In just a quarter of a century, the move from print to digital has introduced a new set of challenges as well as opportunities for scholarly publishers. Stricter library budgets, increased control by regulatory agencies, the challenge of reaching new readers while also racing against the competition to maintain clientele, are accompanied by more desirable effects like lowered publication costs, the ability to grow readership, and innovate abundantly by moving beyond publishing and expand into related areas for growth.

Today, the ultimate goal for any academic publisher is to reach out to the widest possible audience online to boost views, readership, citations, and consequently, to increase the impact factor of their journal. With digital marketing, brands are able to increase their outreach by leveraging great content and providing rich user experiences.

Most companies employ a specialized team of content marketers to curate content focused on ‘thought leadership’, which go beyond product pitches about the brand itself. Academic publications are natural sources of content – including, but not limited to, their oeuvre of research publications that most readers are easily attracted to. Yet, it is critical to devise a strategy that helps publishers use this to their advantage to build a large online community and emerge as an influential entity, which is bigger than just a “PDF download store”.¹

To examine how publishers can maintain interest and attention of users, attract and engage new customers and readers, and in the process, emerge as a trusted source of knowledge, we have shared our observations of seven academic publishers, highlighting the most interesting tools and methods used by them to successfully create an online presence.

Annual Reviews (AR)

As the volume of research published is only steadily growing every year, Annual Reviews, a non-profit publisher attempts to synthesize knowledge in several research domains to tackle this information overload, with review articles written by leading scholars from AR’s 50 journals.

The information and themes in these journals serve as springboards for expertly curated stories in AR’s digital publication, Knowable Magazine. It houses a wide range of content, including special reports and in-depth features about interesting topics like work-life, the art of persuasion, and biology. The formats are varied – detailed videos, Q&A segments, infographics, explainer articles, updates and even comic strips! These different content formats make important developments in any given field of study easily accessible, interesting to read and absorb, and help stimulate interesting discussions.

As advocates for information literacy, Annual Reviews also regards library publishers as catalysts of this movement and are involved in a project that articulates the role of librarians in assessing and sifting relevant digital information.

This campaign also has a landing page of its own showcasing not just AR’s vision of librarians leading positive change in the publishing industry, but also a range of resources including whitepapers, reviews, surveys, guides, books, infographics, and videos. Another notable feature of Annual Review’s content marketing efforts is email preference centre which helps them deliver highly personalized emails and e-newsletters, curated to match the users’ tastes and preferences.

Hindawi Publishers

One of the world’s largest publishers of open access journals, Hindawi Publishing comprises of more than 230 journals across all core scientific disciplines. With an elegant and intuitive website that makes navigation simple, this publisher is already on top of their game.

In addition, actionable content, separate paths for different prospects—authors, and publishing partners, consistent colour schemes, and important information related to journals in every discipline, like acceptance rates and impact factor, altogether contribute to create a great user experience.

Similarly, their blogging site contains very engaging articles and blog posts and is categorized into open science, announcements, science communication and journal news for easy navigation. The blog also showcases opinion pieces, reviews, updates, and interviews with researchers and entities from their collaborative partners like the preprint publisher, ChemRxiv. Yet another notable feature in their blog is the monthly Editor Spotlight Series where a specific journal editor shares insights and discusses trends within their specialist fields of academia.

Brill Publishing

What can a 350+ year old publisher with a Humanities and Social Sciences focus possibly do to level up their online content strategy? Founded in 1683, Brill Publishing is a great example of a publishing house that is exploring novel marketing techniques with the help of Impact Science “to connect with new audiences and geographies in the most relevant and contextual way possible.”²

To promote their flagship product, Linguistic Bibliography Online, Brill Publishing collaborated with our team of designers, writers, and science communicators to create an animated explainer video that addresses the end users’ pain points, and was translated in five languages to expand outreach. A shorter 40 second teaser video was also created to summarize and attract funders and lay persons, in addition to static and interactive infographics that were repurposed as hardcopy handouts at events as well as hosted on Brill Publishing’s website homepage.

This campaign was instrumental in attracting new traffic to the site, and generating leads and inquiries into other products.

Brill Publishing also uses text and audio formats on their blog #HumanitiesMatter to generate interest about key topics in humanities through opinion pieces, video summaries, interviews, podcasts, and more.

Another interesting source for Brill Publishing’s content marketing efforts is their extensive use of YouTube not just to promote their special programmes and activities—for instance, this video talks about their open access process—but also to deliver educational video content across domains like International Relations, Linguistics, and History neatly segregated in the form video playlists.

IOP Publishing

A subsidiary of the Institute of Physics, IOP Publishing is the first physics publisher to launch a journal on the internet in 1994. In order to create and disseminate rich content in traditional print as well as online formats, IOP Publishing’s extensive portfolio to communicate world-class research, includes Physics World, a monthly digital and print magazine that received a special mention at the 2019 Folio: Eddie and Ozzie Awards for its website content and design.³

In 2013, considering the growing demand for ebooks in Physics, IOP Publishing launched a new e-book programme at the Frankfurt Book Fair that focused on early career researchers who would like to approach a research field more broadly and across disciplines. With DOIs for every chapter, IOP Publishing ensures that their ebooks are searchable along with journal content on IOP Science. Born digital, their e-books are converted to print later on demand. Yet another innovative approach adopted by IOP Publishing recently is their response to the schools shutting down due to the global pandemic.

Their Physics Education archive includes space for “Physics Education at home” where they share peer-reviewed articles that can be used by teachers and students (14 – 16 years olds) to conduct easy DIY Physics activities and experiments at home.

Elsevier

The world’s leading publisher on science and health research, Elsevier delivers information and innovative tools for researchers, educators, and scholarly communities worldwide. With 873k+ followers on Twitter, 322k+ on LinkedIn, and 300k+ people following them on Facebook, Elsevier was already developing some of the largest networks on social media that few publishers are able to build and maintain.

Elsevier was also able to identify that while most academics are active on social networking sites, video is one of the most popular content formats which drives high engagement. But videos can be time-consuming and difficult to create.

When Elsevier shared this challenge with us, Impact Science helped them create videos which summarized longform content within a shorter time frame, along with design consistency to increase overall brand recall for the publisher.

The impact: conversions and new leads, improved sales, click through rate on Twitter increased 4 times the usual rate, and better visibility.

For the journal Cell Press, Elsevier released Figure360 videos that help readers quickly grasp the key takeaways of a scientific research paper within minutes by breaking down a figure using animation and narration. Another journal, Materials Today, also provides a “comprehensive coverage” on material sciences, from new developments to highly specialized topics using articles, announcement posts, webinars, journal insights, and podcasts.⁴

Nature Research

A division of Springer Nature Publishing House, Nature Research or Nature Publishing Group publishes a range of academic journals, magazines, and online databases in science and medicine. Widely known for its flagship publication Nature, this publishing group has 9 million monthly readers who engage with the commentary, analysis, books, videos, and podcasts on their website.

To boost scientific curiosity and learning especially among students, Nature Research launched Scitable, a collaborative learning space for science students, popular across Ivy League colleges from the world, and used by educators to customize learning materials, create online classrooms, network, and share content with colleagues. Similarly, Nature Careers is another site that provides the scholarly community, and specifically early career researchers and students with scientific career news, advice, tools and information about the latest job openings in academia.

Wolters Kluwer

A publishing house with a 183-year old legacy, Wolters Kluwer serves customers in over 180 countries, helping them overcome the challenges of an ever-changing world by providing specialized service and software solutions in legal, business, healthcare and related industries.

Wolters Kluwer has been actively using visual formats for information dissemination like infographics on their site and blog to drive traffic to their website. They’ve used a mix of free tools and templates, as well as the expertise of SEO professionals to create these infographics, the most popular of which is on Lippincott NursingCenter.com: The Subtle Signs of Sepsis. Not only did it cover a hot topic in medical health (at the time, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared sepsis as a medical emergency), but it also helped simplify a complex topic that people were curious to learn more about, and also used this space to promote their collection of sepsis treatment related articles.

In addition to their blog and the use of visual infographics to promote their products, Wolters Kluwer also conducts a number of events, conferences, and webinars to educate researchers about publication practices and the roles of publishers, journals, societies, and authors in the entire cycle of research dissemination and discoverability.⁵

These academic publishers are using innovative new digital strategies that appeal to the modern reader in order to broaden their outreach. Various content formats like infographics, video summaries, email newsletters, podcasts, live sessions are shared across websites, online magazines, social media, and specialized campaign sites that help boost site traffic and brand visibility, capture the attention of new readers and subscribers, maintain a community of prospects built over the years, and attract partnerships and author submissions.

***

As an academic publisher, which are some of the content marketing techniques mentioned above that you will/have been using to fulfil your unique outreach and engagement goals? Let us know in the comments below, or visit https://www.impact.science/publishers-societies/ to know how we, at Impact Science, combine our understanding and love for research, with our expert knowledge of media formats and platforms to deliver comprehensive marketing support for your academic publishing house’s unique research communication needs.

You can also write to us at request@impact.science and our PhD consultants will connect with you!

References:

¹ https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/leap.1131

² https://www.impact.science/case-study/transcending-time-decoding-humanities-for-todays-world/

³ https://www.foliomag.com/go/2019-eddie-and-ozzie-awards/#ozzie-awards-winners

⁴ https://www.journals.elsevier.com/materials-today

⁵ https://www.wolterskluwer.com/en/events

The post How 7 Academic Publishers are Amplifying their Brands appeared first on CACTUS.

One of the key challenges faced by scholarly societies includes effectively leveraging the rich content that they have across digital and social platforms, to attract, engage, and retain their core audiences. We will examine some interesting cases where scholarly societies have adapted their content for delivery across digital and social formats.

For instance, American Chemical Society’s podcast Stereo Chemistry is about chemistry news with a focus on the chemists behind it. In addition, they have a blog called ACS Axial which provides ideas, insights, and advice from the scientific community.

It has also been observed that academic societies like the Academy of Management and the Royal Society of Chemistry use visually appealing media and videos to engage with their authors on different social media platforms.

The important question one must ask then is why scholarly societies are producing so much content using non-conventional methods. The objective behind their powerful content strategy is two-pronged—1) to stay relevant to their readers and 2) for increased visibility. Therefore, the content generated by these leading societies is aimed at creating interest, brand recognition, and author engagement,

It is estimated that 77% of B2B marketers use educational content to enhance brand reputation and awareness. ¹Academic Societies with their repository of rich content libraries are likely to find that simplifying their content and making it available to a larger audience will help them reap rewards in terms of audience growth and engagement.

We have listed the top 5 academic societies that are using content marketing strategies to build a community, advance outreach, and engage their audiences.

1. Academy of Management (AOM)

The 21st century introduced two major challenges for AOM, one of the largest publishers in the field of business and management —1) the sheer number of publications and 2) the world was going digital. Despite these challenges, AOM stands tall with its community of 20000+ members across more than 120 countries. So, what still makes them so attractive to the community?

In September 2018, the Academy of Management launched AOM Insights—an online magazine for managers and business leaders featuring easy-to-read summaries derived by turning tedious research data into intelligible and actionable information. Leveraging science over speculation, in a time when online content is cluttered with misinformation and confusing opinions by self-proclaimed experts, Insights only features content based on the latest research published in top management journals. But that’s not all—Insights also is a storehouse of powerful management content developed in several engaging and shareable formats, including explainer videos and infographics that can be used in classrooms and boardrooms, and shared on social media.

These engaging media formats are not just used to accompany their digital magazine summaries but are also repurposed as postcards and fashioned cutouts and disseminated on social media to draw users to their website. Naturally, this led to an increase in readership, as well as online engagement with AOM’s target audience.

John Pescatore, the Managing Director of Publications and Content at AOM says: “Before we had one single piece of content, a journal article which got promoted through social media once. Now we have a journal article that gets promoted to social media along with an infographic and in some instances a research brief. As a result, we are providing 300% more content from one single article that we can then use to disseminate not only to our members, but now to our wider audiences.”

2. Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)

This 175+ year old chemistry publishing house is known to make heads turn (and we aren’t talking about the RSC bestowing an Honorary Fellowship on the greatest fictional detective of all time, Sherlock Holmes).

Earlier this year, the Royal Society of Chemistry launched a refreshing new campaign that featured a series of short videos aimed at inspiring young adults to pursue careers in chemical science. This campaign has been running on all social networking sites that are popular with the Gen Z—YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat. Bold, exciting, and inspirational, not unlike campaigns created by a big commercial brand like Nike, RSC creative strategy has equipped them to draw an audience with a high digital aptitude and a low attention span.

But, once you’ve attracted an audience, how do you keep your readers engaged?

RSC does this in several ways. MyRSC is an online community of 69,000 registered users which is the ultimate destination for chemistry enthusiasts with its wide array of blogs, discussion forums, community groups, resources, and more. Talk Chemistry is an online group that connects chemistry teachers, and includes monthly interactive videos and other resources, tips, and articles that can be easily shared with students. Chemistry World blog is yet another online blog by RSC that covers a range of topics in multiple formats including science news, research updates, podcasts and opinion pieces.

On their main website, RSC has been carefully selecting one article every week for showcase commonly known as “ChemSci Pick of the week”. For greater impact, these top research articles are accompanied by visually-appealing infographics that summarize the entire research paper.

Besides improving the recall for chemistry research, the reads and downloads of articles in this section doubled, in addition to the more traditional impact parameters like citations and Altmetric score. RSC has also partnered with Impact Science to create content in engaging formats like video summaries and special posters on social media and to extend their reach to local markets like China.

3. The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Inc. (JBJS)

JBJS—one of the most widely recognized and trusted sources of orthopedic research, is a great example of a brand that quickly adapts its content strategy to stay relevant and keep users engaged. In fact, within three years, The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery increased their online readership from 58% to 74%. JBJS presents content in various formats—clinical summaries, news articles, infographics, and videos to keep busy medical researchers and surgeons up to date with the latest developments. JBJS also collaborated with the Impact Science team to create concise and quick to consume 2-minute animated videos, and visually appealing infographics. The impact of such easily shareable content was tremendous:

• 10x increased views for articles with visual content
• 5x increase YouTube in video views owing to audio visual summaries
• 2.5x increase in YouTube channel subscribers by introducing explainer videos
• 90% of JBJS Twitter favorites retweeted
• Infographic showcased in the Sunday Times
• Interest from commercial sponsors

In any research, providing quick visibility to new developments is essential to make faster progress in the right direction. Therefore, JBJS has created OrthoBuzz—a microsite which acts like a digital content hub for Orthopaedic Surgeons and researchers with curated news and information on the latest developments. Optimized for discoverability online, it helps manage and engage a community gained through leads on this site. In a study by JBJS, it was found that “in addition to their computers, surgeons also use smartphones and tablets for checking formulary schedules, communicating with patients, reading journals and seeking orthopaedic information.” ³Accordingly, JBJS has ensured that their content is optimized for a number of different devices and channels. With useful monthly newsletters, site features like ‘Editor’s Choice’, ‘Practice Trends and Tips’, and ‘Need to Know’, JBJS has identified the best way to communicate with their digital audience and leveled up their content strategy.

4. American Chemical Society (ACS)

More than 50% of Americans ages 12 and older have listened to a podcast, and podcast listeners are also highly likely to complete an entire episode. ⁴Therefore, it’s not surprising that this engagement format is being quickly adopted by digital marketers globally. Podcasts are easy to listen to and mostly free. For some, it’s a morning ritual that begins with a voice command sent to an IoT device, and for others, these audio series are a great travel companion. One of the largest and oldest societies in the U.S.—The American Chemical Society knows and embraces this opportunity to connect with their community. They use podcasts extensively in their marketing strategy: 1. Orbitals is a monthly podcast about ‘the molecules that move us’, 2. ACS Science Elements is a weekly podcast series highlighting cutting edge research and scientific news, and 3. Stereo Chemistry is a podcast that creatively packages chemistry news and updates on Amazon Echo for chemistry enthusiasts.

Adding podcasts to your content strategy can help you reach out to an audience with genuine interest in your subject area, and can educate and motivate enthusiasts to discover more about the topic.

However, in most cases these special content marketing tools are accompanied by more traditional channels like online blogs and community sites. For instance, the podcast Stereo Chemistry is a part of ACS’ digital magazine, Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN). Among other such online assets, ACS Axial is one of the most popular blogs by ACS that provides scientific insight and curated content for a wide range of chemistry fans according to age and experience of the readers, connecting publishers, scientific experts and researchers in the field.

5. European Society of Cardiology (ESC)

With education at the core of their marketing strategy, ESC Education is the hub for the European Society of Cardiology’s main content marketing projects. ESC believes that their lifelong training programs, education tools, and learning content must be a reflection of what the community of cardiology professionals actually requires in a rapidly changing world. This comprises of a large collection of online resources, video series, self-paced training, certificate programs, and a wide range of practice tools and support that culminates into an all-encompassing online learning platform, ascribing ECS credibility and visibility in the process.

These leading societies have stepped up their game and are using innovative ways to engage their readers. Infographics, videos, podcasts, lay summaries, blogs, a microsite, and social media posts are all powerful tools to engage the reader, increase sales, build trust, and improve visibility. Your unique outreach and engagement goals will help you determine the most suitable tools and strategies for your brand, and therefore, is the first step, to building an effective content marketing strategy.

What is the best content strategy for your publishing house/academic society/journal? Visit https://impact.science/publisher-and-information-solution-companies/ to know how we, at Impact Science, combine our understanding and love for research, with our expert knowledge of media formats and platforms to deliver comprehensive marketing support for your academic society’s research communication needs.

You can also write to us at request@impact.science and our PhD consultants will connect with you!

Sources:

¹ https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2018/10/research-b2b-audience/

² https://www.impact.science/blog/case-study/the-journal-of-bone-joint-surgerys-breakthrough-research-made-simple-and-shareable/

³ http://sites.jbjs.org/advertising/JBJS-2016-Media-Kit.pdf

⁴ https://www.journalism.org/fact-sheet/audio-and-podcasting/

The post 5 Academic Societies that are acing their online content strategy—Powerful tools revealed appeared first on CACTUS.