Each year the IMAG conference brings together independent and enthusiast magazine media executives to discuss the challenges and successes of their industry and brands. Unlike other events, we always appreciate the transparency of this group. In the same way as last year’s event in San Francisco, the 2017 IMAG conference was an honest, high-quality, and well put-together affair. Speakers and discussions were engaging and authentic, and people were given ample opportunities to network and digest all of the valuable insights between speakers.

This year’s program confirmed that custom content continues to be a game changer for publishers. At MediaRadar we saw native advertising is up 74% YOY with over 5,000 advertisers placing paid content ads in Q1. Indy media is no exception, it was great to hear that John Boland and his team at Fine Cooking are leveraging branded content. Native ads continue to increase in popularity in the food market. Afar Media and Forbes were also recognized with Imagination Awards for their successes in the native advertising space. It is great to see paid content continuing to impact the bottom line.

We look forward to seeing how Independent Magazine Media Groups will implement this year’s IMAG learnings. No matter how you are looking to grow and evolve your business, the IMAG conference provides a chance to see how many others have done it.