Amid the debate over paid content models and the concern over advertising declines, some publishers are ignoring a potential answer to both issues: data-driven content. 

Data products – directories, buyers guides, classifieds, rankings and the like – often are an underutilized (or completely ignored) revenue resource for publishers in both business and consumer sectors. 

Not everyone is ignoring the opportunity. Edmunds.com's data-driven auto-shopping resource attracts 14 million unique visitors a month. Golf Digest has turned its golfer rankings and course finder lists into dynamic online traffic drivers. 

The value proposition for these types of resources is clear for customers, advertisers and publishers alike, says Mitch Rouda, president of eMedia Consulting Group. “Directories serve a fundamental purpose of bringing buyers and sellers together,” he says. “Publishers should be able to build that marketplace better than anyone. That’s why no online publication should be without a directory.”

Shaking the legacy

Of course, directories have a long legacy in the print world, often in the form of phone-book sized compilations of products, businesses or other information that was outdated almost as soon as it was published. The Internet has provided a channel to make data-driven products that are fresher and more dynamic than their print predecessors – although many directory publishers have yet to take advantage. 

“For some publishers, doing a directory has never occurred to them,” says Rouda. “Others may be trying to protect a print buyer’s guide. Others think it’s too hard.”

That mindset is beginning to change. Publishers are developing a better understanding of the value of data-driven content – especially as traditional revenue streams flatten or decline. And technology advances are making it easier to build and publish directory products relatively quickly and inexpensively. 

Sexy data? 

But that doesn’t mean data products are easy. “Data-driven content has become sexy,” says Russell Perkins, managing director of information consultancy InfoCommerce Group. “Everyone wants in, but not everyone has the appetite for it once they see the work involved.”

The work for many publishers involves turning static lists created for print publications into more dynamic, interactive environments for the online audience. 

“Publishers are slowly moving away from passive mountains of information, coupling that information with tools so that users can find it and actually apply it,” says Perkins. “We call it data that does stuff.” 

The editors at Golf Digest have adopted that approach to the extensive lists of resources they produce for their golf community. For example, its compilation of America’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses, published every two years, began its digital existence with simple hyperlinks to the featured golf courses. 

“Last year, we made it a truly cross-platform, interactive experience,” says John Marvel, managing editor of Golf Digest digital properties. The team created a Flash-based map of the U.S. for sorting the list and inserted other interactive elements, such as photos and videos, into the individual course profiles. 

“I look at it as a great meal,” says Marvel. “The print product is the main dish, and we provide a lot of side dishes around it as a companion.” 

A variety of business models

The challenge for many publishers is turning these meals into viable online business models. There’s a wide variety of options. At the low end is the classic, Yellow Pages-type model in which basic listings are free but publishers sell premium listings – typically between $1,000 and $3,000 annually, says Rouda, whose recent client work includes buyer’s guides for AthleticBusiness.com and Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles magazine. “That price point, which is way less than a typical advertising page and lasts a whole year, should be a no-brainer for advertisers,” he says.

Sites such as Edmunds.com don’t charge for listings, instead selling display advertising and lead-generation programs around the data. It’s a model that has been evolving steadily since Edmunds launched the site in 1995 as a marketing tool to drive book sales. These days, Edmunds’ value proposition to advertisers is based on metrics such as purchase consideration or intent.

“We’ve shifted the mentality for a lot of automakers – it’s not about the volume of ad clicks, it’s about the lift in terms of consideration,” says Jeannine Fallon, Edmunds’ executive director of corporate communications. “We’ve made headway getting the agencies to understand there’s more value in getting consumers to click on the pages about your cars on our site, not the ads.” 

Despite the value of its content, Edmunds has not felt the tug of a subscription model. “We’ve experimented with paid content models,” says Fallon. “But we’ve been successful with a model based on quality content, highly valued by users, and supported by advertising.”

Other publishers that offer highly specialized or hard-to-find data are finding there’s a legitimate market for paid subscriptions. 

“Subscription-based content is very hot,” says Perkins. “Publishers can command premium prices for this content, and subscription renewals usually are high.”

For example, SourceMedia charges $995 for an annual subscription to PaymentsSource.com, which offers company profiles, industry rankings and other data on the credit card and payments industry. While much of the information is publicly available, the site’s value comes in its analysis and presentation of the data to make it more relevant for subscribers. 

“If you have a strong brand, and you’re in a market that is used to paying for content, you can build a strong case to develop a subscription-based product,” says Adam Reinebach, vice president of technology and business development for SourceMedia. 

Bring in the geeks!

This is where the data specialists come in. Publishers that want to charge for premium data will need to make sure the content is worth paying for. Those types of data-intensive skills aren’t easily found on a publisher’s payroll. 

“You need someone who’s comfortable wading through data to get to the heart of what’s relevant,” says Reinebach. “It’s not something any reporter can do. When we launched PaymentsSource, we had to hire those skills.” 

Even if the content is not highly specialized FDIC filings, a successful data products business still requires personnel who are skilled in gathering, massaging and repackaging data to make it appealing to the target audience.

Edmunds, for example, has a staff of 15 data analysts and 40 other employees dedicated to acquiring and processing data from various sources, including manufacturers, dealers and repair shops, and checking it for accuracy before it’s published.

“We have an extensive and very manual QA process,” says Fallon. “We put a high level of attention to ensuring the data is accurate.”

At Golf Digest, Marvel has seen the benefits of integrating the Web data teams with the editorial teams that are creating the directory content. 

“We have people on our staff assigned to different areas such as the equipment Hot List and the Course Finder,” says Marvel. “We have regular staff meetings with the print edit staff. Getting in on the ground floor of those meetings is important, because we can start brainstorming about how to make the product great in both the magazine and online.” 

Data jockeys aside, the real key to a successful directory business is more traditional: Delivering a product that your audience actually wants.

“Job one is reconnecting with your subscriber base,” says Perkins. “You need to understand how customers are using the data and how they want to use it. You don’t have to push the envelope with the technology – you just have to figure out what customers want."