Extensive Consumer Network Delivers More Than 2X Increase in Sales for Open Road Ignition Partner Titles
(New York, NY — September 10, 2019) Paul Slavin, CEO of Open Road Integrated Media (OR/M), announced results through June 30, 2019: a year-over-year increase of 36% in revenue and EBITDA improvement of 72%. Open Road Ignition, the white-glove marketing/distribution service program provided partners with an average uplift of 108% or 2.08x on sales of their titles over the prior average sales for the participating titles.
“We continue to see opportunity to grow revenue for our partners even as sales across the industry stagnate or decline,” Slavin said referring to AAP report on ebook sales in AAPStatShot reflecting a 3.8% decline in ebook revenue for the first half of 2019.
“Our title count through Ignition has grown substantially and sales through that business have increased 406%,” Slavin added.
The elements of the full-service program include curated title features, powerful consumer outreach vehicles, direct demand stimulation, strategic and tactical pricing, consumer segmentation and personalization, content syndication, metadata and copy optimization, all executed by a team of marketers with deep publishing and marketing experience.
Open Road Ignition is a suite of marketing services that drive direct economic benefits, such as increased revenue, audience exposure, discoverability, a demonstrated “halo” effect across alternate formats and titles in a series or by the same author, and expanded readership. These services utilize OR/M’s extensive, search-first content marketing that showcase books or brands on any of OR/M’s six digital properties reaching 2.4 million readers monthly. These include Early Bird Books, a daily eBook deals newsletter and website; The Lineup, for fans of true crime, horror, the mysterious, and the paranormal; The Portalist, for fans of science fiction, fantasy; Murder & Mayhem, for fans of mystery and thriller; The Archive, for fans of history and non-fiction; and A Love So True, for fans of romance.
“We’ve seen powerful results for partner titles as well as our own titles when we market them to the millions of avid readers on our sites and newsletters,” OR/M CMO Mary McAveney said.” There are currently about 8000 titles from top trade publishers as well as self-published authors that are promoted through OR/M channels. “We continue to refine our programs through audience data, which drives both content development and audience engagement,” McAveney added.
About Open Road Integrated Media
Open Road Integrated Media is a prestige content brand delivering digital experiences that entertain and inform readers around the world; their network of digital properties produces compelling stories that keep audiences engaged—across devices and around the world. The Open Road brands include Early Bird Books, a daily eBook deals newsletter and website; The Lineup, for fans of true crime, horror, the mysterious, and the paranormal; The Portalist, for fans of science fiction and fantasy; Murder & Mayhem, for fans of mystery and thriller; The Archive, for fans of history and non-fiction; and A Love So True, for fans of romance; and Open Road Media, a global eBook publisher whose catalog includes legendary authors such as Joan Didion, Graham Greene, William Styron, Alice Walker, Pat Conroy, Gloria Steinem, Octavia Butler, John Jakes, Pearl S. Buck, Walker Percy, and Ruth Rendell.