Part 1: The Magazine is dead, long live the magazine
I have brought at least 45 magazines to online in the past 10 years. That wasn’t always a success. Many say that the magazine is dead; I don’t think so.
Working with different Dutch publications I have experienced the developments in the publishing industry very closely.Between 2000 and 2007 every publishing house saw a sharp decline in advertising revenue, the single copy sales where halved. A hope was that the digital advertising would compensate this loss.
In 2003-2005 many websites and digital newsletters were brought to life in order to attract visitors and sell ad placements.For design it was all about amount of pages visitor had seen, as a result one article was paginated over 5 pages, a photo player took you 20 clicks or more to see, the reader had to jump over a thousand and one obstacle to finally read this one free piece of content. It didn't work. The page views were there, but this type of advertisement was not effective if you would compare to relevance and reach of Google. The readers often were not engaged enough with the content. The advertising model has changed, it wasn't about the amount of pages views anymore but about time on the page. And guess what? The pages became very long and fully stuffed with content. It didn't work again.
Many online publications have shut the free content and switched to a subscription model, often building a tall wall between prospect subscriber and their content. It didn't work for websites so well. Especially hard hit where the news sites. Nobody wanted to pay for content that you can easily Google up for free.
The search for new business models remains elusive. For many legacy organisations it’s hard to make changes required to adapt for survival in the new world.The tech companies are winning the game,Google earns 33% of online ad revenues, followed by Facebook, Yahoo and Microsoft (source: mashable).
“In 5 years there will be no more magazines...
people will only go to the website”
predicted Ellen Verbeek (author Moscow Times) in may 2013.(source:AdFormatie NL)
I never read print magazines anymore.
I definitely don't go to the newsstand to buy one. And I am not alone on that. The single copy sales have dropped by 10% last year.
I have a tablet.
My digital magazine is always with me, just within a hand’s reach, whenever I want it. Digital magazines support multimedia storytelling, articles are enriched with video, audio, maps. It feels like something between watching a movie and reading a periodical.
Of course reading from tablet has a few practical disadvantages, sudden low battery warning, it’s like switching lights when reading. Or my daughter confiscating my device,because she needs to play some games.
The numbers explain it. Digital readership is still small 3,3% of total circulation, but nearly doubling year-over-year. In 2012 it was just tiny 1.7% (source: the Alliance for Audited Media) Some brands show much higher percentage of the mobile. Mobile is driving 34% of FT.com traffic and 15% of digital subscriptions. Most of the time I don’t want to subscribe when I think I will not use the content or service frequently.
Consumer behavior with magazines on tablets looks more like print behavior than like website behavior (Magazines.nl)
People still love print magazines
I think the strength of the print magazines lies in:
- Periodical character and repetition.
Every month or every week you know the new issue is coming. You wait for it. You wait to get surprised by stories inside. It’s like a soap series e.g. Two And Half men on CBS, every weekday at 9:30 PM. You don't want to miss it. - Brand community and authority
You easily grow attached to the brand. You build a relationship you cherish.You are proud of being a part of the readers community.You trust the authority. - Surprise. The cover magnetizes you, you want to know more. You don't know what awaits you inside, but it usually exceeds expectations.
What do we love so much about paper?
Pages sliding through your hand, a moment for myself, undisturbed. When you read in print you have less distraction.
No obstacles between you and the content. No need to navigate. Magazines are linear, you just browse through the pages. You can't easily click away and few moments later discover yourself in an absolutely strange place, reading totally something else, asking yourself how did I get here in the first place?
A magazine is a tangible object, one you can collect, or cut the pictures and stories out. All these beautiful covers on your bookshelf, stories to remember, surprises and secrets shared with you by your favourite brand. Every cover captures a certain moment, portrays what readers care about.
Print is the heart of the magazine
The customer journey often begins with the print.
Let’s take Margriet, one of the biggest Dutch magazines for women, as an example.
Margriet has a strong bond with her readers.The community around the brand is a key to success. Margriet paper magazine is the heart,the digital edition is available via Tijdschrift.nl. www.margriet.nl atrracts more than 1,5 million page views monthly and serves as a community hub and sales channel.Work4Women job site is a part of margriet.nl. Margriet is also active on Twitter and Facebook. But Margriet goes further than online and organizes many offline initiatives like Winter Fair, the largest winter festival in the Netherlands,Margriet Better World foundation,Margriet Theatre on table event.
It takes more than a magazine to connect with your readers.
You need different channels in order to engage with readers and keep your magazine alive. E.g. Newsweek’s Obama cover “was mentioned nearly 20,000 times on Twitter.
And does this model apply to all magazines?
No, The Financial Times has already 60% online subscribers.Next time I will talk about different models of the Magazines, some even without print.
This article is published in Angi Studio medium collection
