How to Extend your Niche Magazine Readership
There seems to be a lot of activity around magazine sales and circulation, since a recent article from AP spoke to sales declines of 6.3 per cent for this traditional publishing medium this year. Now, analyst group McPheters & Company has released their magazine related report entitled: The ‘AudienceLab’ Study of Public Place Engagement’ and it provides the industry with opportunity data, which is good news for a change.
The ‘AudienceLab’ report found that 57 per cent of all magazine reading took place outside the home and that 45 per cent of time spent reading magazines occurred in public places, such as waiting areas, airplanes and hotels. Further, 86 per cent of those who said they read one or more magazines in the last month had done at least some of their reading in a public place, with 87 per cent of them saying that they pay as much or more attention than usual to magazines read in public locations.
Many of our blog readers (traditional newspaper publishers) are probably wondering how this information relates to them, as they have not been known to have boutique magazine titles on their publishing roster – but they’re mistaken. It is very common today to find publishers with niche auto titles (classic car, luxury car, etc…) or lifestyle titles geared to moms and dads. Some would even argue that their cottage real estate title could qualify as a niche “public consumption title”. No matter how you look at it, your niche titles have the potential to be circulated and included in the extended readership arena that the public areas listed above provide. In addition, most publishers have done focus group studies on not only their newspaper products, but also on their niche magazine titles. Reviewing the results of those focus groups can also provide insight on where your magazine could and should be left for public consumption. Although we recognize this will not help circulation revenues, it will definitely help your advertiser with their product reach.
