Yes indeed, digital publishing exploded as 2010 drew to a close and everyone in the industry is now running as fast as they can, exploring new possibilities and refining "old" ones. As old timers ourselves, we hope to steer clients and readers through some of the craziness coming in 2011. CatStone is constantly looking at our own digital publishing model(s) and watching everyone else do the same. It's going to be an exciting year for publishing content. Options keep expanding - Flash, iPad, ePub, Apps, Social Media, blogs, "magazine" websites. Got good content? Go ahead, relax and try to enjoy the ride. Today you have a vast number of ways to reach your audience and that can be a great thing. Your BEST bet? Let's take a look at how to figure that out.
1. Look to your content. Do you specialize in breaking news? A niche market? Are more words preferable or are visuals a must? Can you incorporate rich media - does music make sense or video? Let the content itself be one of your biggest guiding factors in your digital choices. Not all options are best for all types of content and jumping on a bandwagon might make you look worse instead of better. Closely match what a technology choice can do with what your content needs to perform its best.
2. Who is your audience? Do you already have a large email or subscriber list for announcing digital publications? Do you need to grow that list? What platform does your target audience seem to prefer for reading - their phones, their desktop? (That's one of the tricky questions and might surprise you when you do the online homework to find out. Also - ASK them.) Do you need to be widely available to the general public or Consider which options can most quickly help you reach your target audience and then develop a plan for growth that might incorporate other options down the line. Build your base communications with consideration, don't jump from lily pad to lily pad. Eventually, you may have several delivery methods or you may see that one is doing exactly what you need right now.
3. How widely do you need to throw the net with any particular publication? Don't overshoot and pay for more than you need. If you've got a focused audience and good results, you won't need 5 methods, at least right away, to reach them. Sure, what business doesn't want to have it ALL and use it ALL? But believe me, that's a hefty price tag. You may be quite happy with one BEST method. Also, be flexible - the perfect communication plan might change from publication to publication.
4. Have a method to your madness. Think strategically about how to feed your content to your readers in such a way that they come back for more and will stay involved with your brand. Here's where using social media really comes into play. Learn how to parse tidbits and build the yellow brick road to direct readers to more important, lengthy or monetized content. Have a good idea about how various platforms perform and you can use them each to best advantage.
5. Last, but never least, consider your budget. Launching several digital platforms all at once is expensive, both in initial investment and in upkeep, not to mention training for your team. Some options are surprisingly inexpensive and other single options require an initial investment that may swallow your whole publishing budget before you've barely begun. Assess things carefully. Look at both bringing platforms in-house as well as working with knowledgeable service providers. You may just be able to do more than you think. Make sure you look at real samples and ask questions, so you don't get sidetracked by shallow information that leaves you without an important WOW feature that could give you more loyal and involved readers.
At CatStone, we firmly believe that the biggest WOW factor is great content. We realize, however, that after that, you have lots of choices to make when publishing this year. We can help with those choices in any number of ways, from creative to publishing to going social. Have more questions? Give us a call 1-434-960-0036 or drop Cindy an email cindy@catstonepress.com. We love to brainstorm.
Feel free to leave comments below about digital publishing platforms and how you make the best use of them. We, and our readers, are always interested in more opinions and information.