The digital publishing industry continues to experience exponential growth in tablet and mobile technologies, bringing several new strategies to the table for university communications staff and alumni magazine editors to consider.
Most everybody is sold on the idea that mobile publishing must be part of the overall communications plan. With so many options for mobile and app based magazines, it's hard to nail down the right fit to yield the best investment return while maximizing your ability to optimize reader engagement among your alumni, student, faculty and leadership community.
First we all have to agree on the point that higher ed publications are radically different than subscription-based, for-profit magazines. As a higher ed PR, communications, marketing or advancement professional, your top priorities are to strengthen constituency relationships, showcase alumni/student/faculty achievements and keep that personal connection between your community and the school thriving. Understanding what your real priorities can help you make better choices when considering how to implement your digital and mobile publishing program. That said, let's better understand some key considerations, specifically as it pertains to a higher ed or alumni publications.
- Go Beyond Just Mobile Friendly: Developing a mobile friendly website or HTML magazine is good, but not enough. Your digital and mobile publishing strategy should include getting a branded native magazine app approved on tier one app stores (Apple followed by Android). Native apps are packaged, mobile sites are not. This means a better user experience, faster graphics, tighter security and broader distribution capabilities. Leisure readers also need offline access to your enriched digital content with a single tap.
- Don’t Spend Too Much: Getting a branded magazine app launched on an app store shouldn't cost an arm and leg. Major commercial software packages and plugins for magazine apps can range from $30-40K in licensing, implementation and training costs alone, not to mention ongoing per publication download charges. This is absolute overkill and out of reach for many organizations even in the for-profit realm. Aim to get your already designed, press-ready print editions digitized and enriched for an app, which can be quick and cost-effective when compared to the custom template-based magazines app approach (such as The Daily, The Economist, Time Magazine, etc).
- Time to Market: A typical alumni magazine is published three to four times a year. That gives university marketing and communications teams fewer chances throughout the year to market the new app. A day late to the app store could mean losing a whole semester. You want the app ready before your next print cycle so you can market and advertise your app in the next upcoming print edition. Note that marketing your app should be part of your overall digital publishing strategy. No matter how large your reader base is, the "if you build it they will come" notion doesn't work.
- Bundle Social Media Content: Get your readers hooked on to frequent social media updates originating from your official Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube sites. Custom in-app icons can be built-in to your app itself to aggregate this content and make it part of the overall digital content and app experience. This can substantially increase repeat reader engagement and enhance your institution's overall social connectedness with the community.
- Just Say No to Static PDF's: Don’t treat your digital editions as static PDF magazines. Digital publishing solutions must enrich your publications with videos, multimedia, web-extra content, and deep URL links. Your readers didn’t spend money in buying the latest gadgets to just read static e-books. Exceed their expectations by making your digital editions interactive and enjoyable to read.
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