What is the most effective way to build new communities of researchers and how can a publisher rise above the noise of other digital ads, emails, and social media? In this article we explore the use of targeted and personalized marketing that makes researchers feel they are part of a community.
We're observing a trend among publishers to strategically allocate marketing resources now to build a strong pipeline of quality submissions, anticipating potential future shifts in the research landscape. In a trust-based environment, journal and publisher brands can convey a strong sense of community. Combined with multi-channel marketing campaigns to a carefully curated audience, publishers can energize and grow their author community.
Build a global community
A global author community is crucial to building a strong pipeline of high-quality research for your portfolio of journals and ensuring their long-term success. Nurturing over time is key to growing a sense of loyalty throughout your community of authors.Web of Science Author Connect (WOSAC) aligns perfectly with this proactive planning. The service enables you to deploy highly targeted campaigns efficiently, focusing resources on author segments, offering the optimal return and securing those high-priority submissions from key target regions. Below you will find a breakdown of our full WOSAC author universe, comprised of 4.7 million researchers:
Effectively reaching the right authors—those actively publishing relevant, high-quality work, indexed in trusted sources like the Web of Science—is becoming increasingly important. This is especially true amidst evolving research funding and policy landscapes globally, which may influence research output and focus areas in the coming years. This evolving environment underscores the need for a strategic, data-driven approach to author outreach.
The Power of Targeted Marketing
Highly customized datasets are crucial in reaching your target audience with relevant collaboration opportunities and in turn will ensure maximised engagement rates and completion of your calls to action. This is where Web of Science Author Connect can provide significant value. We empower publishers to move beyond generic campaigns by providing highly customized datasets of active, Web of Science-indexed researchers. Our targeting capabilities allow you to pinpoint authors based on:- Specific research domains and detailed subject categories
- Key geographic regions
- Institutional affiliations (ideal for highlighting your OA agreements)
- Indicators of recent engagement and publishing activity
Personalized Experiences
No successful approach is just about data; it's about sophisticated engagement. The WOSAC team partners with publishers to deploy multi-channel nurturing campaigns, often incorporating strategic email sequences complemented by LinkedIn, Facebook, or digital ad retargeting. These holistic campaigns, typically spanning 3-4 weeks, are designed to build awareness and interest. Furthermore, leveraging dynamic fields for personalization within HTML communications significantly boosts relevance and response rates, with follow-up messages available to sustain momentum.The evolution of marketing campaigns and community outreach must remain a conversation. Marketing is an area where strategies and tactics differ depending on publishing strategies or key objectives for the year. A powerful, personalized, and flexible marketing strategy will drive high quality submissions.
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