If you are seriously thinking about turning a profit with your digital magazine, you should start selling. There are, however, various ways of selling digital products. You can start charging your readers for access to your digital magazine, or you can provide it for free, generating exclusive, high quality traffic to your online store.
Both sales strategies work well but there are few things every strategy has in common and which you should know about. In this article I will highlight five areas you must focus on in order to make your digital magazine profitable.
1. Deliver value
Surely there is a market need your magazine can, and should, fulfill. For example, there are lot of people passionate about fashion, so you can assume that beautiful, exclusive photos are what mainly grab their attention. Find the right angle and provide your readers with what they find most valuable. It can be literally anything. Give it a try.
Tip #1:
Use Google Search to check what interests people the most.
2. Choose the right distribution platform
You can run your magazine as a website, but there are better ways to deliver a value proposition to your readers. A properly chosen distribution platform speeds up your digital publishing business, as well as gathering special, well-profiled customers who are already willing to read and actively seeking a new reading experience. At PressPad we find the Apple App Store to be a great distribution platform. It offers millions of readers who can become your loyal customers when they find your magazine. We believe that publishers of all sizes should have the possibility to offer their magazines on the App Store. Since we have changed our model of cooperation with magazines, you can get your magazine to the App Store with PressPad.
3. Build loyalty and trigger sales
Put coupons into every second issue of your digital magazine and feel confident mentioning this on the cover. Not only does it trigger sales, but it can also encourage customers to choose a subscription over a single issue purchase! Under-promise and over-deliver. Do your best to provide freebies and giveaways for subscribers, and people will love you. To accomplish this, offer space exchanges of your magazine to bloggers and other content creators.
Tip #1:
Offer a free sample issue of your magazine on popular blogs like this – you’ll build traffic and improve your position in Google search results.
Tip #2:
Offer a special edition of your magazine as a “daily deal” with “deals” distribution channels so your magazine’s iPad App will reach hundred of thousands of subscribers.
Tip #3:
Learn about more best practices in selling digital magazines.
4. Build credibility
Set up a schedule and publish new issues according to it. That way your readers will get used to your release cycle, and checking for new issues will become a habit. This is how you build a history of your magazine, so you can offer bundles of archive issues for every new subscriber.
Actually, subscribers to your magazine App will gain access to a full archive of past editions. That can be a great marketing tool for your magazine business.
Tip #1:
Attract consumers of digital magazines with your free samples on Issuu.
5. Invite your readers
Yes, invite them. Telling people about what you do is one of the best things you can start with, promoting your digital magazine yourself. These days our friends and people from all walks of life are easily accessible online via social media networks.
Tip #1:
Use monitoring tools to monitor keywords in real-time (i.e. “fashion world”, “new look” etc.) to be able to reply instantly to your potential subscribers.
Tip #2:
Subscribe to interest groups on the LinkedIn network. Use the search field to find the best places to talk about your iPad magazine.
New technologies are changing the way people think, behave, and act. They also create opportunities for making profit online. At PressPad we believe that digital publishing is among the forces shaping the future, making our world more open and colorful. Join PressPad with your magazine to go mobile in an effective and elegant way.