With digital magazine publishing strategies new to publishers, there are always a few improvements that can be made
The transformation into digital magazine publishing has required significant changes in a brief amount of time. Although many digital publishers have been catching up to market expectations, there are still areas in which they can improve digital magazine publishing efforts.
One key area to focus on is digital circulation numbers. In a recent study from digital think tank L2, the 22 magazines that publically released digital magazine subscription numbers came to just 1.5 percent of print circulation. The focal point of digital magazine publishing should be to offer content in ways that print cannot do. There are opportunities to create interaction experiences, share media-rich content and drive users to additional, aligned content.
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This, of course, also relates to the advertising opportunities. Digital publishers need to present different benefits to advertisers through print and digital. As pointed out in the study, digital advertising revenue is expected to grow at 18.5 percent annually through 2016. This is a growth of 26 times the expected growth of print advertising.
Next, new forms of advertisements need to be utilized throughout digital magazine publishing. Currently, 80 percent of digital magazines contain advertisements and embedded links driving traffic to outside URLs. However, only 17 percent are utilizing interactive ads, which should be a significant portion of tablet advertisements used in digital magazine publishing.
Finally, providing links from articles about specific products to e-commerce areas where the products can be purchased needs to be utilized more through digital magazine publishing. Currently, only 28 percent of digital magazines include this format.
The L2 Digital IQ Index shares opinions on the top digital magazines on the market. Learn more at the L2 website.
We agree that the focal point of digital magazine publishing should be to offer content in ways print cannot. Digitally, designs are freed from physical constraints of a two-dimensional page; allowing publishers the chance to create interactive media-rich content. At Mag+ we have seen how visually enticing digital content coupled with the opportunity to enable advertisers to promote their brands in interesting and social-media sharable ways, can bring in a new revenue stream for publishers. In a digital driven world with multiple platforms finding the right balance in digital magazine publishing is fundamental to a brands growth.