The rise in the number and variety of platforms for delivering content is forcing publishers to emphasize delivery strategies based on channels and platforms, according to a new survey released by the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), the principal trade association for the software and information industries.
SIIA surveyed 85 information companies in February 2012, and the results show that most publishers are focusing on multi-platform content distribution to some extent, and the “high priority” platforms vary. Key finding of the SIIA Content Platforms survey include:
- 60 percent of publishers rate tablet publishing, mobile publishing and/or launching new web-based products as a high priority.
- 42 percent give high priority to licensing and syndication.
- 19 percent prioritize video.
In addition the survey found that priorities varied by channel and organizational position:
- Business-to-consumer (B2C) companies prioritize tablet publishing above all other platforms and considerations.
- Business-to-business (B2B) companies tend to prioritize new web-based products slightly above mobile and tablet publishing.
- B2B companies are twice as likely to view licensing and syndication as high priorities as B2C companies.
- 50 percent of director-level individuals prioritize tablet publishing, versus 69 percent of C- and VP-level managers and their manager-level counterparts;
- Only 25 percent of individuals in sales roles prioritize tablet publishing, but 75 percent in these roles prioritize web-based publishing.
- 70 percent of individuals in marketing roles prioritize tablet publishing, while 50 percent prioritize web-based publishing.
While the content publishing platforms used by companies do vary, a fairly wide margin of companies are leveraging Apple platforms – the iPad and the iPhone, with 68 percent publishing on the iPad and 58 percent on the iPhone. For other platforms, the results found that 38 percent of companies are publishing on Android-based phones, and 35 percent are publishing on Android-based tablets, while only17 percent publish to Facebook via Open Graph, and 16 percent are publishing on the Kindle.
Large enterprise information and digital content companies deploy more products and services on Apple, Android, Kindle and Facebook than their small-and medium-sized businesses (SMB) counterparts. In addition, B2C companies and large enterprise content companies are more likely to outsource development apps for mobile and other platforms than B2B and SMB companies.
“The SIIA Content Platform Survey highlights the challenges and opportunities content creators have in aligning their organization to keep up with available platforms, and the pace of change in which they are evolving,” said Kathy Greenler Sexton, Vice President and General Manager of the SIIA Content Division. “Top platform priorities vary widely. Tablet, mobile, web, social and even aggregation platforms are constantly evolving, and companies are challenged to develop strategies for effectively harnessing all of these mediums at once.”
SIIA conducted the survey to to analyze publishers’ needs in advance of Content VIA Platforms, a new conference to geared to publishing, media and information companies trying to define content distribution strategies. Content VIA Platforms is scheduled for May 9-10 in San Francisco, and full results of the survey at the conference. Visit the conference website for complete details, or review the full press release.
