This is a post that I wrote recently on mikesaunders.com about how the digital publishing model is finding new ways to build customer loyalty, and wanted to share with the readers of Socially Speaking…
Most printing companies and print media houses are trying to work out how to find their rapidly disappearing customer base. We are all aware that the declining customer base in the print medium are moving to the digital realm, but we’re unsure of how to meet them there.
Customers exposed to online media are wanting more from publishers
The online consumer is changing because of the value the internet offers. Their expectations in the digital medium are much higher than in print and its simplyy because they have been exposed to richer media online than offline.
Digital publishers need to begin to focus on how to create rich media experiences in the digital realm. These experiences would need to transcend social connections, personalising content, combining image and video content, and should not be device dependent.
New digital publications are already seeing good retention rates from smart phone users. The Wall Street Journal has this to say:
“While print circulation continues to decline, news publishers have some good news in the Localytics report. News apps like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal saw the highest retention rate, with 44% of users. Gaming (e.g., Angry Birds), Entertainment (e.g., Netflix) and Sports (e.g., ESPN ScoreCenter) all had retention rates between 33% and 36%. Lifestyle apps, which include both e-commerce and life event planning tools, had the worst user retention, with just 15% opening an app 11 times or more and 30% opening an app just once.”
So with rich media digital publishers outperforming gaming and entertainment apps, it is becoming more and more apparent that digital publishing will be the avenue to find beloved customers that stopped reading your magazine.
Digital publishing offers new avenues to market for brands
Recently, Flipboard, a digital publishing company that combines content curation and access to digital publishers, has shown real innovation by launching the first ‘in-magazine store’.
“Flipboard calls this move a “social catalog”, and it’s especially telling given how monotonous online shopping has become, where long pages of visually-uninteresting grids are standard. Additionally, it looks like Flipboard has found an extremely easy and relevant way to display ads to users…that aren’t really ads at all.”
With a move like this is seems that digital publishing services are able to reinvent the e-tailing model in the future. Bring e-commerce stores straight to the public through rich digital media experiences.
The original article was published here.
