Media In Focus - Industry Search

Business/Media Name: IndustrySearch.com.au
Your Name: Jeremy Nathan
Target Market: Business to Business (B2B)
Launched: 1998
Staff: 16

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Tell us about IndustrySearch including how and why you started?
IndustrySearch is a hybrid Search-Directory-Content website focused on the industrial and B2B sectors. The business evolved out of a web development consultancy I started in 1997 to serve the industrial sector. Prior to that I worked in industrial trading which gave me an appreciation of the issues and dynamics of that supply chain. While the dot com boom started to happen overseas it seemed to be an exciting opportunity to develop a central resource for the sector which I was familiar with, and when I learned that it constituted the largest B2B media advertising vertical it made it that much more interesting. Besides that, it had to be less competitive than web development which everyone seemed to be doing.

Can you outline your current market position and your forward plans?
IndustrySearch is the leading industrial website in Australia with over 200,000 unique visitors per month, 34,000 opt-in e-newsletter subscribers and around 800 business advertisers. IndustrySearch is expanding successfully into large B2B verticals such as agriculture, construction and transport, and our 4 year old MedicalSearch.com.au website is establishing itself nicely in the B2B healthcare sector.

What benefits do you offer advertisers?
As I touched on before, we have a unique Search-Directory-Content model. Through our primary advertising placement called a ‘Storefront,’ this model provides an effective medium for B2B advertisers to connect with IndustrySearch’s audience in an information-rich environment. Our Storefront renewal rate of 80% is a testament to its effectiveness.

We also provide banner advertising, sponsorship and EDMs to our opt-in subscriber base. These campaign-based products are a much smaller, but important part of the business.

What is the best & worst thing about being an independent web publisher?
Perhaps it would be more comfortable to have deeper pockets, but on the other hand it forces us to think more innovatively and sustainably. Now that we have a good revenue flow which can support our development plans, the independence allows us to turn on a dime and play with new strategies without the hindrance of a large board’s decision making process.

Tell us about your advertising sales structure?
Sales of our campaign-based products are handled mostly by an external sales network, but our more important Storefront sales process is closely held in-house. We currently have 8 Storefront sales consultants with plans for a couple more soon. We choose our sales team carefully and are proud of a high retention rate though development and coaching. Our strong performers stay on the team for an average of 3 years which is very high for the industry.

What are some things you have learned when dealing with advertisers?
When selling to a diverse range of SMEs our sales consultants need to be prepared to talk at any level, from decision makers with very little online advertising experience to those who are seasoned online marketers.

Something else we’ve learned is that after the sale is done we have to carry on the education process. If our advertisers don’t learn how they can use our product effectively then they won’t achieve maximum results, and hence won’t renew the next year.

What is some advice you would offer to anyone starting a new commercial media business?
The 3 C’s in publishing haven’t changed: Content – Community – Commerce. Traditional publishing as well as new-media have the same need in order to be successful. Ensure you have good Content, back that up with an Audience (Community), and develop your Advertising (Commerce). Once you have those three in place you’ll have an overnight successJ!

Where do you get your advertising and marketing information from?
I’m a bit of a business information junkie. Some of the e-newsletters I like are IAB Smartbrief, Wall Street Journal and of course our own e-newsletter which has good business content. My wife just bought me an IPad as well and I’m enjoying reading business books on it which I buy through the Borders app. I also subscribe to a great resource in called GetAbstract. For a low annual fee they send me summaries of the leading business books coming out all the time.

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