Top 5 Mistakes Magazine Publishers Make Online
Locable started as a research project out of the University of Washington back in January of 2009 and over the last three and a half years we've learned a great deal about local publishers, particularly local magazine publishers.
In general, it's been a great experience with each publisher bringing their own expertise, interests, passions and reasons for starting their publication. We've also seen some trends emerge, trends that demonstrate commonly held assumptions and misunderstandings as they apply to all things digital.
- Publishers view success online as an optional activity - Success online is not option, it's urgent!
- Publishers approach the web (website, social media channels like Facebook) and mobile merely as digital delivery devices for their print publication - the web, like print, is a channel to deliver your brand values
- Publishers fail to realize and embrace the vast multiple of revenue generating activities online and fixate on ad sales, display ads at that - there are numerous ways to make money online
- Publishers think their website needs to be as polished, beautiful and controlled as their magazine - the web should be thoughtful, simple and aligned thematically with print not a digital replication
- Publishers think they're in the magazine business - as a matter of fact, publishers are in the local media business however, they just so happen to have a quality magazine
- Bonus: Publishers think there isn't any money to be made online some feel that their advertisers can't afford "another" marketing expense - local advertisers look to publishers for marketing services and expertise for which a print ad is just one component of the solution.
You see, the web and digital in general, are both mine-fields and gold-mines... if publishers make smart decisions on how to exploit their advantage online they can find themselves in a new, growing and incredibly vibrant media business.
