First there was the Internet, then came mobile. Are you wondering how the “Internet of Things” will disrupt the media industry?
The Internet of Things – a world made up of billions of constantly connected objects sharing a never-ending stream of data – is changing the way people get and use information.
For anyone involved in digital publishing, content marketing, and delivering digital products, this latest digital revolution creates unprecedented opportunities to create new revenue streams and monetize existing ones.
Smart Technology Drives Customization
The Internet of Things is driven by “smart” technology – interfaces that could potentially be inserted into any device to allow it to communicate with its users, other devices, and the cloud. Devices become “smart” by tracking users’ behaviors, such as buying decisions, searches, and daily routines. This stored information creates a context from which devices can make predictions, suggestions, and even decisions on behalf of their users.
The data collected by a user’s devices is shared across a multitude of “things.” For example, a fitness app that tracks pulse and heart rate during workouts might share that information with a cloud-based health site that provides exercise tips. Personal information stored on the health site lets the user register with a special-interest wellness magazine that has a discount offer on running shoes. The user buys the shoes without ever leaving the site. All the data in this chain of connection is stored in the cloud, creating a profile that can be used to offer this user other new products and services.
Unique Benefits for Digital Content Providers
The combination of instantly accessible content and big data in the cloud creates unique opportunities for monetizing digital products of all kinds. In the past, digital media had to cast a wide net in order to capture consumers, with content aimed at several subsets of a readership at once. However, today’s consumers are increasingly interested in getting content that’s highly targeted to their specific interests, delivered just when they want it.
The winning digital marketing strategy is to find your “whales,” your most engaged and enthusiastic audience members, listen to their needs, and give them what they want.
Thanks to the growth of smart, interactive mobile devices and easily accessible analytics, it’s now easier than ever to deliver just what these consumers expect – and digital publishers and other dealers in digital media have the content and the potential for agile development to do just that.
Customized Consumer Experiences
The surge of interest in subscription-based digital content demonstrates that consumers are willing to pay for exclusive access to quality content that’s relevant to them, and smart tech makes it possible to respond in real time to their wishes. The data collected by smart devices of all kinds provides marketers and publishers with detailed behavioral analytics for fine-tuning content delivery.
For example, stored profiles allow publishers to anticipate subscribers’ interests based on data collected from previous actions. With that information, it becomes possible to tailor new offerings and services more precisely than ever to individual readers. That creates new revenue streams for digital product creators, who can target “microsegments” of a readership without risking the loss of existing consumers who might be interested in a different track of the subject matter.
New Things, New Tech, New Opportunities
A combination of responsiveness, new products, and round-the-clock access to the content subscribers are looking for can give subscription-based digital publications more ways to stay relevant and keep content moving across multiple platforms. Subscription-based publishing services that take advantage of new smart tools and cloud data will be able to attract new users, keep existing ones, and extend the reach of their best content.
The Internet of Things is bringing major changes to the way people relate to information, technology, and each other. Digital publishing stands at the intersection, with the tools, content, and vision to take advantage of new opportunities created by smart tech.
How IoT Applies To You
If you are not sure, here are some things you can do:1.Go to IOTLIST and search for products related to your niche. For example, let’s say you have a publication about gardening. If you type in “garden” you get five different devices, including “Harvest Geek” which provides information about light, temperature, and pH of your garden. Imagine being able to pair alerts from Harvest Geek with relevant content from your archives (e.g., what to do if unseasonably cold weather strikes). You can also check out Kickstarter or other funding platforms to look for new products in your content vertical.2.At the very least, you can write a review of the products you find. Add Amazon affiliate links to your reviews to monetize them.3.You can also consider selling these products to your audience under an affiliate marketing agreement
with the manufacturer. You have the attention of the customers they are seeking.4.Ideally, you could find a way to partner with them to integrate your content, their product, and the consumer’s data. Why not give their management team a call and see where things go?
How The Sterling Woods Group Can Help
We grow content creators’ digital revenues to over 50% of their total business by leveraging their existing content, brand, and audience.
We all know the digital world is messy and confusing with many competing technologies, integration headaches, and the recognition that today’s solution might not work tomorrow.
The Sterling Woods Group provides clarity. Our TrailBlazer™ platform is like a smooth path through the woods. It allows you to seamlessly build a digital membership product around your content. Our job is to transform what is chaotic, complicated, and expensive into something that is smooth, easy, and attainable. We get your digital revenues growing faster, cheaper, and with less risk.
We understand technology without a strategy doesn’t get you anywhere. That’s why we guide you through our proprietary TrailMap™ framework that includes:
- developing a compelling strategy for digital success,
- creating a consistent marketing plan using strategies and tactics that are proven to work,
- leveraging our world-class TrailBlazer™ technology so we can launch fast and see how real customers behave, and
- optimizing the program going forward.
