15 reasons why the future's (Sift) orange!

15 years - It’s a long-time to be working in the digital sector, so haven’t we done well. Big back-slaps all round! I’ve been here for 10 of those 15 years and the media landscape has changed dramatically, we’re a long way from the days when I was selling pop-ups at £100CPM for the first time!

Now the party is over, the big question for me is where will the business be in 3 years time and how are we going to dominate the B2B publishing market? I truly believe 2012 will be Sift Media’s most exciting yet, here’s 15  reasons why…
 

1) Structure – We have a great publishing model in play. Our VC said to me effectively you are like a VC, running 6 businesses, each with separate P&Ls. It’s kind-of true, we have real culture of ownership and I think that makes a huge difference to the business. Simple things like our sales guys speaking with 10 people from their communities every week, make a significant difference to their understanding and conversations.

2) Customer Service – We’ve invested heavily in customer service and we’re providing the right solutions, good optimisation and ultimately better results. It’s great that every campaign we run ends with a post-campaign call and report. We’ve just defined a customer experience model - it feels good to be working on these types of progressive initiatives.

3) Innovation – With our structures and culture, we’re brimming with ideas. It’s great to be prioritising issues because the guys are bursting with good schemes to improve their sites and client campaigns.

4) Marketing – In 2012, we’ll invest in the one area we’ve not invested heavily enough in: marketing! We’ve just recruited an experienced Head of Marketing, to drive our B2B market presence, both for online and offline activities. The marketers remit is a huge role these days, it’s good to have secured someone who will excel in the role! Watch this space for more on this...

5) Agility – I believe we're nicely placed to stay agile. We’ve had a year of real focus in 2011 and it’s paid off, but there are some great opportunities on the horizon and we’re well placed to adapt to both new initiatives and changing markets.

6) Technology – We’ve just taken on another developer and have a timeline through 2012 for our ‘current’ technology road map. Publishers are increasingly having to act like technology companies, with platforms to maintain and develop. We have a raft of exciting tech projects in the Sift Media skunkworks. Watch this space for news on this.
 

7) Mobile/Tablet – What an opportunity for publishers (some would say a headache!) We’ll be launching the new AccountingWEB.co.uk tablet site in 2 weeks-time, with others following over the next 12-months. We already generate 50,000 unique users a month on tablet and mobile devices – after Christmas this is likely to increase by another 25%.

8) Editorial – With over 200 years of experience between them (scary), we have both an experienced and dynamic editorial team, setting the agenda’s in their sector. Their philosophy of mutualisation and social integration is driving traffic and engagement growth. I think we're better placed than we ever have been in this area.

9) K2 Advisory & Insight – We introduced K2 our ICT analyst firm in 2009 and it’s been an amazing success. Our client base includes; IBM, HP, Steria, Salesforce, Microsoft, CSC to name a few. As well as helping to drive good revenues, they also guide our editorial agenda and keep our strategy road map on track – it’s great having analysts on your side! They are also helping us define an exciting insight programme across the publishing units.

10) Social – I’d say Sift Media are pretty good with our social efforts. We’ve a simple, clearly defined strategy, we’re all adopters (even me @tomdunkerley) and we’re utilising social tools to drive both internal and external strategies. We’ve also just announced a new event, 'The Social Business Strategy Summit', being created by MyCustomer.com & BPT. Very excited by the current agenda!

11) Values – Ben Heald (CEO) talked about these in a recent blog post. What’s good is that this isn’t just company rhetoric, it’s how we do business. Ben’s instilled some great behaviour across the business and sets the standard. We also throw a damn good party!

12) Workflow – Big play for us in 2012. We’re working hard to better understand our audiences and produce publishing products at the heart of our users workflow. Big announcement in the next 2 weeks coming on this. The more we can be a fundamental part of our audiences working behaviour, the more engaged they become.

13) Sift Media Global – We’ve recently integrated the US business into the UK business. AccountingWEB.com and GoingConcern.com have great market share in the CPA arena, with some really exciting plans for growth. With the support of an experienced UK team, I think the business will thrive.

14) Investment – We’re pumping profits back into the business and investing in the right areas. Our recent 3 year planning exercise, driven by the publishing units, threw up a heap of opportunities, some of which are now in progress.

15) Location – It’s great being in Bristol, with its thriving creative sector. Having lived in London, the work-life balance never worked for me. We do have full-time staff in Brighton & London and we’ll expand this base, but Bristol is a hot-bed of talent and I think Sift Media have an abundance of it.

The future's bright, the future's Sift Orange!