We have put together a blog series leading up to our I² event in September that is tailored to capture thought-provoking ideas and commentary from visionaries, publishing leaders, independents, evangelists and the like. Everyday we have the pleasure of engaging with experts and innovators blazing their own path in the industry and we thought this would be the ideal time to open up and share these discussions. To start, we are asking our I² event sponsors, speakers, attendees and industry leaders questions about the future of indie publishing. We hope you enjoy the series.
Following up our first post from Ethan Holien, CEO of HANDLL, we have a Q&A with Oliver Roup, Founder and CEO of VigLink.
What do you see as the future of indie publishing?
New, digital platforms. We’re seeing bloggers moving away from their traditional blogs and launching YouTube channels, podcasts or just blogging via Instagram and Snapchat. As technology and social media advances, there are more ways for publishers to create content and connect with their followers.
What’s broken in publishing today?
As the trend toward 1:1 marketing continues and users expect the delivery of content that is important and relevant to them, publishers need to think about how to enhance the overall user experience seamlessly across a variety of devices. Publishers need to provide the right content, at the right time and give users the ability to engage with the content by easily sharing, participating in a discussion and/or taking action on the content.
How do you see people consuming and sharing content in the future?
We’ve been discussing mobile for quite some time but every day there are new apps and forms of communication that pop up. People consume and share content on their phones differently than on a desktop. Apps and social media like Snapchat, YouTube and Periscope have proved that video is king on mobile, while tagging on Instagram is the new way to share funny links and memes. We can expect that traditional publishing will follow suit.
What does the independent web mean to you?
Delivering relevant content to the right person at the right time and making sure that content can be accessed on all types of platforms and devices. Consumers are constantly, and seamlessly moving across the web, tablets and mobile devices in various locations and across multiple platforms. Publishers need to be able to understand and manage that user experience and make it easy for consumers to pick up where they left off.
Want to learn more about emerging trends and strategies for publishers? Join us at i² this September 9th in San Francisco for talks on ad blocking, mobile discovery, content strategy lessons from TEDTalks, attribution, programmatic and more. The event is free for publishers!
