Being on top of consumer metrics wasn’t always a strong point for print publishers. Sales and reviews have been used to gauge interest, but metrics are now being used in new ways throughout the digital publishing landscape.
The foray into digital provides the chance to look at engagement numbers that publishers never had at their disposals before. Ideally, this data will help publishers plan future activities while allowing them to focus on the most popular content.
Barnes & Noble is one company currently taking advantage of digital metrics. With the Nook e-reader, Barnes & Noble is taking a look at “how far readers get in particular books, how quickly they read and how readers of particular genres engage with books.”
Some of these findings are even being shared with publishers so better content can be created.
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Some of Barnes & Noble’s data shows that series of books are typically read consecutively, as if reading a single novel. Nonfiction books are read in repeated bursts, with the longer nonfiction books getting dropped earlier. Literary fiction readers skip between books and have the tendency to abandon books the easiest. Readers of science fiction, romance, or crime-fiction read and finish more books than the literary fiction readers.
As for digital magazine publishing, there are apps that can do similar things: track how long readers are spending with the content, the search terms they use to find content, and how many times the app is opened for reading.
As metrics become more prevalent to digital publishers we will likely see more targeted content being produced, to assure better reading interest and sales potential.
I find the B&N statistics fascinating and a great example of how publishers can gain insight into their audience through metrics.