As technology advances, people form new expectations and habits, mainly pertaining to speed and availability of information and entertainment. The growth within the online magazine industry and the way it is adapting to the mainstream forms of social media is causing the dissipation of its original form. It is more practical for readers to buy subscriptions to an easily accessible app on their phone or computer than having an actual book-like magazine.
The issue is that the people reading these online magazines have the same or similar information available to them through social media and many different for mediums of social and entertainment distributors. This competition is what is causing for the original decline of magazine popularity and the fight for magazines to reach their readers in a more efficient and compatible manner.
The magazine industry’s success is mainly based off of the growth in the number of subscriptions and the revenue coming in from digital advertisements. What’s important in achieving this is to realize that readers need to see the value in the magazine and that this is done through proper marketing. Magazines have added great online features to compete with other social media platforms, but are failing to promote them effectively.
This is where transitional aspects of marketing tactics need to come into play in order for magazines to jump on board and adapt. The value of the sites is not being exposed to the right people and therefore tend to lose the interest of the online audience. Readers look for simplicity and accessibility to good quality stories and they want the service to be available on a variety of devices so that the information is more compatible with their daily lifestyle.
The advantage of online magazines over classic forms of magazine and newspapers is the entertainment factor. Social media is highly incorporated into online magazines because it is important in capturing the readers’ attention. Publishers will continue to add features to the sites that will allow magazine apps to compete with Apple News, Instagram, and Facebook. In order to keep up with these leaders in the social media and news distribution industry, online magazines must stay up to date with trends and readers’ habits on the internet.
Paying attention to the audience is vital, as well as keeping a personal connection between the magazines theme and the reader. While making this transition, a magazine — much like many other mediums having to had made this foundational switch — need to focus on the factors that make it what it is, but also the factors that will adapt easily to a new, appealing digital identity.
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