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Capitalize on your customers’ trust
Digital book publishing opens doors to new and exciting distribution opportunities. Digital distribution obviously eliminates the up-front costs and overhead of printing, warehousing and shipping quantities of books to channel partners throughout the country. For many publishers, it is now reasonable and profitable to sell directly to consumers.
In their study of a cross-section of book publishers, Steve Paxhia and Bill Trippe of The Gilbane Group determined that channel partnerships are becoming less important, while integrated, powerful search functionality is taking on much greater significance. The study report, “Digital Platforms and Technologies for Publishers,” which was sponsored in part by Follett Digital Resources, details how traditional book publishing is navigating the digital marketplace and implementing solutions beyond simple eBooks.
As the authors explain, the value of channel relationships has traditionally been based on the ability of the partner to generate greater sales of a publisher’s products by reaching deeper into the market than the publisher could do on its own. In this new age of digital distribution, the need for a range of channel partners is diminishing as publishers develop new avenues to sell directly to readers. Powerful search engines with proprietary algorithms, as well as direct links to additional content within digital products will make all kinds of content easily accessible to readers.
How does all of this affect the K-12 educational marketplace? Even as educators adopt more and more digital content, the emphasis on obtaining content from trusted sources remains. There is already a wealth of digital content available to educators of all grade levels, from free downloads to multi-year subscription commitments. But the truth is, educators just don’t have the time to cull through everything that’s available to find the right products for their schools.
Channel partners that are trusted in the educational arena and equipped with powerful search capabilities, such as Follett Library Resources (FLR), will continue to play a major role in the educational marketplace. FLR’s ecommerce sites, www.titlewave.com and www.titletales.com are trusted by educators in more than 60,000 schools in the U.S. to help them determine the right products to purchase for their students and teachers. Follett’s continuing value to publishers as a channel partner lies in its long-standing reputation with educators as a one-stop-shop for quality content, both digital and print.
Educational publishers can also directly capitalize on their customers’ trust by building ecommerce capabilities into their digital products. With links to premium, add-on or companion content embedded in products they have already purchased and believe in, customers can easily purchase the additional content they need when they are ready to buy. Paxhia and Trippe conclude that publishers must take advantage of digital content creation tools like Follett Digital Resources’ Lycea Digital Platform that make it easy to incorporate links to additional content that extends learning, is already aligned to state standards, and offers assessment tools or other upgraded features.
It’s a brave new world for publishers, especially educational publishers. To succeed: think creatively, develop key relationships with trusted channel partners and incorporate direct-selling strategies into your digital distribution strategy.
Do your digital products measure up?
Our free, on-demand webinar will allow you to explore what educators want in digital materials from the perspective of two respected educational technology leaders. Immediate access to the webinar “Publishing in the World of Free: Do Educators Get What They Pay For?” is available by clicking here.
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Explore what educators want in digital materials from the perspective of two respected educational technology leaders.
Download Channel Relationships and Search Engines here.
Follett Digital Resources’ flagship product, the Lycea Digital Platform helps publishers turn the challenges of going digital into opportunities. Designed specifically for educational publishers, it has the tools you need to find your way in the evolving digital educational marketplace. Learn more about Lycea here.
The Gilbane Group is a consulting practice focused on the strategies and content technologies employed by commercial and enterprise publishing professionals. Both Steve Paxhia and Bill Trippe have decades of experience in electronic publishing, content management, and SGML/XML and related technologies.
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