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SalesTalk Online
Challenge:
Convert a well-loved print publication to an online format
Like any company, Nissan North America looks for opportunities to reduce expenses. When exploring ways to cut costs in producing SalesTalk, its monthly magazine for Nissan sales consultants, the company opted to replace the print publication with an online version that would appear on an umbrella Web site for their dealers. The goal was to reduce production, printing, and distribution costs.
Going paper-free sounds fine on paper, but it brought multiple challenges. There's more to converting a publication to an online format than simply putting PDFs on the Web. Internet writing and graphic design are different than they are in print, bringing new limitations — and new opportunities. We also needed to entice the readership to follow us online, keep content fresh, juggle new technical limitations, and interact with readers differently.
SalesTalk had been enjoying a reputation as a well-respected, award-winning magazine with a 30-year track record. What was the best way to convert it? Would sales consultants embrace the change? How could we continually update without an increase in costs and an avalanche of new deadlines?
Solution:
Start with the medium, and then go large
Our first task was to adapt our writing and design approach. Effective Web writing allows for quick reading, with short sections, manageable pages, a conversational tone, and plenty of at-a-glance captions and information. But a shorter Web style does not mean shorter stories. Ironically, it can mean just the opposite. Being free of the page-count constraints inherent in print means that stories can run longer if necessary. Our writers quickly adapted to find creative footing within the new parameters.
Getting the word out early and often
We faced a bigger challenge with timing and logistics. Web site audiences expect new content on a continual basis. To align with this expectation, we needed to post articles frequently — without increasing the budget or wreaking havoc on production and review schedules. Our solution? Post stories each week, yet manage the content like a monthly publication, to ensure that the writers, designers, and reviewers face only one set of deadlines per month.
Once the batch-processed content is approved, we stage its release to keep a regular flow of new stories. We are producing roughly the same amount of content but distributing it with a "more information, more often" approach.
The new format allows for up-to-the-minute updates, which we fold in along the way.
Reader round-up
Producing the publication online was one set of challenges. Keeping the readership was another. We didn't want our readers to lose sight — nor site — of us.
As we prepared to transition SalesTalk to the online version, we used the remaining print issues to promote the Web site for additional information and articles. The goal was to familiarize sales consultants with the site and make it a resource they would depend on and enjoy. During this phase, page counts were decreased in print and boosted online.
We developed an online table of contents that looks similar to what sales consultants had seen in the print version. This reinforces that SalesTalk has changed homes, not identities. As new content is posted each week, a "What's New" banner at the top of the home page alerts visitors.
How do you do...and how do we do?
Once SalesTalk was online, it was time to interact. The magazine's popularity stems in large part from it being "owned" by the sales consultants, reflecting their voices in challenge contests, peer-to-peer tips, and sales consultant profiles. To encourage interacting, we promote the same types of content as before and have added online information gathering forms, new contests, idea solicitations, and more opportunities for feedback.
Special delivery
Today, SalesTalk appears online with fresh, weekly updates and its popular reputation intact.
But going online didn't mean the final chapter for the print version. It lives on in the form of twice-yearly special editions. In these, we feature one broad topic with timeless stories to support it. All time-sensitive information is delivered in a timely fashion at the magazine's new online address.
    
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