Valerie Simon
As I relaxed by the pool this Memorial Day Weekend with a few of my favorite magazines and a glass of lemonade, I couldn’t help but ponder the future of the magazine industry and what it will mean to the PR profession. The magazines we read for our clients here at BurrellesLuce have changed quite a bit this year. While magazines such as Domino and Portfolio shuttered in 2009, new magazines, Best You and Sandra Lee Semi-Made come to mind, have launched. Still others, such as Newsweek, have undergone a dramatic transformation. Several trends are emerging while magazines strive to find their place in the emerging world of publishing.
Trend 1: Digital initiatives
As publications take advantage of their websites to attract and engage both readers and advertisers, new opportunities for public relations professionals to reach readers are created. It seems as though every magazine is currently in the process of designing or enhancing online features – striving to build communities and provide additional value to readers. Magazines now have Facebook sites where readers become “fans.” Twitter feeds are becoming standard. The Magazine Publishers of America (MPA) website offers a full list of the digital initiatives by magazines.
Trend 2: Going niche
Magazines with a narrow but intense focus and targeted audience are finding loyal readers and advertisers. While readers are getting general news and information from more sources than ever, they crave more detailed, focused, and in depth expert coverage of their special areas of interest. Targeted advertising can also be extremely profitable, since each view has a greater value to the advertiser.
Trend 3: Identifying new options for advertisers
Allocating space on the cover for advertising, something which still generates controversy in terms of acceptability, has been attempted in various formats by Scholastic Parent and Child, ESPN the Magazine, Esquire and others. US Weekly did an entire “faux” cover to promote the movie “Grey Gardens.” As the MPA site demonstrates, publishers are also working feverishly to appeal to advertisers through new portals, interfaces, and integrated opportunities.
What other trends are you seeing in the magazine industry? What do you think the future of magazines will look like?
