Association of Online PublishersHelping media owners build better digital business
27 Aug 2009
Econsultancy – Winner of Specialist Digital Publisher 2009
With its stated vision to provide a leading global resource for training, research and events on digital marketing and e-commerce, Econsultancy capitalised on its international audience in the judging year with the opening of a US office, and an increase focus on social media through its relaunched website.
Econsultancy’s registered user base grew in the judging period by 22% from 60,477 to 74,066. Subscribing memberships grew by 30%.
Econsultancy: "effectively diversifying its revenue streams at a key moment"Some new records, which are part of upward trend:
(The company hasn’t done another audit because ad revenue is less than 5% of overall mix and none of its advertisers have asked for it. However, Econsultancy is much less interested in ‘traffic’ and much more interested in registered users or ‘members’, subscribers and higher conversion rates to its core revenue streams of subscription, events and training.)
Econsultancy's Twitter Feed, as displayed on its homepage
New revenues streams for 2008/09 include post-graduate diplomas in Digital Publishing and Online Retail, benchmarking reports, The Econsultancy Innovation Awards and a top-level Diamond membership with premium benefits for the most loyal subscribers.
The opening of the New York office is a reflection of Econsultancy’s growing international following – 45% of registered users are now from outside the UK. In fact to cater for this expanding market, many of Econsultancy’s reports, training and events now include US-specific or global content. In a similar vein, new for 2009 is an International/Multilingual Search Marketing course.
For further information and to become a member:
http://econsultancy.com
Tel. 020 7269 1452
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Econsultancy’s registered user base grew in the judging period by 22% from 60,477 to 74,066. Subscribing memberships grew by 30%.
Econsultancy: "effectively diversifying its revenue streams at a key moment"Some new records, which are part of upward trend:- During the week 23 – 27 February 2009, Econsultancy averaged more than 60 new members per weekday (307 in 5 days) which is the highest number ever
- On 25 February 2009, over 10,000 people visited the site - the most in one day in the company’s 10 year history
- 2 March 2009 was the busiest day ever for US traffic
(The company hasn’t done another audit because ad revenue is less than 5% of overall mix and none of its advertisers have asked for it. However, Econsultancy is much less interested in ‘traffic’ and much more interested in registered users or ‘members’, subscribers and higher conversion rates to its core revenue streams of subscription, events and training.)
Success against objectives
- Proposition: Econsultancy is the most popular destination online for professionals seeking guidance in their e-commerce and digital marketing work with a 90% member retention rate
- Commercial: Building on a core revenue engine of subscriptions Econsultancy has grown a highly successful training and events business. However, the business also derives revenue by almost every means possible: paid press release distribution, classified advertising, sponsorship, content syndication, bespoke consulting and research services, e-learning etc
- Financial: Despite the economic downturn, Econsultancy achieved a 31% increase in revenues in 2008
Enterprise & innovation
- Econsultancy has expanded into the US, opening an office in New York and appointing the former Editor-in-Chief of ClickZ as VP, North America, to spearhead growth
- New website launched. Built by the in-house development team, with an investment of $500k, Econsultancy’s website enables a greater level of customisation and personalisation to allow the user to tailor the information they receive, including improved geo-targeted pricing
- Leading by example, Econsultancy ran a Twitter experiment on its homepage, demonstrating how social media can drive traffic and revenue: within one hour Econsultancy had increased its followers by 200. Twitter is now the fourth largest referrer of traffic – up to 2,000 people a day
Econsultancy's Twitter Feed, as displayed on its homepage- Following Econsultancy’s Social Media ROI report last year, Econsultancy now offers a benchmarking report, training, template files, trends briefings and roundtable discussions on social media
- Inaugural Innovation Awards held (over 240 entries) and Innovation Report published to highlight original and pioneering work in digital marketing globally
- Content that comes as standard includes research reports, beginners’ guides, buyers’ guides and peer-to-peer and user-generated content in the form of must-read forums and the Econsultancy blog
Growth of Business
Econsultancy has grown both commercially and in size of operation: the volume of events, training, and reports has increased as well as the number of registered users and subscribing members. In fact to cater for the expansion, the number of staff has also grown from 18 in 2008 to 27 at last count – 2 in the US.New revenues streams for 2008/09 include post-graduate diplomas in Digital Publishing and Online Retail, benchmarking reports, The Econsultancy Innovation Awards and a top-level Diamond membership with premium benefits for the most loyal subscribers.
The opening of the New York office is a reflection of Econsultancy’s growing international following – 45% of registered users are now from outside the UK. In fact to cater for this expanding market, many of Econsultancy’s reports, training and events now include US-specific or global content. In a similar vein, new for 2009 is an International/Multilingual Search Marketing course.
Judges’ Comments
“The winner showed a strong performance, effectively diversifying its revenue streams at a key moment to include internationalisation.”For further information and to become a member:
http://econsultancy.com
Tel. 020 7269 1452
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