Strategic publishing is the term used to describe the act of publishing written, electronic or digital content at a time and in a location that will bring about the best positive impact. Also known as strategic marketing, strategic publishing is a technique used by marketers to boost profits. Strategic publishing is used across several different industries, including book and music publishing, article marketing and retail sales. This type of publishing is also used in more personal ways by bloggers and grass-roots organizers in an effort to attract the specific attention of certain groups of people.
Widely used in marketing circles, strategic publishing is one of the most important business planning skills used by businesses that rely on the sale of goods and services for profit. Publishing informative content or persuasive business advertisements in places most likely to be seen by target business customers is one method of driving sales. While being selective about where targeted information is placed is of great importance, knowing the best times to do so is also crucial. Developing such strategic business skills, however, typically takes diligent market research, testing and in-depth planning.
In pursuing strategic publishing methods, individuals and companies often subcontract such services to third-party publishers and marketing firms. Others, however, may form an in-house team which focuses on strategic management to test and develop precise publishing dates, times and locations in an effort to assure that published content reaches a target demographic. A close example of this type of strategic thinking can be found in television commercials that are aired during the times when an individual who is most likely to use a product is watching television. These and other strategic business techniques are commonly used by most profit-seeking businesses as a form of advertising.
Businesses are not the only entities to use strategic publishing. Individuals who wish to highlight a cause, disseminate information or simply engage others in a conversation may use strategic publishing to do so. Using the same concept as that which is used in retail business planning, individuals may publish content in key locations and at precise times so as to have that content viewed by people who may be intrigued by it or find the information useful and want to know more. Such is a commonly used method often preferred by bloggers, citizen journalists and grass-roots activists who, instead of randomly publishing information, will do so in such a way as to target certain demographics in an effort to gain the greatest participation or response.