On Wednesday, March 29, Dr. Mario Garcia shared the three most important initiatives publishers should embrace in 2017 with the 3 Pillars of Publishing webinar attendees:
- Designing for mobile,
- eNewsletters, and
- Sponsored content.
Following is a recap of Dr. Garcia’s extremely informative and energizing presentation on the 3 priorities for publishers in 2017.
If you missed the live version of the 3 Pillars of Publishing webinar, you can register and watch it by clicking Pillars of Publishing webinar.
Key Takeaways:
- Linear Storytelling -> an organic approach for communicating with your mobile audience
Mario encouraged the webinar audience to start designing for their smallest canvas (mobile) first. Storytellers should keep in mind the vertical motion or scroll on a mobile device used by their readers and write the story so that the narrative leads to the art (text, images, and videos are intertwined – use the best media form to tell the story). - Promoting your brand -> what your readers need to know when they need to know it
Through email newsletters, publishers can put their brand in front of their readers at least once per day with briefings. Understandably, readers are busy. Email newsletters are the perfect solution to capture their attention at different intervals of the day where they can read your curated headlines, get a quick snapshot of what is happening, and feel better informed on current events. Mario recommends to send e-newsletters very early in the morning and around 6:00 PM in the evening. - Connecting with your readers -> personalized briefings
Your newsletters should have a more “neighborly” feel. Provide plenty of helpful tips, recipes, weather warnings, etc. – and use informal, friendly language – making your readers feel as though you are addressing them individually! - Sharing essential news with your readers -> make readers aware of stories they might have missed
While publishers continue to personalize content, using algorithms to serve readers with articles based on their past interests, don’t forget to showcase stories that are essential reading. The analogy Mario used to convey the concept is to feed your readers not only the candy they crave (the customized news), but also the green vegetables they try to push away (the must-know news that isn’t yet on their radar, but will be once they become aware of it). - Increasing reader engagement -> aim for simplicity in your mobile design & use teasers on mobile screens
Mario empowers his clients to use a simple approach when designing for the small screen. Referencing a Norwegian publisher, he showed that you really can visualize a big story on two to three mobile screens. He suggests serving your readers teasers on their mobile device featuring 1 headline and 1 image per screen. These teasers are best used to whet the appetite of your reader, building anticipation and excitement days ahead of publishing the full article. Think of these teasers are trailers for the movie. Requirements to produce these visual screens generally includes a team of 2: a journalist and a visual storyteller.
If you would like to watch the 3 Pillars of Publishing webinar in its entirety, click on Pillars of Publishing webinar Or, to receive a copy of Dr. Garcia’s presentation slides, please email [email protected].
For those of you not familiar with Dr. Mario Garcia, Dr. Garcia is a world renown storyteller, editorial designer, and digital strategy consultant. He is Senior Advisor on News Design and Adjunct Professor at Columbia University, School of Journalism. He has been involved with the redesign and rethink of more than 700 publications in 120 countries, including The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post.
And, a special thank you to our friends at WAN-IFRA for producing the webinar.