There have been monumental changes to the magazine and digital
publishing industry recently and publishers are facing a variety of challenges.
Mobile design, virtual reality, building trust with diverse communities,
shifting revenue models, and finding new formats for storytelling as technology
shapes content: these are among the biggest issues journalists are currently
grappling with. So what are the most critical challenges facing magazines &
digital publishing?
Each
publisher is different, but there are some issues that are facing almost all
publishers. From a digital perspective, I think these are the core issues that
encapsulate the critical challenges facing magazine and digital publishing
today.
Monetisation
Last year brought its biggest ever
challenge to publisher’s revenues, as readers increasingly seek free content,
print circulation declines and ad blockers rise in popularity. Some are
trying creative ways of recouping that lost revenue like the Economist’s
low-cost Espresso subscription, but others will
reluctantly admit that neither apps nor social channels are delivering the
cold, hard cash that they need to keep going. Many digital magazine publishers
admit that they struggle knowing how to leverage advertising in digital
editions, with advertisers struggling in equal measure. Digital circulation is
also causing a headache, which brings us to the next challenge.
Readership
The Digital Magazine Awards
demonstrated that digital magazines seem to finally be getting it right, but
the readership simply isn’t there. Beautiful, mobile-responsive digital
editions are lying undiscovered in the app stores. Whether readers have lost
faith, don’t have the space, don’t want to pay or just don’t know the magazines
are there, publishers are facing huge challenges shouting loudly enough about
their digital editions. Or perhaps magazines just don’t work as digital
editions. But that’s a story for another day.
Keeping up
12 months ago, Apple News, Google’s
AMP and Facebook’s Notify simply didn’t exist outside of Silicon Valley. Now,
they’re all making a grab for publisher’s time, attention and content, with
each company able to reel off a list of top publishing houses as their partners
for various launches. Article-based publishing and the ‘unbundling’ of magazine
content is not a new concept, but the opportunities for reach and promises of
ad revenue have made Apple and Facebook tempting prospects for publishers. This
raises all sorts of challenges and debates, from control of content to
advertising compliance and resourcing.
Serving advertisers
and loyal audiences
Publishers need creative
ways to add context while connoting quality and credibility, and reducing
anxiety caused by the noise and clutter. They need better metrics for their
advertisers, who in turn have to accept tighter limits on their intrusiveness. They
have to regain the trust of the audience, with much more respect for the user's
time and much greater transparency about what's being tracked and how that
information is being used. By the same token, audiences have to realize that
their media consumption is, fundamentally, a transaction, and will have to be
paid for, whether the currency is cash, data-sharing, or some other form of
cooperation. Food for thought…
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