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The changes in the publishing industry are being driven by two factors. One, the prevalence of new technology devices that allow us to consume more content on-the-go, such as smart phone; and two, the resurgence of long-form content.
Let’s look at the bourgeoning importance of the latter. We’ve seen more and more that consumers don’t just like to nibble on content but are nourished by full meals.
Twitter and Facebook are two massive and powerful media platforms that are enabling the discovery of long-form content. On these platforms, we often scan for news and interesting stories. But once we find an article or piece of interesting content, we dive deeper into a publisher’s mind. However, multi-platform can also make people less fixated by a single curated news website. Reading printed newspapers from start to finish seems almost impossible today as our minds are distracted by so many sources of information on mobile news platforms. That is what we call snack reading or fragmented reading.
Will this snack reading culture kill the publishing Industry? Common belief is that consumers prefer shiny screens to glossy magazines, tweets to tones and publishers don’t understand how to embrace new technology to meet new consumer demands. Inspiration can be found by studying the many emerging businesses in China.
China is one of the most exciting markets in the world. China’s digital ecosystem is mobile and app-first in a way that has leapfrogged the West.
Is it possible to contemplate the idea to sell books on communication tools such as Whatsapp, Wechat, LINE or Facebook? People may say that selling hard-copy books is a dying business, especially if the author is less well known. Can you imagine that someone can sell over ten thousand published books simply via online promotional videos. tell stories about the books?
A successful example of this is ‘Luogic Talkshow’, a company that is estimated to have a market value around 2 billion USD. Zhen-yu Luo, the host of the talkshow, sells books online and has accumulated 25 million USD in the first 20 months.
Every morning, Luo sends a 60 second voice recording about a book on his WeChat public account. If the viewers want to know more about the content, they simply type in the keyword given. Luo uses a simple standard operating procedure for selling books.
Standard Operating Procedure
Luo understands the snack reading culture and therefore breaks the information into four small steps:
- 60 seconds voice recording via WeChat public account
- 3 minutes reading content
- 5 minutes shopping
- 60 minutes video on a weekly base
His promotional strategy encourages his consumers to buy these books, enticing the opportunity for success. He understands that Chinese people are highly motivated to be successful by starting their own businesses.
Target on Middle-class Audiences
Middle-class workers are anxious about acquiring new knowledge, and have the finances available to pay for products that can make them more successful. However they may have limited time to pursue their ambitions. Luogic Talkshow offers a wealth of knowledge that Is easy to digest through Luo’s storytelling.
Exclusive Right’s to Sell Books for Marketing Strategy
Luo fully understands the publishing industry is an over supplied market. He gets the exclusive rights for a book and sells it online without any discounts. The viewers are tempted to buy the book after listening to his introduction. However, he desires exclusivity in the market.
Luo has become an internet celebrity and has also successfully started a new channel for publishing books. Luo has modelled his product in his own image and has reaped the financial rewards and is now expanding to other businesses. He is a leading pioneer in this sector and his customers buy whichever book he recommends.
With Luogic Talkshow on the rise, we can see that the Chinese mobile ecosystem has evolved in an unprecedented way. Various business models emerged from the Chinese mobile market. It is exciting what new models will appear in the future.