When F+W Media realigned its business into communities built around different market segments in late 2008, one goal was to assemble content from the company's books and magazines into niches that could be delivered directly to customers in different formats. That strategy has worked so well that in early December the company reported sales through its 20 e-stores was up 140% so far in 2009. To help manage that growth, the company appointed Kathleen Kaplan Blackwelder director of e-commerce, reporting to Chad Phelps, executive v-p of e-media.
The jump in online sales “stems from our community focus,” said Sara Domville, president of F+W Media, noting that combining similar content into a common area has made it easier to engage with customers. The e-shops are built around such F+W's brands as writersdigestshop.com and woodworkersbookshop.com, as well as a discount site (clearancebooks.com) and a gift site (sayitwithbooks.com). “We had a large database of names,” Domville said. “The next stop was e-stores.” With a heavy dose of e-mail, the database is used to promote offerings on the various sites to different communities. The database also provides feedback from customers on such things as buying patterns and material readers would like to see covered. “It helps us create books that have a better sell-through,” said Domville.
In addition to selling print books through the e-stores, F+W sells a range of content that includes CDs and DVDs plus digitally delivered audio books and e-books. “We're delivery agnostic,” said Phelps, explaining the company's philosophy on how it gets content to its customers. Most print books are slightly discounted off the list price, and e-book prices are mostly in the $14.99 to 99 cents range, depending on the price of the print book, Phelps said. The company is also doing more slicing and dicing of content and can sell its material in a number of different bundles, Phelps said, adding that there has been more demand for content chunks in some areas than others, with art and genealogy two segments where interest for custom material has been strong.
F+W is very interested in adding more content to each of its sites; it already carries material from 12 partners and is talking to other publishers about adding their material. “We've committed significant resources to build the different channels,” CEO David Nussbaum said. The company has also started an affiliates program, which pays enthusiasts in different niches for sales referred to F+W from their own sites, blogs, or social networks.
While F+W has been pleased with the traffic its sites have generated, Nussbaum noted that all of its marketing efforts—online and off—are about creating customer demand for its products. “We're happy to drive sales to retailers,” Nussbaum said. “Where the sale happens doesn't matter to us.”
Domville will discuss F+W's approach to direct selling at the F+W-sponsored Digital Book World conference set for January 26—27 in New York. A presentation on how other publishers are operating in particular niches is the subject of one panel, and how the Internet is changing sales and marketing is the topic of another.
