Digital Magazines, 2008 - Supplement to Folio - (Page 10)

Understanding the Impulse: What Drives Publishers to Use, and Readers to Read, Digital Magazines? COST-SAVINGS, VALUE-ADD, TOE-IN-THE-WATER AND, FOR SOME, REVENUE GENERATION, SERVE AS CRITICAL MOTIVATORS. 10 Having a digital edition of Metal Edge al- year, and it’s a pain to calculate for the ABC e’ve seen how digital magazines are growing in usage, and as they lows publisher Zenbu Media to send issues statement!” Now Crews posts a hard offer become a vital format in the pub- to heavy metal fans in Scandinavia, Japan, and a sample issue of the digital magazine lishing industry, their use and importance and other countries. “It wouldn’t be cost-ef- on the Web site, and new subscribers pay appears to be driven by a few common mo- fective for us to send quantities of the print up right then and there. The premium is the tivations—cost savings, timely international magazine overseas, but we can send hun- ability to access and search three years of delivery, revenue generation, and—are you dreds of thousands of digital copies without back issues. ready for this one—environmental concerns. a lot of hard cost,” says Steve Bernstein, “This industry started because publish- president. “Digital delivery gives us a great GENERATING AD REVENUE—OR NOT Since ITEM Publications instituted digital ers were trying to ﬁnd affordable ways to get platform for getting our brand out there.” their content overseas,” says Marcus Grimm, Fulﬁlling overseas demand for EH Pub- editions back in 2005, the primary purpose marketing director of Nxtbook Media. “That lishing’s Church Production title cost “a ton has always been revenue generation. “We still is a strong strategy for a lot of publish- of money in postage,” according to Elizabeth publish English, Chinese, and Japanese ediers.” Delivering a digital edition eliminates Crews, VP, audience development, “without tions of Interference Technology, a journal the cost of paper, printing, and postage. The getting any of it back on the ad side. With for the electronics industry, three times savings can be up to 75 percent compared the digital edition, the readers get all the a year,” says Graham Kilshaw, president. to delivering a print magazine, depending issues faster, and we’re not hemorrhaging “When we sell print space, we offer adveron readership. Nxtbook’s average customer on postage.” tisers the opportunity to place the same ad Meanwhile, the digital edition of Elec- in the digital version for a 12 percent premipays a conversion price of about $1,500 per issue regardless of the size and location of tronic House, EH Publishing’s consumer um.” It’s like selling fries with the Coke, his the circulation. E-mail services are addition- title, serves two cost-saving circulation salespeople say. And since it’s reasonably purposes. “It allows us to eliminate bad priced—and the advertisers understand the al and somewhat scalable. Reed Business Information, which cur- debt and offer an inexpensive premium,” value of the growing digital audience—they rently has digital editions for about 50 of says Crews. “We used to promote the go for it. its magazines, began producing digital magazine by offering two free issues and a EH Publishing was also among the ﬁrst versions more than three years ago pri- speakerphone. If the prospects didn’t sub- to require that advertisers pay extra (a few marily as a manufacturing and distribution scribe, we were out the cost of the issues hundred dollars) to be in a digital edition. cost-saving measure, according to John and the premium. Bad debt adds up over a Otherwise, the publisher would substitute a Blanchard, vice president, operations. “The intent was to deliver replicas of our print magazines to readers who opted to receive digiMuch more attention to ads in digital magazines 10% tal editions exclusively. We would 35% send them three issues of the dig25% Somewhat more attention to ads in digital magazines ital editions and then request their compliance to convert over to 51% The same amount of attention to ads in digital magazines digital only. On average, we have converted about 10 percent of our 8% Somewhat less attention to ads in digital magazines controlled circulation.” The pro14% gram has resulted in “hundreds 6% of thousands of dollars per year Much less attention to ads in digital magazines across the board in bottom-line Source: “The Consumer Digital Lifestyle Survey,” conducted by Harrison Group for Zinio Media, March 2008 savings,” according to Blanchard. W Amount of Attention Paid to Digital Versus Print Ads Special Supplement to FOLIO: and Circulation Management

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Digital Magazines, 2008 - Supplement to Folio

Digital Magazines, 2008 - Supplement to Folio The State of Digital Magazine Delivery, 2008 Printers Extend Their Services to Digital Key ABC and BPA Audit Rules for Digital Editions What Drives Publishers to Use, and Readers to Read, Digital Magazines? The Art of Enhancement: Digital Magazines 2.0 Spin Reaches Out to Young Readers What About E-Paper? And Mobile Delivery? With Growth Comes Many Competitors Digital-Only Magazines Offer a New Strategy for Former Print Titles Going All-Digital Spawns a New Business Approach

Digital Magazines, 2008 - Supplement to Folio

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