Dead trees can't scale

Is it just me, or doesn't the reappraisal of niche markets that's gone on since the publication of 'The Long Tail' seem to augur well for trade media? Every newspaper I open seems to be carrying worried articles about the declining fortunes of traditional mainstream media, but I think it's music to the ears to those of us working with tightly-defined trade audiences.

I appreciate that the long tail refers to the internet economy's ability to monetise the wants of groups who have hitherto been ignored, but to be honest, there is not a lot new when you set this beside trade media's established ability to serve niche audiences. And increasingly, we're all niche audiences, arent we?

I read a politician refer to online media as 'sidestream' media, which took me by surprise. I think if you look at where citizens in Asia are getting their information from, there is now no longer such a thing as mainstream media - every media property is part of the 'sidestream'. Nobody is capturing a dominant share anymore.

Even the cumbersome broadsheets that think of themselves as newspapers of record only capture impressive (minority) audience share for their front cover - after that everyone breaks off according to their own fancies. I can't remember the last time I opened the listings or lifestyle sections in Strait Laced, for example. And you may not share my interest in the pages dedicated to Premiership football. Yet we'll both be conveniently cited as contributing to the newspaper's 'audience share' as though we read every column inch.

However the simple fact is that dead trees can't scale - so a business model that relies on ever more and more individual newsprint sections, in an attempt to sustain the big tent approach to media is always going to fail. Whereas a print strategy that focuses on niches, well I think that's still got a lot of legs.

We send email to everyone everyday, but on birthdays we send a card (if my wife reminds me). Following on from this I would argue that print is a wonderful way of cutting through the electronic media clutter, provided it is relevant, and comes from a trusted source.

The only caveat regarding the enduring relevance of print is that Web 2.0 underlines the value of connecting. The future, whatever it's exact shape, will be all about participation. If traditional trade media ignores the fact that readers are sociable, and enjoy opportunities for interacting as much as anyone else, then we'll find ourselves on the wrong side of history, just like the broadsheets.

I give Strait Laced some credit for its STOMP participatory news service - it was a wise move to try and sustain its relevance through user-generated content. For those of us in trade media who can't invest off the back of half a billion (Sing) dollars of profit every year, I think we need to understand the opportunities that exist for discreet collaboration between a given masthead and high value, highly-defined reader segments.

For example, Public Sector Technology & Management has been quite active in building bridges with public sector CIO groupings around the region, particularly in Thailand, the Philippines and India, and increasingly in Indonesia too. We have worked hard to strengthen relationships over the last three years. Looking back I remember doubting whether it was worth the time and money flying off to meet government officials face-to-face when I started things up - but the dividends are clear, as the level of participation at our own events demonstrates.

I worked for a number of years at one of the best trade conference companies around, but I've never seen anything like the level of senior government official participation at a non-government organized event. For crying out loud, we've even got a couple of real politicians flying in from Manila: Congressmen Abraham Mitra and Simeon Kintanar, both of whom sit on the House of Representatives' Committee on ICT. And the World Bank is flying their lead e-government specialist in from Washington D.C.

It's not clever-clever marketing that achieves this - it's about genuinely being a part of your community, and about forging one-to-one relationships. Pure play conference organizers can't achieve that level of audience intimacy (though I'm the first to admit that trade magazines could learn a lot from the slick conference management and smooth on-site administration that characterises conference companies that have got their act together).

Another example is how Thailand's grouping of public sector CIOs are quite eager for us to work with them next year to move our annual Government Technology Forum to Bangkok, and I see this as the best kind of relationship between a trade magazine and the trade it serves. The relationship has begun to transcend the printed page, and there is now a genuine level of interaction between us and our audience.

As a trade magazine enthusiast I believe that the rise of Web 2.0 doesn't threaten our rice bowl, provided we understand that our media properties need to be living, breathing communities - with focal events that bring together readers from time to time. Nothing beats the buzz of a room full of committed professionals seeking to improve themselves. And nothing fills up that room faster than an invitation from a trusted media brand.

So trade media will be chopping down trees for some time to come. Good news for journalists, bad news for squirrels.