High-end and digital publishers are turning towards print as an additional revenue stream; Working Mother revisits digital strategy for new growth
Digital strategy is always evolving as publishers see new areas to utilize for bigger audience, more brand recognition, and higher profits.
Today we begin with a look at Working Mother, which has seen a big growth in traffic since a recent digital strategy adjustment. Folio: reports, “Working Mother’s new digital strategy appears to resonating with its audience; according to data from Omniture, its website saw an 84 percent increase page views in August compared to the same month a year ago, and a 155 percent increase in unique visitors.”
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A big part in this growth comes from approaching digital strategy and print strategy differently. “Despite overlap, she emphasized that the magazine’s audience differs in print and online, which significantly impacts her approach on each platform.”
“Digitally, the brand attracts a younger audience. As a result of the limited time many working moms have available, much of the online content is brief and concise, often including humor pieces, stories of validation, and photo gallery round-ups. In contrast, the print magazine, published four times a year, mainly features service-focused content.”
Our next two stories look at publishers who began with a digital strategy, and then decided to use print as a complementary strategy. Digiday reports, “This month, high-end watch publisher Hodinkee launched the first issue of a new biannual magazine, and women’s publisher Goop’s first print issue also hit newsstands. Standout luxury publisher Monocle, which has expanded past its magazine into radio and e-commerce, debuted a weekly summer newspaper as well.”
“All three are niche products aimed at small, well-heeled audiences. But they also prove that print still offers stability and opportunity for luxury publishers, something that’s especially valuable in an increasingly grim-looking digital ad market.”
The article continues by looking at some of the positive attributes for these publishers turning towards print. “The publishers have a lot of experience to draw on, however, when it comes to selling the magazines. While all three have some physical distribution partners, Hodinkee, Monocle and Goop all have substantial e-commerce businesses, which gave them good consumer bases to target from the start; Hodinkee sold 20 percent of its first issue’s run through its own website within 48 hours of putting it on sale.”
Our final story looks at the digital-to-print direction for Reader’s Digest. MediaPost reports, “Reader’s Digest is publishing a unique issue this week, curating its most successful digital health content to create a special “Ultimate Health Guide” print issue.”
The article continues with some background on the publication. “Deemed its first “digital to print” issue, the magazine will include a range of popular wellness and fitness content from the brand’s site, RD.com. (Reader’s Digest produces more than 900 pieces of content a month, about 40% of which is health related, Kelley said.)”
“The “Ultimate Health Guide” is available on newsstands beginning this week. It will have a circulation of about 400,000 and a cover price of $4.99.”
Is digital strategy a focal point on your publication’s growth? Do you want to utilize all the proven strategies for a bigger, more profitable online business? If so, set up a time to chat with us. We have developed the digital strategy for hundreds of successful publishers.
