Nearly a year ago, Aug 30, 2018 to be precise, the Software & Information Industry’s Business Information group reported B2B Media & Information annual revenue up 5.4% to $127.7 billion. So while we wait on the most recent numbers, we thought a quick retrospective might be in order:

  • Events – popular in boom markets, were up 3.1% to $13.2 billion
  • Print advertising – continuing it’s troubled transition down 2.6% to just $4.9 billion
  • Digital advertising – growing, up 4.7% Y/Y but from 2015-2017 digital advertising was up $500 million vs. a decline in print ads of $1.42 billion, so not quite an even swap
  • Data/paid content – the real rising star growing over $6 billion Y/Y and up 6%

So what should we be expecting in the to-be-released report? More of the same with growth in data/paid content and digital advertising. But the paid content, if we dig deeper, will likely show high-growth efforts of B2B media companies in online learning – specifically micro-courses, “master classes” and digital badging/certifications.

With B2B media companies not only covering, but often times defining, the requirements for success it won’t be a surprise to see a gold rush forming in online courses as they (1) leverage existing expertise (and content), (2) continue to grow a media companies brand value in a space with the granting of verifiable digital credentials, and (3) provide a new path for monetizing assets beyond paid subscriptions and digital advertising tapping into budgets for corporate and professional training and employee education.

If you don’t have online learning pilots already in your 2020 budgets and plans, drop us a line and we’ll help you frame out opportunities, timelines, resources and budgets. It’s likely to be far less expensive than you might think and most of our clients see new revenue flowing 90-120 days after contract signing.

And who doesn’t want new, high-growth, high-margin, sales from a healthy mix of existing and new clients?

Link

The 2017 Business Information Network report looks a little different this year, with significantly larger overall revenue estimates for the B2B media and information category as a whole and for the Data and Paid Content category in particular.