Bad News For Print Mags Means Market Share For The Taking

Posted on | August 5, 2008 |

A blog post last week on Portfolio.com (something like the opposite of irony?) showed some recent circulation numbers for 14 magazines. Many saw percentage drops in the double digits – with O, The Oprah Magazine, Teen Vogue and Vogue all losing over 15%.

Even for those publications with growing circulation so far this year, Portfolio remains skeptical about their success: Vanity Fair cashed in on a sexy photo of 15-year-old Miley Cyrus, Ladies’ Home Journal sold lots of cheap copies at dollar stores before discontinuing the program.

Hip candy noticed the news and asked readers, in an informal poll, why they weren’t buying print mags anymore. More than three-quarters of respondents said it’s because they’re getting their fashion and style information online.

All but one of the biggest circulation losers are women’s titles – making lots of room for female-targeted sites to snatch up those readers. To take the best advantage of this opportunity for market share, we have to ask ourselves: Why are women turning to the Internet for their fashion information?

It’s convenient, of course, and provides lots of options – and most Websites do convenience well because, well, they’re Websites. But the old untouchable-editor model might also be something readers are beginning to snub. With few ways to voice feedback and none that are guaranteed to be made public, magazines that aren’t suiting readers’ needs aren’t forced to address these problems, and readers don’t feel like they’re being heard – a cycle that probably leads readers to stop reading while editors pull their hair out.

We aren’t shackled by printing costs, so in addition to providing up-to-the-minute coverage, it makes sense for blogs to focus on delivering lots of interesting information to readers - and making it easily searchable and well-categorized. This establishes internet publishers as finders and packagers of interesting information, rather than as the ultimate authority who knows what four shades of lipstick every woman needs to wear.

It seems important to focus on the things that Internet does best while the print publications are going downhill. What strategies have you found most helpful in gaining and maintaining reader interest while magazines flounder?

Online shopping expert, Michelle Madhok, is the CEO of White Cat Media Inc. publisher of blogs SheFinds.com and MomFinds.com, sites that help busy women shop online.

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