been lauded for its efforts in marrying unconventional and shareworthy content with brands.

But what if brands decide to cut the middleman out and build a media platform of their own?

If quality content requires costly investments, branded media platforms could be appealing to journalists and media professionals who’ve been shut out of traditional media. They might also become a reliable, free option for readers as branded content hubs don’t need to shake readers down for subscriptions since brand dollars already directly fuel its operations.

Dan Lyons, who used to be a Newsweek columnist and the man behind the Fake Steve Jobs blog, recently made waves when it was announced that he was leaving his role as editor-in-chief of the newly relaunched ReadWrite for a job with Hubspot, an online marketing company.

Dan Volpe, CMO of Hubspot, explained the hire on the company’s blog by pointing out that customers expect content from brands, not just advertising. And if brands want to create content, they’ll need to tap into the same talent pool that traditional media companies are walking away from.

You need to use inbound marketing to attract customers to you, not interrupt people with ads they don’t want to see. No one wakes up and says “I want to see an ad.” Why do marketers wake up and say “let’s make an ad”?

Provide value to your customers. Be helpful. Become the best publication and information source in your industry. This is the core of inbound marketing.

At HubSpot, we posted 937 blog entries and published 157 ebooks and offers in 2012 alone. But it’s not just about quantity; it’s also about quality. We want HubSpot to be the absolute best resource for all marketing professionals in the world. Hiring Dan, a world class journalist (who is also darn funny), is another step along that path. And for the same reason, Dan knows the future for someone like him is in working at a company that values inbound marketing.

And Dan’s not the only one. Eric Lai, a technology journalist who used to report for Reuters and Computerworld, recently took a position at Avaya Networks as the telecommunications company’s editorial director. Steve Wildstrom, who used to report for Businessweek, now writes for Cisco’s branded news site, The Network.

Karen Snell, a social media communications manager at Cisco, explained the company’s approach to content marketing in a Digiday story.

Cisco professes that its main goal is quality content. To do so, it realizes it must employ experienced reporters who will chafe at too many heavy-handed restrictions, said Karen Snell, social media communications manager at Cisco.

“Hiring seasoned journalists is just another approach to developing content that may resonate with a particular sector of your audience,” she said.

By tapping into the expertise, voice and networks of professional journalists, these brands are embracing the shift in the way customers expect companies to communicate. Customers want a deeper relationship; one in which brands inform, educate and entertain them.

None of this is to say that content marketing will be the sole platform for information and news.

The gang over at Business Insider appear to be doing swimmingly well. So have no fear. Big, general-interest, pageview-driven sites aren’t going away. Though you might grimace and grumble as you’re forced to click through a user-hostile, surface-level slideshow about “10 People Who Could Replace Jimmy Fallon” that helps the site meet its impressions quota.

And the New York Times will always be the New York Times. Though it is possible that an industrywide shift to digital subscriptions will shrink the number of media outlets as readers can only afford to subscribe to so many papers and not every newspaper can be the New York Times.

But as traditional media companies become more closed, more brands should consider holding an open house with a content platform they own. Readers and journalists alike will be looking to crash on an accommodating, friendly couch if the subscription trend keeps up and shoves them out the door.

[Image: iStockPhoto/ThinkStockPhotos]