The fallacy of digital publications

Like most print publications, we have a digital component that is simply a duplication of our printed version that we’ve made available online. Our printed publications are time sensitive and many of our subscribers end up getting their publication late. (My thoughts on how the USPS is killing our business is for another day).

We have always sold our digital versions on a separate platform and have had some success finding new readers.  Since so many of our subscribers were getting their publication late, we started offering our digital version free to anyone who purchased a regular subscription. So when anyone called to complain about delivery, we immediately gave them access to the digital version. In addition, we promoted it to non-renewals and in our publications.

After one year of giving away the digital subscriptions, we pulled all the readership data – who reads each publication, for how long, what was most read, etc.… What we found is that less than 5% of our subscribers accessed the digital version. That number was surprising to us since most of our subscribers had access and chose not to look at the digital even when they did not have their printed publication.

Then I was reminded how at my house our local newspaper offered a free digital version that I never used (even when I didn’t receive the paper). I also found this 5% number to be pretty accurate when speaking to other publishers.

Does this mean that creating digital versions is a waste of time, money and resources? Not really.

Why continue to create digital?

1)  To sell on digital newsstands like Magzter.com, where your publication is exposed to thousands of potential new customers.

2)  Subscribers do see a perceived value in offering a digital version.

3)  If you have the resources to ad video, web links, slide shows, audio and social media links, you may have more people looking at digital.

4)  You may be able to find sponsors that can offset any costs.

The $100,000 question is figuring out how to get your subscribers interested in reading digital and when will it start paying off. We will keep plugging away and hope conversion rates keep growing as we improve our digital editions so subscribers want to read it.

Standard Renewals

In addition to our Global Renewals, we send out standard renewals to our subscribers.

1)  The first renewal is sent out when the subscriber has 5 issues remaining

2)  The second renewal is sent out with 3 issues remaining

3)  The third renewal is sent out with 1 issue remaining

4)  The fourth renewal is sent out with -1 issues remaining. This is a grace issue that we send to our subscriber to let them know we sent them a free issue so they do not miss any.

5)  The final renewal is sent out after the second grace issue and usually includes a “we want you back” special offer.

On all of our renewal offers:

We have the printer put the subscriber’s name, account number and address in the tear-off form on the bottom of the page so the customer doesn’t have to rewrite their information. The printed piece is folded and the address shows through a #10 window envelope.

The preprinted tear-off form saves a ton of time with data entry when it is mailed to us because the data entry people only have to type in the account number instead of all the subscriber details.

We also found that using nonpaid envelopes vs. prepaid return envelopes has not suppressed our renewal returns (this was not the case a few years ago).

We also send out renewal emails before snail mailing them.

22 Digital Growth Strategies for Magazine Publishers

After contacting and interviewing more than 60 publishers and three months of writing we have our first edition out of "22 Digital Growth Strategies for Magazine Publishers.". The eBook contains 45 pages of practical information that you can immediately apply with instant results. 

Download it Free at the link below:

22 Digital Growth Strategies for Magazine Publishers

By Ciprian Borodescu, CEO at Appticles

Utilizing Global Renewals

In addition to our regular renewal letters, we do an annual “Global Renewal.” This is simply a renewal offer that we send (usually in February) to all of our current subscribers – regardless of how many issues they have remaining – and we additionally mail to expirers one or two years out.

Our Global Renewals offer a premium such as a wall calendar (that we produce). In the letters, we are careful to let everyone know when their subscription ends and what their account number is so when they call in they have all the pertinent information.

Our Global Renewals are the most successful revenue-generating mailings that we do each year.

Here are a couple of things that we have tweaked over the past few years to generate extra income from the mailings:

1)      Our subscription software allows us to generate a subscriber’s personal link so they can access their account without typing anything in – just clicking on a “Click Here” button.

 2) We first send out emails with the Global offer a couple of weeks before our USPS mailing so mailing costs can be reduced.

3) Because subscribers with a few years left on their subscription may be hesitant to respond to the Global Renewal offer, we started offering the option to purchase just the calendar. As a result, not only have we sold hundreds of additional calendars as a stand-alone purchase, many people purchase extras for themselves.

4) We also have the printer put the subscriber’s name, account number and address in the tear-off form on the bottom of the page so the customer doesn’t have to rewrite this information. The printed piece is folded and the address shows through a #10 window envelope. This preprinted tear-off form saves a ton of time with data entry when it is mailed to us because the data entry people only have to type in the account number instead of all the subscriber details.

5) The last thing we realized is that our response is greater if the Global Renewals are mailed around the same time that an issue is mailed.