This post originally appeared in Publishing Executive. Reprinted with permission.
To stay profitable in the evolving digital landscape, media companies need to continually innovate, which means they need data and content that is easy to access and monetize in new ways. Most are fully aware of this need, yet struggle to unify and structure information due to various factors, including disparate systems and limited human resources.
Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) recognizes these obstacles and aims to help publishers integrate their data, improve their workflows, and adapt their businesses for future success. In the following Q&A, CCC describes its content and knowledge management solutions and addresses key trends impacting the publishing industry.
How is CCC helping publishers to be more profitable?
CCC helps publishers drive growth by reinventing the way they derive value from data and content. We offer tailored consulting and technology services that integrate business strategy, process expertise, technology excellence, and data management. Through these solutions, publishers are better equipped to identify and respond to market opportunities, deliver new content products and data services, and enrich existing content for improved internal and external discoverability.
The content, data, and technology experts from CCC partner with publishing organizations to guide the adoption, development, and refinement of digital-first strategies. Our tactics and technology solutions benefit publishers with improved time to market, expedited time to revenue, and support for margin protection and growth.
What are the biggest obstacles you see publishers face in digital transformation?
Publishers of all sizes are struggling with how to establish data strategies and supporting technology to simplify how they identify and respond to market opportunities. They know that a content management strategy is key to delivering new content products and data services to the market, enriching existing content for improved discoverability, strengthening internal workflows, and supporting innovation initiatives.
Publishers don’t always view content challenges through the lens of content management, and may not have a unified metadata strategy. The result is an organization struggling with siloed content and data; inefficient content creation workflows; inability to meet internal user expectation for instant access to information, anytime, anywhere on any device; and limited access within the company to the data and knowledge you’ve created.
Forward-thinking publishing organizations recognize the importance of establishing a content-driven metadata strategy. They struggle, however, with the complexity of creating that strategy and leveraging it to improve the way the organization operates. Without organizational alignment, buy-in from all parties, sufficient in-house metadata expertise, and a willing corporate culture, it can feel impossible to commit to a much-needed refresh of the company’s content and knowledge management infrastructure. Developing the right technology infrastructure for long-term success is often beyond the reach of the in-house team, and publishers may struggle to articulate and deliver on a technology vision that maps to executive expectations.
Why is it important for media companies to integrate and share data?
To succeed as a digital-first publisher, organizations must completely reconsider legacy print-driven processes and workflows, as well as the siloed systems that support them. The rationale for adopting a digital-first strategy is clear: Digital-first publishers maximize revenue and minimize waste by responding rapidly and efficiently to market opportunities. With enriched content, it is easy to deliver new products and ensure discoverability for internal users and customers alike.
What solutions do you offer publishers?
Against a backdrop of changing user expectations, a data-driven culture, and shifts in technology and business models, CCC offers a continuum of services to help publishers:
- Strengthen technology infrastructure to position the organization for future growth, including guidance to navigate the technology landscape, improve lifetime value of technology solutions and source talent for custom projects;
- Accelerate internal and external workflows through advanced content and knowledge management systems, including workflow design, content management strategies and system development; and
- Amplify the organization’s potential for innovation with proven metadata strategies, including prioritizing metadata programs, leveraging best practices and developing a data-aware mindset.
We bring publishing knowledge and data management expertise rarely found in content and knowledge management solution providers through our decades of experience creating licensing, content, software, and tailored solutions for hundreds of publishers around the world.
What are the most important trends affecting the publishing industry today?
Print sales continue to decline in some areas (or have plateaued) in large part due to competition from other media formats such as e-readers, audio books, mobile and from other digital industries such as TV streaming. In the B2B space, the decline of print requires new delivery mechanisms and new models to support advertising. Knowledge of and the ability to adapt to customer behavior is critical for success.
The ability to innovate and create new offerings for an existing market — a specialty of B2B publishers for some time — has become essential. Publishers who thrive evaluate every asset in their portfolio and partner with experts to create value in new ways. Software, apps, events, training, and certifications are just a few of the areas in which a publisher’s domain expertise can be brought to market.