The document discusses a study on online communities hosted by publishers. Some key findings: - Currently around two-thirds of responding publishers host online communities, rising to over 90% by 2015. - Social networking and author-reader interaction are seen as most important for trade publishers, while collaboration and discussion are key for academic/professional publishers. - Around 30% of publishers launched their first online community over 5 years ago, with steady entries since then. - Increased engagement with audiences/members is seen as the top benefit of online communities. - Around two-thirds feel their investment in online communities is already paying off.

1. Online Communities
A study for Publishing Technology
Key findings: April 2013

2. Background
In both the UK and the US trade and academic publishers are striving to engage and build closer relationships with
their audiences online. Many are discovering that building online communities is an effective, direct way to entice
and maintain their interest.
In order to benchmark activity in this area, and to provide information on its likely growth, Publishing Technology
commissioned Bowker Market Research to undertaken a research project to investigate:
• Numbers of communities currently hosted by publishers
• Key benefits of such communities
• Whether publishers believe their investment is paying off
• What impact, if any, such investment is having on sales
• Future investment plans
For the purposes of this survey, online communities are described as:
A publisher-owned website/platform that offers a common interest around which the community is themed, with
interactive communication between the organisation and community members and between the members
themselves. This might include online communities which use fan sites in order to help build their member base,
but not fan sites themselves that are dedicated to an individual author, series or title.
This report provides the key data from this study.

3. Methodology
• Online questionnaire devised by Bowker Market Research
• Survey undertaken in late March 2013
• Invitation to participate sent to broad range of trade and
academic publishers in both the UK and the US
• Responses received from 49 companies: see Appendix for
sample demographics
2

4. Two-thirds of responding publishers have some OCs now; this is likely to rise to
over 90% by 2015. Trade publishers are more advanced, but A&P will be moving
heavily into the market by 2015. At least two-thirds expect to have more OCs by
2015: just one respondents expect to see a decline.
Q Currently, how many online communities does your company/division own/host now and how many might it have by the end of 2015?
% Average number hosted/ expect to host
2.1 1.7 2.9 2.4 1.7 5.0 5.0 5.1 6.3 3.2
100
12 6 10
14 15
7 or more 18
12 25 24
10 31
80 16 38
21 20
18 15 5 or 6 21
14 20
25
60 14 10 21 15
3 or 4 19
33 6 18 24
27
40 13
6
21
38 1 or 2 40
55
20 31 30 31
31 30 31 24
None
14 10
6 6 6 3
0
Total now UK now US now Trade nowA&P now o Total 2015 UK 2015 US 2015Trade 2015
A&P 2015
3

5. While large companies have/expect to have the most OCs, small companies
have/anticipate having higher numbers than medium ones.
Q Currently, how many online communities does your company/division own/host now and how many might it have by the end of 2015?
%
Average number
2.3 1.1 3.9 5.4 3.6 7.1
100
14 7 or more 19 16
21
5 33
80
10 14
5 or 6 32 56
21
60
24
38 33 3 or 4
21 11
40 11
1 or 2
11 32
38 22
20 37
33 11
None
11 11 11
0 5
Small now Medium now Large now ab
Column2 Small 2015 Medium 2015 Large 2015
Base: all
4

6. Trade publishers are much more like to have OCS currently, but A&P activity
is likely to grow significantly, with only marginal movement into children’s.
Q In what areas of publishing do you currently own/host online communities
Q In what areas of publishing will your own/host online communities by the end of 2015?
Trade Academic & Professional Children's Other
A&P 2015 11 94
Trade 2015 78 19 26 11
All with OC now US 2015 43 50 21 14
UK 2015 55 48 13 3
Total 2015 51 49 16 7
abColumn2
A&P now 22 89
Trade now 76 8 16 4
All with OC in 2015 US now 64 18 9 9
UK now 61 35 13 4
Total now 62 29 12 6
%
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
5

7. Social networking and author-reader interaction are the most important
aspect of OCs for trade publishers, while collaboration, discussion groups
and professional networking are highly relevant to A&P publishers.
79
Social networking 92
44
65
Interaction between authors and readers 68
56
41
Discussion groups 32
67
35
Collaboration (e.g. between writers, academics, etc) 20
78
Total 26
Professional netowrking 12
67
Trade
6
A&P Other 4
11
%
Q What is the focus of the communities 0 20 40 60 80 100
that you currently own/host?
Base: all with OC now
6

8. Approximately 30% started over 5 years ago, and there has been entries into
the market every year since then. A&P publishers started much earlier than
trade, with little difference between the UK and US.
2012 2011 2010 2009 Before 2009 Don't know
A&P 11 11 11 67
Trade 24 20 12 20 16 8
US 18 9 9 27 27 9
UK 17 22 13 13 30 4
Total 18 18 12 18 29 6
%
0 20 40 60 80 100
Q In what year did you launch your first online community? Base: all with OC now
7

9. The larger the company, the earlier it started, and in general the more OCs
the company has the earlier it started
Q In what year did you launch the first online community?
2012 2011 2010 2009 Before 2009 Don't know
7 or more 17 17 0 50 17
5 or 6 13 25 25 38
3 or 4 14 14 43 29
1 or 2 31 38 8 15 8
Large 13 13 25 50
Medium 8 17 25 17 33
Small 36 21 0 14 14 14
%
0 20 40 60 80 100
Base: all with OC now
8

10. By far the leading benefit is seen as increased engagement with audience/
members, followed by increased direct relationship with customers. There are
no differences between those who have and have not got an OC at present.
Other benefits 4
Authors like to get involved 6
Experimentation to inform future strategy 8
Obtain feedback from customers on particular issues 8
Faster peer-to-peer reviewing 10
Greater integration of content with the reader’s… 14
Works as a direct sales channel 16
Increased content usage 18
Increasing loyalty 18
General marketing to support other sales channels 33
Increasing our knowledge and understanding of… 35
Increasing direct relationship with customers 53
Increased engagement with audience/members 73
%
0 20 40 60 80
Q What do you see as the 3 most important actual
or potential benefits of online communities? Base: all
9

11. US publishers are much more likely to mention increased direct relationship
with customers, with both US and UK publishers most likely to mention
increasing knowledge/understanding of customers.
Other benefits 0
6
Authors like to get involved 6
6
Experimentation to inform future strategy 13
6
Obtain feedback from customers on particular issues 6
9
Faster peer-to-peer reviewing 6
12
Greater integration of content with the reader’s workflow 19
12
Works as a direct sales channel 19
15 US (16)
Increased content usage 25
15 UK (33)
Increasing loyalty 13
21
General marketing to support other sales channels 38
30
Increasing our knowledge and understanding of customers 13
45
Increasing direct relationship with customers 63
48
Increased engagement with audience/members 75
73
Q What do you see as the 3 most important actual or
0 20 40 60 % 80
potential benefits of online communities?
Base: all
10

12. Trade publishers are particularly likely to mention increased direct relationship
with customers and general marketing to support other sales channels; A&P
publishers show considerable interest in content usage and integration
Other benefits 10
0
Authors like to get involved 0
10
Experimentation to inform future strategy 5
10
Obtain feedback from customers on particular issues 5
10
Faster peer-to-peer reviewing 5
14
Greater integration of content with the reader’s workflow 35
0
Works as a direct sales channel 25
10 A&P (20)
Increased content usage 40 Trade (29)
3
Increasing loyalty 20
17
General marketing to support other sales channels 15
45
Increasing our knowledge and understanding of customers 40
31
Increasing direct relationship with customers 25
72
Increased engagement with audience/members 70
76
%
0 20 40 60 80
Q What do you see as the 3 most important actual or
potential benefits of online communities? Base: all
11

13. The main differences between those with and without OCs at present
perhaps reflect the fact that the latter have a higher proportion of A&Ps, and
thus show more concern for content-related benefits
Other benefits 7
3
Experimentation to inform future strategy 13
6
Greater integration of content with the reader’s workflow 27
9
Increased content usage 40
9
Obtain feedback from customers on particular issues 7
9
Authors like to get involved 9
Works as a direct sales channel 27
12 No OCs (15)
Faster peer-to-peer reviewing 15 With OCs (34)
Increasing loyalty 13
21
Increasing our knowledge and understanding of customers 33
35
General marketing to support other sales channels 27
35
Increasing direct relationship with customers 47
56
Increased engagement with audience/members 53
82
%
0 20 40 60 80
Q What do you see as the 3 most important actual or
potential benefits of online communities? Base: all
12

14. Two-thirds feel the investment is already paying off, and most others feel it
will do so; none were not convinced it would.
%
Q Do you feel your investment in online
100 3 communities is paying off?
5 4
9
9 9 12
Don't know
80 38
24 23 27
20
No, and not convinced it will
60
Not yet, but see it as a longer-
40 term investment, beyond 2015
64 64 64 64 63
20 Not yet, but expect it to by the
end of 2015
0 Yes
Total UK US Trade A&P
Base: all with OCs
13

15. Overall ebooks are the format that appears to have benefited most from the
use of OCs, though A&P publishers particularly mention online resources
%
Total UK US Trade A&P
80
67
60 55
40
40 36
32 32 30
26 26 27 28
22 22 24 22 22 2122
18 18 18 17 18
20 11 11 12 13 12 1211 12 12
9 9 9 9 9 8
6
0
Paperbacks
Membership
Non-book products
Online resources
Online journals
Hardbacks
Ebooks
Not sure
None: no increase in traffic/sales
seen
Q In which, if any, formats have you seen increased traffic/sales because of your communities? Base: all with OCs
14

16. Two-thirds use the OCs to sell products, though fewer A&P publishers do so
Q Do you online communities to sell products directly through the community site?
%
100
80 38 39 36 36
44
60
No
Yes
40
62 61 64 64
56
20
0
Total UK US Trade A&P
Base: all with OCs
15

17. 84% think spending on OCs will increase a lot (27%) or a little (57%) between
now and 2015, with relatively little difference between the groups*
%
100 2 3 3
7 5
Q How do you expect your annual
14 9 9 spending on online communities to
25 27 have changed by the end of 2015?
25
80
Stopped spending
62
60 56
61
57 Decreased somewhat
50
50 No real change
60
40
Expect to spend a little more
Expect to spend a lot more
20
31 32
27 27 25
20
13
0
Total UK US Trade A&P With OCs No OCs
* Just 1 (UK A&P) publisher thinks spending will decline – none say it will stop. Base: all
16

18. The sample – 1: Turnover
Numbers Total UK US Trade* A&P Company Division
Under £1m 5 5 4 1 5 0
£1m - 5m 8 8 5 3 6 2
£6m - 10m 5 5 3 2 4 1
£11m - 50m 9 9 6 3 3 6
£51m - 100m 4 4 1 3 2 2
£101m - 500m 2 2 1 1 2 0
£500m - £1bn 0 0 0 0 0 0
Over £1billion 0 0 0 0 0 0
Under $1m 4 4 4 0 1 3
$1m - 5m 4 4 2 2 3 1
$6m - 10m 0 0 0 0 0 0
$11m - 50m 5 5 1 4 3 2
$51m - 100m 1 1 1 0 1 0
$101m - 500m 0 0 0 0 0 0
$500m - 1000m 0 0 0 0 0 0
Over $1billion 2 2 1 1 2 0
TOTAL 49 33 16 29 20 32 17
* Trade includes Children’s

19. The sample – 2: Areas of publishing
Numbers Total UK US Small* Medium* Large*
Main
Trade 27 18 9 14 9 4
Academic &
Professional 20 13 7 6 9 5
Children's 2 2 0 1 1 0
Other 0 0 0 0 0 0
Any
Trade 33 21 12 17 10 6
Academic &
Professional 26 18 8 8 12 6
Children's 13 8 5 4 6 3
Other 2 1 1 1 0 1
TOTAL 49 33 16 21 19 9
* Responding companies/division grouped by turnover, with no distinction between £ and $.
Small = Up to 5m: Medium = 6-50m: Large=Over 50m

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and RR Bowker’s consumer research business in the US. Bowker Market
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© BMR April 2013