Brief Case Study: Digital Magazine v. Website

Last week we posted a case study on The American Prospect and how this publisher used digital supplements to increase circulation and push paid subscriptions. (If you missed the study, you can download it here.)

But there’s another side of the story. Increased circulation is certainly a goal of publishing, but increased reader engagement is crucial to proving content value. The question remains: what medium provides the best reader engagement? The American Prospect Advertising Manager Ed Connors points to his website and digital edition analytics to answer that question.

As the full case study points out, the content published to their website and their digital editions is comparable; content is pulled from the Special Report and monthly magazine onto the website. Yet the website material doesn’t spread virally like the Special Report, and tracking metrics show it has a lower engagement time.

Connors reports, “Our numbers overall for the digital magazine and Special Report are much better than our website.” He went on to say the Omniture tracking enabled for the digital editions are much more specific than website data, and from this, “we’re seeing much longer engagement in the digital edition. More pages and more time spent on it.”

Connors attributes part of the success to the format inherent to digital editions: “You have everything all in one place, easy to use, in a fun-type format. A lot of people are seeing this for the first time, and they’re flipping pages, and it’s engaging. You’re clicking page to page to page to view different articles, and you don’t have the same set up with a cover and magazine on your computer screen looking just as it looks in your hand.”

So the next time you’re considering where to spend more of your energy – on a website or a digital edition – consider your metrics and check where your readers are spending their time.

The Numbers Just Keep Growing

Little more than a month after I wrote that mobile and tablet readership had passed 5% of total readership, we’re now past 5.5%. The bumps come mainly from Android, which has doubled to be over 1% of all readership, and the iPad, which is now 2.4%. And again, this is among readers of all Nxtbooks and not all publishers have chosen to make their content viewable on these devices. But they should, as some publishers who do so are now seeing as much as 50% mobile/tablet readership in some cases.

Annual Trike Race: Proof Print’s Still Kicking

Nxtbook Media’s Trike Team raced hard in today’s annual charity trike race for the United Way. Lancaster County businesses showed up in spades to participate in the event and to cheer team members on. Race after race, winning businesses were whittled down to two finalists: Nxtbook Media and Lancaster Newspapers.

The fact that this was a newspaper business versus a digital publishing company was not lost on us. Couple that with Nxtbook’s longstanding history of winning this event, and we were thirsty for the win.  The match was close, with riders pushing neck and neck most of the race. In the end, Lancaster Newspapers pulled ahead to victory. It was a tough race, and both teams performed well.

Luckily, several Nxtbook Media members had cameras and smartphones to document the final moments. Check out the last race in this video:

  *Any advertisements played before, during, or after the video are not affiliated with Nxtbook Media

Show your support! Nxtbook Media Trike Team pictures can be found on our facebook fan page. Flip through the pics, "Like" your favorites, and get to know a different side of the Nxtbook team.

Just Hours Away

We are just a few hours away from our free webinar, Creating Commerce with Digital Catalogs. Don’t miss this opportunity to sign up and learn how digital catalogs contribute to conversions in the B2B and B2C marketplace. In this webinar, Caroline Ashmore of GRESSCO and Meg Duskin of ASHA will describe some of the reasons why their companies decided to produce digital catalogs, what ways they distribute and market the material, and lessons they’ve learned along the way. This is a can’t-miss opportunity for you to learn from others’ experiences.

Please Make Kris Look Less Lonely

So the other day we posted some information about our services on LinkedIn. The goal with this move is simple: have people who appreciate your product recommend it. It’s a good thing, we think. But thus far, our only recommendation comes from Kris Bradley. While I like Kris, truth is, he’s one of our own employees. Getting his recommendation is nice, but truth is, we’d rather have yours.’ So hop on over to LinkedIn and give us one. And while you’re there, feel free to link up with any of the myriad of Nxtbookers who make your day better!

Buying An App Shouldn’t Be This Hard

Chances are, you’ve already been pitched about having your own native app. Chances are the pitch sounded a lot like this. But if you’re looking to get your content onto mobile and tablet devices for less money than you thought with a strategy that makes sense, give your Nxtbook Account Manager a call today!

 

Webinar: Digital Catalogs and Commerce

On May 26, 2011 at 2:00 pm, you are invited to our free webinar, presenting how and why digital catalogs are instrumental to today’s marketplace.

E-Commerce is a growing industry, and businesses are finding their buyers are turning to computers, laptops, tablets and smartphones for information on products. Join us to learn how two major companies leverage this shifting trend with digital catalogs and use it to open doors to new commerce opportunities.

Speakers:
Caroline Ashmore, Marketing Director for GRESSCO
Meg Duskin, Manager of eCommerce and Database Marketing at ASHA

Register here!

What is Next Issue Hoping to Learn?

Next Issue Media has finally come to market, well at least to a portion of the market. The consortium is offering a few digital magazines, only on the Samsung Galaxy, and only on those sold through Verizon, and only through a VCast app.

How small is that slice of business? It’s difficult to know for sure, but a quick survey of the 2,000,000 readers of Nxtbooks in the past 30 days appears to indicate that perhaps 343 of them came from the Galaxy, not just those sold through Verizon. All Samsung Galaxies. That’s 343 out of 2,000,000 total readers. Or 343 out of more than 100,000 readers on mobile devices. Either way, it’s a mighty small number.

Win an Award from the UK

For the next month, digital publishers have the opportunity to enter the PPA 2011 Digital Publishing Awards. The PPA (Professional Publishers Association) awards have 13 categories, including "Digital Edition of the Year," "Digital Publisher of the Year," and "App of the Year".

Read the criteria for the Digital Edition of the Year category, taken directly from the criteria page:

"Both B2B and B2C publishers are grabbing the opportunity to take journals on line, making advertising and editorial content more visual, alive and inter-active. Tell us why your digital edition stands out from the rest. What have you done to engage with readers and advertisers in the online space? What success have you had in developing revenues and how did you meet the challenge of different ways of working, from copy preparation to ad production."

If this sounds like you (and for Nxtbook clients, it should), click here to enter your digital edition into the contest. If you read that and don’t have answers for all of those questions, call your Account Manager. They’ll give you the best practices needed to answer those questions and promote your digital edition with confidence.

What Do You Want the iPad to Be?

An interesting article asks, "Is the iPad just a new way to give away magazines?" It’s well worth the read, but it misses the point. The article rightly points out magazines that have folded under financial pressures, but always acts as if such failures are a function of a lack of revenue. Truth is, as we all learned during this last recession, the expenses can kill you just as quick.

The fact of the matter is that you can get on the iPad without betting the farm and risking the herd. Oh sure, that means you’ll have to make some sacrifices, but it doesn’t mean your magazine has to suck. With a little creative thinking and innovation, we guarantee you that your magazine app can be anything you want it to be. Even profitable.

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