Google says that all print media will be digital. Mind you, I’m not sure I agree with them. There are still some very healthy print publications out there doing exciting and interesting things to reinvent their business models and give readers unique experiences that can’t be replicated online. If you don’t believe me, look at Monocle, the new redesigned Worth, Procter & Gamble’s new custom magazine Rouge or our own magazine Orange.
All of us in the media, association publications among us, are in this uncomfortable post-apocalyptic period. The rise of digital media; the death throes of print; the economic recession; the advertising downturn; the advent of social media, mobile and eReaders are creating a vibrant but terrifying cauldron of change.
Some things won’t change. Those we now refer to as readers will always be there. We are social beings and will always want to communicate and be communicated with. David Carr, the Media Equation columnist for the New York Times and mentor to a number of young, energetic would-be media types, told me that they have “the same DNA” as traditional journalists. Those things won’t change but everything around them will.
Living through the revolution, straddling the divide between where we were and where we might go is extremely uncomfortable. I tell myself it’s exciting but a lot of the time, I can’t quite pull off the enthusiasm that should engender.
Many associations are taking what I think of as an interim step: the digital magazine. There are many technologies for it but, if you’ve never seen one, they look like a regular print magazine, you “turn” the pages and can zoom in on text or images; live links lead to more information or rich media features. You still have the creative costs of a print magazine without the manufacturing and postage.
On the face of it, this sounds like a great solution to many problems. In practice, not so much.
I have now found seven associations who tried it and went back to print. I did a post about this a few weeks ago but, briefly, there are three reasons:
- Nobody reads it. Open rates are abysmal. If your print magazine has a good cover strategy and lands on a member’s desk, you’ve got at least an even chance that they’ll open it. Once they open it, if you’ve got a good editorial strategy and execution, they’ll read at least some of it and may save it to read more later, pass it on—all the good stuff that print magazines are known for. If it lands in their inbox along with the latest Amazon.com promo and the coupons from hotels.com and the blizzard of work-related messages, you have almost no chance. Digital magazines are easy to ignore so that’s what recipients do.
- Advertisers walk. An already difficult advertising sale becomes impossible. Without traffic, proof of open rates and click thrus, the giant rock you were pushing up that big hill just became a boulder that needs to be on top of Everest. Whatever revenue you were getting to offset costs is gone. Since you still have the creative cost, the publication ends up costing you more, not less.
- Members hate it. All associations are struggling to attract younger members but the core members are still Baby Boomers and their children. That’s still a print demographic. With every 10 years of age, print wins over digital. Even associations that have done this well—prepping members for the change, asking for opt-ins, giving them the option to continue to receive print, marketing it to key stakeholders—convert only 6% to 7% of readers.
If You Do It
There are some best practices for those who are determined to try it.
- Do not just convert your existing print magazine to a digital magazine. It needs to be re-sized for a computer screen, laid out horizontally rather than vertically, have fewer words per page and bigger type.
- Don’t make readers zoom. The capability needs to be there but think of it the same way you think of clicks off your homepage. No content should be more than 2 clicks away. If you make readers zoom, you’ve added steps between them and the content and they won’t do it.
- Sequence the magazine to be read online. You do not need the pacing of a print magazine so go shorter, punchier, probably fewer pages than in print.
- Add all the digital bells and whistles: flash, audio, video, social media sharing. If you leave it static, you are not using the medium to its full capability and really will fail. Extras expand reading time and motivate recipients to read articles.
- Video is the most popular enhancement. If you don’t have video capabilities, get them.
- There are a raft of issues concerning SEO and BPA—all too complicated to go into here—that must be sorted out first.
I agree that association media needs to get across the divide and has to do some things to survive through the transition—more like the voyage to the unknown. Frankly, I don’t think digital magazines are it. Why put a lot of energy into something that will almost certainly go away? If you’re going to make the transition, go the whole way. Go mobile. Go eReader-friendly. Do something great with your print magazine. Some associations that have tried this and failed ended up with nothing. Is that the outcome you want?
