A Flight From Print?

Traditional printed magazines have perhaps the toughest battle to wage against the competitive Web onslaught. Magazines have proliferated by offering highly targeted titles and content to specific market segments. However, this is precisely the same advantage (and more) that the Web possesses. According to the 2005/06 Handbook on the Magazine Publishers Of American (MPA) site, there were 18,821 printed magazine titles in 2004 (the latest statistics). This figure has remained relatively stable for the last ten years. But trouble appears to loom on the horizon.

A noted Merrill Lynch analyst says 2006 will mark a watershed as online advertising spend will surpass magazine advertising spend for the first time. As I have made clear in other posts discussing traditional media, print magazines are not going away. However, they will face withering competition for advertiser dollars primarily because of a flight of dollars to online advertising. Here are four key reasons that print magazines will be vulnerable to Web-based content. I am sure there are more.

1) Targeting. As mentioned above, a real plus for magazines is their ability to deliver highly targeted content. Before the Web, magazines owned this advantage. However, now they have to compete against millions of websites and 40 million blogs delivering ever-more-targeted content to these same readers. The Web model uses the wisdom of crowds, while magazines still rely on the wisdom of a few.

2) Freshness. Print magazine content will be seen as increasingly stale. Most magazines are subscription based and printed on a weekly, monthly or bimonthly basis. Currently, a lot of Web content refreshes daily. A new generation of readers is becoming accustomed to the wealth of information that is being continually updated on blogs, forums, podcasts, chat rooms, online social networks, Internet user groups, websites and other online venues. Magazines have flourished because they provide more in-depth stories than was possible on a daily basis. This is still true for magazines, but there is so much content online, and some of that content is surprisingly in-depth and free.

3) Cost. Printed magazines are difficult and costly to start and costly to continue. It sometimes becomes difficult to compete with knowledgeable, passionate writers who can start a blog in a few minutes with no investment other than a computer and an Internet connection. The same goes for podcasts, user-groups, social networks, etc. Printed magazines have high overhead from printing costs, specialized staff requirements, and distribution expenses. Magazines still have this wonderful thing called circulation that advertisers desperately want, but a growing number of Web venues are beginning to seriously compete for those same eyeballs.

4) RSS-type technology. RSS adoption is still low for a number of reasons. But, most people, once they have used RSS technology, can never go back (RSS Explained). Basically, what an RSS reader does is bring the Web to you. Instead of having to visit a number of sites to explore what interests you, an RSS reader does all the work and brings the Web information to you. It makes it easy to scan information, news, etc. that may be of interest. Compared to searching through information in a printed medium such as magazines, RSS saves an incredible amount of time. If you’re just reading a magazine to chill-out, then this fact is inconsequential, but many magazines (especially trade magazines) are read to get at information. RSS and the Web can be much more efficient at finding and delivering it.

What should the magazine industry do? Some magazines will make the switch from offline to online. More will follow. Some magazines see the future more clearly such as Time. Most printed magazines already have an online presence, but many of these sites are simply a printed paradigm transferred to a digital form. Yes, many of these sites feature other enhancements and further information, but in most cases it is still easy to see the prime focus is on the print edition. Many people who subscribe to printed magazines infrequently visit the companion websites. In fact, the magazines are often using their website as a “value-add” with agencies and advertisers to sell advertising in the print version.

Magazine publishers have a lot of things going for them and they should use these advantages before the tide turns into a flood. They have loyal readers. They have circulation. They have content expertise. I fear too many of these publishers will hang on to the old world so dearly, that they will miss the opportunity to leap the growing chasm and continue their growth in a new way online.