Tag: magazine publishing

In subscription marketing, the type of magazine content you sell, matters. However, the strategies you use to sell it, work across niches and industries.
In our 2018 Mequoda Magazine Consumer Study, we discovered that out of all the paid types of magazine content available online, adults in the US pay for news, most. If you’re in

Only five years after the advent of the tablet, strategies for successful digital magazine publishing are starting to sort themselves out and deliver measurable results. Of course at Mequoda, we’re all about documenting these things so digital publishers don’t have to re-invent the wheel.

Here are 10 things you must do if you want to join the ranks of millionaire publishers … a goal we think is worthy of all digital publishers today.

Digital magazine publishing software is important; which option are you using?

Publishers have been trying digital magazine publishing software during the last few years in hopes of creating the best digital products for their audiences. And like everything else in digital magazine land, digital magazine software has evolved at light speed since we made our initial recommendations in January.

Here’s our latest (opinionated) look at the magazine software landscape.

As you know, having an online portal for your information is essential for growth. Using the web to publish and distribute content and not just serve as an extension of your brand is critical. But this is a new beast, and to be prepared, you must plan. This holds true even if your business has survived the last 50 to 100 years.

Digital magazine evolution involves a variety of components, including the distribution of the content and the magazine product itself. Today we’re looking at organizations that are putting more emphasis on digital reach and digital magazine effectiveness.

We often hear about predictions for digital magazines; how they will grow, the revenue generation expected throughout the industry and the time frames associated with these numbers.

These predictions are important, as they help publishers better prepare for the future. What’s more interesting, however, is discovering how people who are already consuming digital magazines are enjoying their experiences.

How often do you read something digitally? If you’re reading this, then you’ve done it at least once today. I’m going to go out on a limb and say this isn’t your first time.

Some of the most successful publishers let their users generate more than 99 percent of their content. The publishers that can do this become masters at building communities that draw users to both read and post.

Out of the nine subscription website business models, the community subscription website archetype is the only one where the publisher relies on its community to create the content. There are six premium (paid) archetypes, and three affinity (free) archetypes. This is one of the three free ones.

Every experience you’ve ever had building and rebuilding a magazine website typically begins with you explaining what you want, and then you telling a group of developers and designers what to do and what to fix. But when did you become an expert in digital publishing strategy and website architecture?

Magazines are designed to be read from front to back. They have covers and a table of contents. Magazines are arranged in a series of articles. Compare that with other media, where the articles are arranged with taxonomies and hyperlinks, and are not linear.

Hyperlinking is not linear. Any medium that enables or encourages the reader to bounce around among hundreds or thousands of articles is not a linear medium. What’s more, humans desire closure, which magazines provide. A reader can say “I have read the April issue of Vanity Fair. I finished it on Sunday.”

If you are a legacy print-only magazine publisher, not understanding multiplatform publishing strategy – the future spells doom for your magazine and your publishing career.

Did you know that most media executives don’t attend best practice workshops regularly, or take part in networking and peer groups?

They are the MVPs of their teams, but unlike star athletes, most don’t have a coach.

Our top-read digital magazine publishing posts of last year showcase ways you can start a digital magazine from scratch and how to ensure it’s success
We’ve studied digital magazine publishing efforts and found what works. These reader-favorite posts from the past year help publishers approach the business with confidence. There is advice on starting your magazine

Although we work with many established legacy publishers, we also work with publishing startups. In fact, these startups benefit from our years of work with legacy publishers teaching them how to start an online magazine. Meanwhile startups can teach a thing or two to the digital retread legacy publishers.

If you’re a publishing startup, or are getting into the business of publishing, then an online magazine probably isn’t on your mind. To be clear, an online magazine is a web-friendly version of your magazine. It’s in HTML and works like a website. It cannot be held in your hand, unless you’re in the web browser of a tablet.

Today we’re reporting on a major publishing acquisition involving a couple of major multiplatform publishers; The acquisition of Time Inc. by Meredith Corporation. We also look at some thoughts on what this means within the greater magazine publishing industry.

Don’t scoff—we truly believe that web magazines can be the ultimate platform for periodical content for most magazine publishing brands. The problem is that, as we’ve covered in prior weeks, most web magazines aren’t living up to their potential. We are very close to destroying magazines as a medium by the way our industry is transporting them to the web.

Digital magazine publishing is and continues to be the current and next frontier, with unlimited revenue stream options coming from creative use and integration of text, images, video, social content, native advertising and so much more.

Consistent channel conversion zone architecture (3c), when applied to a publishing website, is a fancy way of saying that every channel (or portal topic) consistently aligns with a product that converts the user into a subscriber or paid user of your website. Together, they create what we call a zone. Using this zone to increase website to email conversion rates can be easy, if you let it. This metric is called your email capture rate.

I was having a conversation with a client the other day, when he asked me “what exactly is magazine media?” See, in the niche magazine publishing business, you’ll find that many of your colleagues are niche industry experts, but as this client reminded me, not all are inherently from the magazine business.

Who worries most about the money in their bank account? The person with three jobs, or the person with one? Because you can get fired, laid off, or your industry could go out of business overnight in one job, but it’s unlikely to happen in all three. And that’s exactly why, when running a magazine business, you can’t keep all of your revenue eggs in one basket, either.

Our latest version of the Multiplatform Publishing Strategy handbook delivers a proven, integrated set of business processes, principles and tools for the digital publisher, whether you’re B2B, consumer, local, regional or national; multi-title or single.

If you’re a publishing professional, don’t wait a minute longer before downloading our best practice handbooks. They were carefully curated into what we think are the most comprehensive handbooks on the four most important digital publishing topics:

Take this information to the bank … 2016 Mequoda American Magazine Reader Study & Handbook & Handbook polled 3,241 U.S. adults with internet access and found that nearly 42% of them are reading digital magazines, up 13.8% from 2015.

At a recent networking event amongst publishers, the owner of a publication for teen health asked a Mequoda team member if it was worth launching a print magazine to go with her ad-driven online presence. She already had other print publications, but this niche, teen health, geared towards a younger generation—would it be too passe’?

The short answer is that we’ve seen it work, but testing is worth the investment. One of our clients launched a new print magazine from their popular online portal last year and is now generating thousands of new subscribers every month.

There’s a quote out there from Jonathan MacDonald I heard recently at an IMAG event that says, the rate of change you’re experiencing now represents the slowest rate of technological and societal change you are likely to experience in the rest of your life. So if you’re thinking that change in multiplatform publishing has been fast so far, you haven’t seen anything yet. It’s accelerating!

Ask yourself these seven questions before starting your journey towards digital magazine transformation
I’m going to go ahead and assume if you’re reading this, you have a print publication who is asking for siblings. You’re at the magazine store and it’s eying the “big brother” t-shirts and wondering when it’s getting playmates.

Below you’ll find a comprehensive

The questions you need to ask and the answers you should have before launching a new digital magazine
Publishers are embracing digital magazines because users are. And it’s true for B2C and B2B, as well as pure paid subscription, controlled circulation, or both. These publishers are taking advantage of digital editions to provide the features users want

To build a better subscription website, we’ve created a collection of our best resources on everything you need to know when it comes to how to leverage outside partners
Most publishers seeking to improve the performance of their subscription website and online marketing efforts use a patchwork of systems.

Marketing offers and performance for subscriptions, books, webinars,

Before launching a digital magazine, read through these ten resources.
When it comes to launching a digital magazine, there’s no one FAQ online that can answer all your questions. What edition should you build? How should you price it? Which software is best, and can you get away with a simple PDF edition? We tried to

Digital magazine websites Pitchfork and SI Swimsuit experienced highest traffic to date; ‘Marin Arts & Culture’ debuts with print and digital editions
Today we’re looking at a few digital magazine websites that are experiencing new territories. We begin with a Condé Nast publication that’s having a great traffic experience. Pitchfork has experienced some major stats, and Folio is

“He who fails to plan is planning to fail.”
Winston Churchill called it, all right.

And it strikes me that trying to succeed in the magazine publishing industry is a lot like running a war: lots of moving parts, struggling to outmaneuver the enemy – that is, the competition – and often without an end in sight.

But,

Digital magazine marketing will give you an afterlife

There are times in business when we feel like we’ve created something great, and we don’t understand why it’s not selling.

Back in 1967, a successful New York ballerina by the name of Marta Becket stumbled upon an old social hall in Death Valley Junction, California, population: 6. After

How to build a magazine audience by giving away more than you receive

The foundational principles of Buddhism teach you that life is suffering, and that to live a better life, you must learn how to be content with that. No sugar-coating, just “yes, you’re right, life is hard, now let’s get on with it, shall we?” By

There I was, getting my hair cut at the village barbershop. The barber was a thirtysomething woman who was new to the shop.

While making small talk, she came to the inevitable question, “What do you do for a living?”

“I’m a magazine publishing consultant,” I said automatically, having answered the question that way many times over the past

Want to know how publishing magazines on Kindles will boost your digital circulation? The simple answer is math: you can only sell more digital issues, not less, by adding your magazine to a new platform.

And we consider Amazon’s Kindle Newsstand to be one of the three juggernauts of digital magazine publishing channels, alongside Google Play and Apple Newsstand. In fact, it’s in second place and I’ll tell you why a little later.

The one-time cost of building a magazine subscription website could reduce overhead indefinitely
For $3 per month or $36 per year, there is subscription service called The Sink that will automatically deliver you everyday toiletry products every month. (Sorry CVS and Rite Aid, you’re being replaced.)

For $10 per month or $120 per year, you can get

Magazine events bring in user and sponsor revenue, and many publishers have made a profitable business model out of them.

When we talk about multiplatform publishing, it’s easy to jump right into the obvious choices: the ones with words, like books and portals and ebooks. But some of the biggest publishers I know have incorporated live

Digital magazine engagement should be top priority for publishers in 2017
If there’s one area of publishing that has not stood still, it’s digital magazine publishing. In 2015 it was more important than ever for publishers to understand the five digital magazine archetypes and get app magazines at least one step up from a replica. And in

Will Time Inc. save magazine publishing on newsstands through retailer innovation?
In an interview with Folio:, Time Inc’s Retail president Drew Wintemberg spoke about the future of magazines and the newsstand. In the interview, when asked about challenges in the new year, Wintemberg said, “From my perspective, it doesn’t seem that many publishers are investing to

Our top-read digital magazine publishing posts of last year show an interest in creating, marketing, and monetizing digital magazines and newsletters

In 2016, publishers couldn’t stop talking about the possibilities of digital magazines. After learning that digital magazines are a profitable content business model they’re actively seeking new ways to create new magazines, market them, and

Can you assign dollars and dimes to a free digital newsstand?
There’s no doubt that publishing your digital magazine on a tablet, so that it can be downloaded in some of the world’s largest newsstands, is a good idea. 20% of your subscriptions will come directly from this huge marketplace.

It benefits your content too. Most people read back to front in print magazines. But in a digital magazine, 95% will read front to back. They’ll see more pages (and ads for that matter). Or, they’ll pick an article are start there. With a web magazine, the reading dynamics are similar but different. It’s a fascinating thing to master if you’re a magazine editor in the 21st century. The web magazine is significantly different, and both are very different from the print magazine.

Multiplatform publishers are finding ways to turn magazine publishing into a profitable business model once again

If there’s one thing you might know about us, it’s that we think publishers should have multiple revenue streams. In investing, it’s called having a diversified portfolio. As Canadian portfolio manager Pat McKeough (also a client), would say, a good diversified portfolio should

Do you run or contribute to an online magazine?

Most of our readers would consider themselves in the magazine publishing industry, that is true. But do you think you run an online magazine, or a digital magazine, a print magazine or a magazine website? You might have chosen two or three of those, or you might think they mean similar things. However, to us, these all have very different meanings and very different business models.

A series of voice-focused trends are beginning to evolve within Hearst’s magazine arm
This week at Hearst, it was announced that they will be using a new Food Network persona to diversify their magazine brand by giving them their own magazine, a trend we expect will grow with more Food Network personas. Women’s Wear Daily writes:
Hearst

How to start a magazine and publish it profitably, without requiring a large team to start.
In her book How Not to Start a Magazine, B. Ann Bell says the number one way new magazines fail is through poor budget planning. Poor planning for printing, postage, and marketing are among the top expenses in her book, originally published

In publishing, there’s no room for growth with a solo magazine that stands alone.
One of our favorite stories is that of The American Ceramic Society. The organization turned to the Mequoda Method in 2005 to address the stagnant growth of its two print publications, Ceramics Monthly and Pottery Making Illustrated, whose audience is both ceramics professionals and dedicated amateurs.

The

Magazine pricing strategy has certainly evolved quickly over the past year. In 2013, we still believed that universal pricing was the best way to handle print, website and tablet products. Today, we’ve evolved our own thinking and our new Best Practice is decoy pricing, which requires different prices for different products.

As the first wave of digital magazine apps has passed, we’ve discovered one thing: People hate apps with nothing in them.

And yet, the vast majority of digital magazine apps available today are nothing more than a retail outlet for single copies and subscriptions!

They are labeled as free, but have nothing to offer unless a purchase is made within the app. This practice is the reason why so many magazine apps have low ratings, as can be witnessed by reading the reviews.

Personalization, sales structure, and data-driven publishing highlight latest trends in magazine publishing strategy
Multiplatform content, audience development, and internet revenue models. Attracting and converting. That’s the crux of magazine publishing strategy – don’t make it harder than it is!

At Mequoda, we can distill all of this down to two modules: ACEM, which are the essentials, and

Isn’t it fascinating to consider how the old journalism phrase “above the fold” has evolved? Once it literally meant “above the fold” of a traditional broadsheet newspaper. Editors, writers and designers battled over what, and who, would win a coveted spot above that fold, where the most reader eyeballs would land.

You don’t have to pick a primary or favorite digital magazine publishing platform – as we see from leading media companies, multiplatform strategy leaves it wide open, and the more the merrier
When we say digital magazine publishing platform, the image that forms in our mind’s eye is one a jumping-off point, a launching pad, even