y colleagues and I completed our bi-annual survey of readers in November, and this space seems like a good way to share some highlights with you. Every other year, we take the pulse of our readership circulation to make sure we are still addressing the areas of interest and concern to you. We seek such feedback all the time, in fact, by asking readers at meetings and conferences throughout the real estate and economic development industries for their input. But the survey is a somewhat more scientific way of gauging our relevance to your reality. /
In analyzing the survey results, it didn’t take long to find good news. Respondents were asked early on to rate the value of Site Selection relative to the three other publications in our field. Sixty-three percent place a high value on Site Selection; the nearest competitor scored 29 percent. And that high-value factor translates directly into pages getting read. Fifty-three percent of respondents said they read more than half the content of each issue, and 47 percent read selected articles. Think about that. In an era of increasingly electronic content delivery, most of a given print issue of Site Selection gets read. /
Relevance remains Site Selection‘s strongest suit; more than half (52 percent) of respondents indicated they read the magazine “to stay current on industry trends,” given a choice of reasons. You could make the argument that it’s really 69 percent who feel this way, if you add the 17 percent who said they read the magazine to learn about economic development industry trends. I interpret the 52 percent to mean either staying current on corporate real estate trends or their specific industry with respect to real estate. /
Perhaps most revealing in terms of what readers are looking for most topic-wise is how that topic changes each time we survey readers.
Several years ago, labor supply and affordability were at the top of most readers’ lists of hot topics. In 2004, it was logistics and supply-chain management – and the corporate real estate manager’s role therein. This time around, it’s incentives and financial management, with 63 percent indicating a strong interest in more content along these lines. Perhaps the project finance piece in this issue will tide them over as we begin another year – our 53rd – of publishing. /
I liked this survey result: Sixty-seven percent of respondents do not share their issue of Site Selection with others in their organization (31 percent do). While I would like for others in their organizations to read the magazine, perhaps these 67 percent intend to read more of the issue, or refer back to it in the future and don’t want to lose it. It’s probably that same 63 percent who place a high value on the book. /
In closing, my colleagues and I wish you and your organizations a very Happy New Year and a prosperous 2007.
Till next time,
Mark Arend