By Dean Cook
Although it is possible to make a publication available digitally, you can’t ideally simulate an A4 magazine and view it on a device a quarter of its page size without making navigation a tiresome and notorious task.
Also, as shown by statistics with magazines we’ve previously published online, typically only one-tenth of the time is spent reading a flip-mag compared to its paper counterpart – in short, it’s just two minutes.
Invest in doing it right
With a lot of time, effort and money invested, it is easy to encounter low reader numbers once published. Besides, those who have turned the pages would read a fraction of the overall content. Okay, it doesn’t apply to all publications as other factors need to be considered such as demographic audience, the effectiveness of content delivery and the type of content on offer.
Appreciating that some do read magazines on their tablets and smartphones, our figures show attention span is a lot less; therefore, we would need to consider product optimization. How do we maximize the number of pages to entertain the shorter attention time spent yet, balance the content to encourage the readers back, wanting to read more issues?
Many would have previously considered turning off after 20 pages, but when they see that there are only another ten or so pages can undoubtedly encourage readers to the end. It appears that a 32- to 40-page online magazine appears to be the sweet spot.
It’s natural human behavior to expect to see a start, a middle and an end so, if you have a wealth of unique content purely to position online, then why not consider publishing lesser pages on a more frequent basis, or create a topical ‘theme’ for the digital issue?
As an example, we produce an airline maintenance magazine but, with a lot of content to broadcast, it’s split into two: MRO; and Operations. Primarily, with readers being airline engineers based all over the globe, they are continually on the move. It was essential to limit pagination length to work alongside the attention span but also optimize the size of the publication for device viewing to minimize navigation. As such, it has allowed for more directed marketing opportunities.
Combined with online marketing and identifying routes to the reader, the publisher would then have the ingredients to attract a good readership. Since its inception, each publication regularly attracts very respectable qualified readership with an average time spent exceeding 10 minutes.
‘Print versus Digital’ is an outdated argument; simply put, digital will never replace print or vice versa. Both operate in entirely different environments…
Create a dedicated digital title
If you already publish a print title, why not think about releasing a light-weight digital derivative? The lesser-paginated digital-only magazine should contain additional unique content not found in your print title so you can cross-feed. Allowing to broadcast a compact digital version not only adds brand value, but it can also cast a net to explore to attract potential subscribers to its comprehensive printed counterpart containing more in-depth features. Don’t to forget further advertising opportunities can be applied here. You can add links and embed video too.
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