When it Comes to Digital Publishing, the Time for Change is Now

"Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative" 

                                                                                                          ~Oscar Wilde

For my eighth birthday, my parents bought me a subscription to Sports Illustrated for Kids. Every fourth Tuesday, I would run to the mailbox to check whether my new issue had arrived, eager to discover which athletes they'd included in the month's removable sports cards. It was like a monthly dose of sports-related pop culture, adorned with pull-out content, interactive activities, fun game ideas, thrilling photography, and a healthy dose of surprise. This was, of course, back in the days when the word 'tablet' was reserved for references to the Ten Commandments. Print magazines were cutting-edge technology.

Times have changed. What for so long made magazines unique - their ability to combine prosaic, visual, interactive, and other elements into a multidimensional, free-form collage - is being outpaced by advances in digital media. This presents a challenge. "Why should I pay for a magazine," ask many consumers, "when I can find all the content I want on the internet?"

Those of us who work in magazine publishing industry would not consider ourselves unimaginative. However, when it comes to adapting to the brave new digital world, the industry seems to have been marred by a hesitancy, perhaps even a reluctance, to change. We need to think about engaging our readers in new, more effective ways.

Why was I so excited to find out which sports cards were being included in my subscription each month? The core element was the surprise: it was like unwrapping a present each month.

Much like I did back then, digital readers today value novelty. And you can give it to them by continually developing new features, new forms of interesting content, and ultimately, new ways to engage them. You're not just competing against other magazines for your readers' time; you're competing against the plethora of other digital apps and media out there.

Another thing to keep in mind: tablets and e-readers are not pieces of paper. They have touch sensitivity and are capable of playing videos, producing sounds, and connecting to the internet. Why, then, are our magazine apps presenting content in a manner that is virtually indistinguishable from the print version?

Sure, it's convenient for consumers to read your content on a digital device. But is that really all they want?

Publishers who create an app simply for the sake of having one are missing the point. Your content should not simply be converted to fit the digital format, it should be re-purposed. I'm talking about making your content more interactive, with videos, slideshows, podcasts, and even hyperlinks (one of the great things about reading articles online is that one can quickly connect to other content by accessing hyperlinks within the article text).

The main point here is that reading on a digital device is a fundamentally different experience from reading a regular, print magazine, and thus readers expect your content to be different.

The ideas discussed above are just a start; in reality, digital media is so fluid and dynamic that the possibilities for creating a unique experience for your readers each time they open your app are limitless. As magazine publishers, we need to shift our perspective, and this should be our ultimate goal; if we can accomplish it, we will always be sure that we'll keep them coming back for more.

Interested in these ideas? At PixelEdge, we are continually working to bring digital publishing solutions to magazine publishers, no matter what their sizes are. We are your partners in mobile publishing, and we put our expertise and experience in the hands of each of our clients. Send me an email at sean.monaco@pixeledge.io for more information, and visit www.pixeledge.io for examples of our current work. 

New Dynamics Create Uncertainty in the Publishing Industry

As digital media continues to play an increasingly larger role in our lives, publishers old and new are being forced to adapt at a much faster rate than the industry had previously been accustomed to. Of course, this has led to a great deal of uncertainty within the industry. Among the questions publishers are asking themselves are How can I monetize digital content?, Should I begin offering alternative forms of content to written articles?, and How can I leverage social media to increase the popularity and visibility of my content?

These are all important questions, and their answers continue to evolve. This article, published recently, does a good job of illustrating the buzz and uncertainty surrounding digital publishing solutions. I particularly liked its discussion of the threat posed to small publishers by large media aggregators such as Facebook. We published a post last year arguing that by giving their content to Facebook, publishers are ceding control and not maximizing the potential benefits to viral amplification of their content.

Because of the uncertainty in the publishing industry, it is important to have a solution that minimizes the technical barriers to having online content while also being adaptable, flexible, and scaleable. This is precisely the sort of solution we offer at PixelEdge, and we are excited to see where it takes us.

Advertising and the Future of Print Media

Social media and the pervasiveness of the internet have shifted the way companies advertise. Now, rather than paying for ad placements, more and more companies are creating and distributing their own content to gain access to prospective customers. The content they are generating is not focused on selling products or services. Rather, it closely resembles the content being created by the traditional media companies. It is designed to entertain and inform, and thus gain access to a receptive audience of consumers.


What does this mean for traditional media companies, namely magazine publishers?

First and foremost, it means that the competition for audiences is greater than ever before, simply because there are more players in the game. It also means that the ways the industry monetizes its content are going to change. In fact, they already are changing.

Take a look at these sponsored content statistics. We know that companies that distribute branded content are doing so online, where a large percentage of media engagement occurs. Engagement rates are particularly high on mobile phones and tablets. This is the kind of content you want to create: sponsors value your content's ability to spread far and wide via the internet and, more precisely, mobile devices.

But you already knew that. Here's the challenge: how do you do it? You might still rely heavily on print advertising revenues and don't want to risk losing them by creating a digital version that cannibalizes your print readership. However, you can see where the market is heading, and know that you will ultimately need move with it. How do you balance these short- and long-term needs?

At PixelEdge, we believe the answer is straightforward: generate content that is unique for each platform.

'Going digital' does not imply that you are abandoning your print editions. It also doesn't mean that your digital edition should be a replica of your print editions. To put it simply, people don't want to pay hundreds of dollars for the latest digital devices if these devices are just doing the same things that pieces of paper can. Having a branded app enables you to frequently target vertical segments of your readership with content that is specific to their interests. By following this strategy, you not only avoid cannibalizing your print readership, you also increase the value of your brand by giving your readers a compelling reason to download your app and engage with your content online. Perhaps most importantly, sponsors value access to these targeted verticals of readers and are interested in having their brand associated with this highly targeted content. If you're interested in learning more, check out this blog post.

At PixelEdge, we believe that magazines are not going away. They have access to something that will always be of tremendous value: a loyal and engaged audience. But the manner in which audiences consume content is changing, and the magazines which continue to be successful will have to change with them. Helping magazines to make this change is the core of our business.