Multichannel publishing requires a solid foundation

Like many other publishers, in addition to paper magazines, AgriMedia also uses many other channels to stay in touch with (potential) subscribers. This includes websites, newsletters, events, videos and podcasts. By using all these channels, subscription management had become more complex, so that the computer systems had to be adapted to today's requirements.

AgriMedia is a publisher that focuses on the agricultural sector, with titles such as Agricultural Mechanization, Garden and Park Technology, Livestock Technology, Goat Farming and Elite. Although part of the target group still likes to read on paper, other channels are just as important. News and articles are published on the websites every day, multiple digital newsletters are published every week and several (well-attended) events are organized annually.

A number of titles have a long history. Agricultural Mechanization has been around for over seventy years, Garden and Park Technology 28 years. Twenty years ago, these titles came under the care of AgriMedia. Over the years, all AgriMedia titles have become cross-media brands. However, until the beginning of 2021, the back-end systems were not co-developed. As a result, a lot of manual work was required when it comes to subscription management. AgriMedia also had little or no opportunities to personally approach subscribers and other visitors to the sites. Now, step by step, the various systems are being renewed and/or linked together.

Labour-intensive and vulnerable process

“We still had all the user data in separate silos. For example, there was user data in the content management system, in the email marketing software and in the subscription management system,” says Ebo van der Broek, head of Marketing & Operations. “When someone signed up for a subscription on the site, a message went to one of the colleagues at subscription management. There, the data was processed and a customer number and subscriber number were created. Then another message went back to confirm the membership and make the articles behind the paywall on the website accessible to the new subscriber. This process took a relatively long time and was very labour-intensive and vulnerable. The manual work also involved a GDPR risk: sending Excel sheets with names and e-mail addresses is only allowed if they are encrypted. If someone forgets that in a hurry, you're at great risk. Now, the various systems are automatically synchronized and someone who logs in can read the premium content immediately afterwards. People are used to this by now and that's what they expect from us.”

The first steps in integrating the silos were taken at the end of 2020. “Our old system couldn't do what we needed, so we started looking for a new partner. We approached three parties that all had their advantages and disadvantages. In the end, we chose Zeno from Socho IT because this system is the best fit for what we want. Now and in the future. In addition, Socho IT had a lot of experience in the publishing sector, so they were able to contribute to our needs. In addition, they have proven to be very flexible.”

Initially, the subscription administration was transferred to Zeno. Subsequently, in early 2021, the websites were linked to Zeno.

New plugin

The various titles and events have their own WordPress websites. To allow the websites to communicate with Zeno, AgriMedia had its own plug-in developed. “This plugin is in line with Zeno's API (API: link to exchange data, ed.). Together with Socho IT, our web builders have ensured that not only the website's data can now be processed directly in Zeno, but also that feedback goes back to the site. This gives visitors real-time access to, for example, premium articles and the digital archive. If someone does not subscribe via the site, but by mail or phone, they also get immediate access, and if someone cancels, this is also automatically reported.”

During the development of the plug-in, there has always been good contact with Socho IT. For the link to work properly, there had to be agreement on how the data was exchanged and which fields in Zeno's database it would end up in. The feedback to the sites also had to be given the right form. “Thanks to the flexible attitude and the quick response of the people at Socho IT, our web partner was able to implement the plug-in quickly and properly. Despite all the support from Socho IT, developing a plug-in is not something you just do as a publisher. You really need an ICT partner that has sufficient technical knowledge, such as our development partner.”

Premium content

Some of AgriMedia's content is freely accessible, but most articles, podcasts and videos are so-called premium content, or paid content. Van der Broek: “On our sites, visitors usually have free access to a few premium articles; on others, they can read a limited number of articles per month for free. This is usually limited to three. Then they arrive at the paywall that reminds them that good journalism costs money. We are still experimenting with which form leads to the most conversion. Ultimately, of course, they are supposed to become subscribers.”

Newsletters

Now that the implementation of Zeno has been completed and the sites and Zeno are linked, AgriMedia has started the next step: a new e-mail system. Indeed, newsletters play an important role in the customer journey (from non-subscriber to subscriber). To receive it, you do not need to be a paying subscriber, leaving your details is sufficient.

“We strive to publish a good mix of free and premium articles in every newsletter. If you're not a subscriber yet, you'll run into the paywall so you'll see time and time again what you're missing out on as a result. We are now in the final phase of implementing that new email system. This will allow us to approach our contacts in a much more focused and personal way.

Because we can easily link Zeno to the new system, we will soon be able to tailor newsletters and direct mailings to our subscribers and event visitors. For example, we can send segmented newsletters depending on the topic that interests someone, but also whether someone has been to one of our events before. In direct mailings to subscribers, we can immediately include the special subscriber rate. And when a subscription is about to expire, we can send that reader an email with a renewal offer.”

Events

In the agricultural sector, events are very important; they are very well attended. This became very clear when no events took place during the corona lockdown: the magazines and sites became important places for the target group to stay informed and in contact with each other, although of course — like the whole of the Netherlands — they would have preferred to see each other in real life.

Ebo van der Broek: “We organize various events for different target groups. We will soon be able to bring the announcement of such an event to the attention in a much more focused way. We can distinguish between different groups in our mailings. We can give people who have previously attended an event a discount and so on. In the future, we will specify that even more. Now we can distinguish between farmers, dairy farmers, goat farmers and veterinarians, but soon we will also be able to segment by what brand of tractor someone drives, so to speak.”

‍