5. Competition Is Real
From 2002 to 2008, over 2,000 new magazine titles were created. The sheer number of titles reflects that the magazine industry continues to find audiences and topics not yet covered. The bottom line is that there is more competition among publishers. The reality not conveyed by this graph is that in addition to other magazine titles there are countless entertainment, infotainment, news, peer to peer, and other types of content producers that are fighting for the same shrinking attention spans.
4. Newsstand Sales Are Dropping
Many are predicting the demise of print as a medium. It is self-evident to everyone today that paper is becoming less relevant. But it’s not clear if it will ever become completely irrelevant. (The paper industry has recently made this clear through a new marketing effort. Read more.) There are other mediums we once thought would go the way of the dinosaur only to continue in an albeit smaller more niche form. For example, cars did not make horses go extinct, movies did not kill theater, and more incredibly, the mp3 player did not end vinyl. It is likely magazines will end up in a niche category. More likely, print magazines will serve as an add-on to an existing multi-platform content provider.
3. B2B Ad Sales Revenue Ratios
It should be noted from the statistics above that business models will need to adapt to the reality that print is no longer going to remotely provide the majority of revenue — even in B2B where the audience is tighter. Circulation can be optimized such that it produces a higher ROI, but only through ruthless examination of actual use. Avoiding returns, redundancies, and other ineffective deliveries are paramount. Ultimately, advertising is only as valuable as the audience you reach.
2. Time on Mobile Exploding
This change has the most significant impact for content creators. Mobile introduces new challenges for the creation and distribution of content. On the distribution side, a lot of debate has gone on about whether or not to focus on having a custom app or simply have a mobile website. On the design side, the mistake many publishers make is simply reproducing content without formatting it specifically for mobile. The best way for publishers to avoid design failure is to learn the principles of responsive design to provide a seamless experience. The goal is to ensure that users do not need to zoom on their device to consume content which is the primary complaint of many content viewers.
1. Projected Ad Spend for 2018
From an economic perspective, this is simply following the behavioral pattern of the previous graph. We spend more time on our mobile phones than ever and the time will only increase as these devices become more powerful. The more eyes on the small screen means the more money advertisers are willing to throw at mobile. Mobile advertising is an extremely difficult nut to crack due to how it impacts the user’s experience. Publishers need to evaluate which ad platform will optimize their viewers’ experience while providing a reasonable delivery for advertisers. Regardless of how publishers tap into ad revenue for mobile, it is a non-negotiable must that mobile advertising will need to be a part of their revenue model.
POSTED BY Aaron Harburg, to contact click here.
