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Why Digital Editions.....redux
Some thoughts after having surveyed several vendors’ products at the Folio show and spoken/listened to several people about their Digital Edition experiences.
First, I guess, is that I didn’t hear enough from publishers about how they are selling digital editions to advertisers and what their successes have been. What are the compelling sales points? Can you sell the digital edition alone or must you bundle it with print? Are digital editions sales cannibalizing print sales? I’d definitely like to hear more from this group.
My overall impression of digital editions has changed somewhat from “why” to “where” and "how." I still think simply converting a print-ready PDF into an electronic page-turning environment is not the answer. Even with rich media ads. Larger sized publications, say tab/broadsheet, have a real estate mismatch on a monitor which causes excessive scrolling/zooming to be effective.
I am still unconvinced that the digital edition reading experience is adequate for certain types of articles. Lengthy articles I believe are best in print, not pixels. I still can't get past this notion that a digital edition needs more innovative thinking than simply converting a print PDF.
That having been said, however, I think there is room for the collaboration between print and a Digital Edition. I'm just not sure what that will turn out to be just yet. There are certainly opportunities to offer advertisers with rich media as well as offering the reader these new experiences. The key is how to meld the two versions to work together.
Is anyone out there using digital edition technology to create a completely different version of their print product to take advantage of the technological differences? Any other innovative integration between print and digital editions?
First, I guess, is that I didn’t hear enough from publishers about how they are selling digital editions to advertisers and what their successes have been. What are the compelling sales points? Can you sell the digital edition alone or must you bundle it with print? Are digital editions sales cannibalizing print sales? I’d definitely like to hear more from this group.
My overall impression of digital editions has changed somewhat from “why” to “where” and "how." I still think simply converting a print-ready PDF into an electronic page-turning environment is not the answer. Even with rich media ads. Larger sized publications, say tab/broadsheet, have a real estate mismatch on a monitor which causes excessive scrolling/zooming to be effective.
I am still unconvinced that the digital edition reading experience is adequate for certain types of articles. Lengthy articles I believe are best in print, not pixels. I still can't get past this notion that a digital edition needs more innovative thinking than simply converting a print PDF.
That having been said, however, I think there is room for the collaboration between print and a Digital Edition. I'm just not sure what that will turn out to be just yet. There are certainly opportunities to offer advertisers with rich media as well as offering the reader these new experiences. The key is how to meld the two versions to work together.
Is anyone out there using digital edition technology to create a completely different version of their print product to take advantage of the technological differences? Any other innovative integration between print and digital editions?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Ian Hunter on -
Fred
I'm of to bed.
There is a wee discussion going on called Zinio Go Green, you may find some answers their.
Try here as well http://digitalmagazineworld.com/
Good to see you back.
Ian
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Permalink Reply by Marcus on -
Hi Fred,
You're certainly right in that digital edition success is all about "how."
Interesting applications:
1) Hearst repackages content from their print and online properties for one advertiser and publishes it at Project Analog. They've actually done the same thing for a few other advertisers, too.
2) Reed optimizes Housing Giants as a digital only magazine.
RE: Revenue. We surveyed our customers earlier this year. At the time, 32% were making money doing digital magazines (as opposed to just doing it to save money). Some of those publishers are featured in case studies on our website.
But I think you've really hit on something important: It all comes down to strategy and execution. Building it doesn't mean readers and advertisers will just come.
M
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Permalink Reply by Fred Faulkner on -
Thanks Marcus,
I'm still pursuing the rationale for the revenue. I would assume it's all about eyeballs and being able to get that information to the advertisers. Which brings me full circle to whether the digital edition is supporting the editorial product or the advertising component.
Can you shed any light on the sales pitch being used for digital editions?
Fred
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Permalink Reply by Marcus on
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Fred,
The most success we've seen w/ revenue has been with advertisers seeking high dollar lead generation. If a lead is worth a few hundred dollars (not uncommon in BtoB), the high click-through rate of a digital magazine becomes a very attractive buy. A perfect example is the ProjectAnalog job for Hearst. This is a SINGLE sponsor selling EXPENSIVE products paying to be in a product with a high click-through rate.
One of the reasons I think consumer digital magazines haven't been as successful is because most consumer advertisers are selling cheaper products. Ergo, the "leads" simply aren't worth as much to them.
The first step: Ask your advertisers what they pay for good leads and find someone that pays on the higher end of the scale. Recognize that the digital magazine will yield them 4-6 times greater click-through than what's on your website.
M
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Permalink Reply by Ian Hunter on
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Hi Eric
Will just go through each paragraph one by one.
Most publishers use their digital editions as a add on to their print publication, the green sweetener for their print advertisers,
The compelling sales point is usually ‘it has a global reach’
Yes you can sell digital editions alone; ask these guys http://nextscreen.com/
Look upon it as a transitional period, best at this stage to have both.
Print sales have more to worry about at present than the possibility of sales being cannibalised by digital.
Your thoughts on converting a print PDF to digital are 100% correct it is not the answer.
The situation only worsens with broadsheet or tabloid, easily rectified, Marcus from NXT and the guys from Texterity both of which process publications purely for digital will provide the info required as to best practice.
The innovative thinking Eric has to come from you and it is pretty simple, problem is there is also additional cost.
The problem, as I see it up to now, is there has most definitely not been enough collaboration between digital vendors and print publishers, both have their own reasons for this, which for the time being I will reserve my opinion on the matter.
The opportunities are most definitely there however it is not just the two you must consider it is three; Print – Digital – Website.
Don’t know of anyone who is creating a different digital version of their print copy (maybe Marcus can help there) what I will say, is with digital you have the opportunity to attract new advertisers, who maybe don’t have the budget for print or offer existing print advertisers a larger ad within the digital for little extra cost.
Hope this helps.
Ian
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Permalink Reply by Hector Reyes on -
Fred
I'm a Marketing Director for a publication that has it's focus on Hotels and Airports for distribution you can check out our site is: www.txspecialmagazine.com and have been very successfull with our print advertising revenue, however going digital is our next step and certainly not only having a copy of our edition online, but coming out with a Special Edition that will only be digital therefore giving the opportunity to advertisers that don't have the budget to invest into a long term commitment in our print Edition. I strongly believe that by emphasizing on the measurement(the ability to provide reports on click-throughs) of their invested dollars will spark a bigger interest on advertisers.
Even though I haven't launched the digital edition just yet, I see the endless possibilities with this new aproach.
Hector Reyes
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Permalink Reply by Pierre Bisaillon on -
Fred,
Try http://www.team-chevy.com/trackside/ as an example of a dedicated digital edition that has never existed as a print pub.
One reason a number of publishers have shared their reluctance to create a different digital version is the concern that this new version will not be counted in their print version's rate base. I then had discussions with the folks at BPA and they gave a fairly muddled answer about what qualifies and what doesn't.
Back in 1999, during the birth period of digital editions, the rules were quite clear. The digital edition had to resemble the print edition in terms of content and layout to be counted. Approximately 2 months ago, I had a lengthy discussion with the folks at BPA about what qualifies and the best answer I could decipher was it was based much more on how it was delivered and whether the opening/reading could be measured.
Anyone else have similar or dissimilar experiences?
Pierre
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Permalink Reply by David White on -
Hello, I am quite new to Folio and can see my good friend Pierre is on here and just wanted to add a quick comment. I represent Zmags in Europe and Asia Pacific and my personal experience with publishers and associations such as the BPA is that they generally don't have too much of a clue about the possibilities of digital editions. I don't want to stereotype all publishers as some are using Digital to a great extent, but in general there is a lot to learn about digital editions in the publishing world. I think the key issue lies with the number of providers in the market these days and the huge variety of services they offer, basically none of us have the same pricing structure or production structure. There are so many cowboys in the market right now, it is making it very hard for the real providers to develop this industry into, well a recognized industry. I recently tried using the following document to try and really explain what we do which highlights some key features that make us different to your low-end $600 unlimited solution, I am hoping this will work but I think it will take a while before the whole industry begins to understand this technology 100% http://www.zmags.com/buyersguide
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