Publisher and Advertiser’s Responsibility with Digital Edition Advertising

What if I could tell you your competitors were making money with their digital edition? The fact of the matter is, as the industry starts to beat down paths to selling into digital magazines and catalogs, independent of or in conjunction with print, digital editions are turning into profit centers, rather than just cost savers. Publishers who are not committed to selling into their digital editions risk getting left behind.

Many of our clients are already selling advertisements and sponsorships into their digital editions, and some of them could be your competition. (Need some examples of publishers selling sponsorships? Click here to view a few on our website.)

If you’re looking to catch up or get started in generating revenue, start with understanding some of the basic responsibilities of publishers and advertisers in digital editions:

Publishers Responsibility:

1. Understand that readers interact differently with digital than with print and websites. Key metrics point to increased engagement, interactivity, time spent, and return traffic to digital magazines, most notably those which embrace the medium.

2. Interact with your readers. By providing interaction within your publication, readers have more reasons to keep turning the page. It can be something simple such as adding video, or more involved such as pulling in a live RSS feed. Good digital content bumps engagement time and page views, which is impressive to advertisers.

3. Charge for ads. Resist the urge to give digital edition ads for free. Nxtbook clients are successfully selling advertising and sponsorship space by relaying the value of digital editions to their advertisers. Our Success Team offers consultations regarding how to price sponsorship spots as well as how to best communicate the digital value to advertisers. (Need a place to start? Download the Case for Advertising in Interactive Magazines.)

Advertisers’ Responsibilities:

1. Provide a single call to action readers can respond to online. Unlike in print, digital edition readers can respond immediately to calls to action. Create ad copy which points readers to a single action which they can perform immediately and get immediate satisfaction.

2. Interrupt readers.  Break into a reader’s flow of thought by adding eye-catching animations.

3. Go big or go home. Unlike print in which you are guaranteed a single page view size, digital allows readers to view the publication on a variety of screen sizes. To maximize the effectiveness of your ad in digital format, maximize your images, fonts, and ad space. Visualize how your ad would look on an iPhone as well as on a laptop, and consider what optimization concessions you need to make viewers’ experience with your ad the best possible.