Reinvent your print publishing business for the digital world

In the last 18 months, we’ve seen the print to digital transformation and it’s picked up the pace quite a bit. Several print publishers have moved completely over to the digital front while some have tried to balance both. This has meant reconsidering content strategy, editorial strategy and more! It has definitely come with its challenges. Publishers have had to think digital-first and while this has expanded their reach however, threading the difference between print and digital can be interesting.

If you’re certain about moving over to the digital platform, have you considered publishers can connect with readers through business and design choices that focus on user experience.

Here are a few things digital readers value and that publishers should be emphasising on -

• Genre

• Retrievability

• Significance

• Timeliness

• Hypertextuality

• Convenience

• Omnichannel presence

• Interactivity

Publishers with a unique print legacy are finding ways to connect established print products to support newer digital operations while pushing their approach to “digital-first”.

For glossy magazine publishers, a print-technology combination is connecting titles sold both as print with developing ecommerce sites.

The shift from digital to print has been gradual. With the right content strategy, publishers should be able to have this transition. Now that we’ve discussed our focus points, what are some of the functionalities you should look into -

1. Creation

You need the right CMS for any successful publishing experience. This means that you need a CMS that helps you manage both print and digital content through a single instance - Bold CMS helps publishers achieve this. It centralizes the content creation process so that publishers can easily distribute content across all channels.

2. Subscription

Now that you also have a digital front, it’s important to manage your digital and print subscriptions. Accesstype from Quintype, a monetization tool that works seamlessly with Bold allows publishers to manage their digital subscriptions. As a publisher, you will notice how much more you can learn about user behavior and this can in turn help with your content strategy.

3. Engagement

The digital media, unlike the print, is an interactive space. This means that you can get active feedback from your readers in the form of comments, emoticons and more. You also need to push your content across various social media channels in order to get an organic flow of traffic. Engaging with your social media network is important as it is one of the most active readerbase.

4. Distribution

Your platform must allow you to distribute freely on all relevant channels. Being omni-channel is the need of the hour for publishers as more and more channels branch out to cater to niche audiences and promote "exclusivity." Bring your content to every front and allow users to interact with the same. Don't settle, have your CMS distribute content to websites, smartphones and even audio only platforms.

5. Scalable

As a growing publisher, you must always look for a platform that is ready to go on that journey with you. Not one that may slow you down. Choose a platform that is both flexible and scalable with your newsroom. You shouldn't be worried about adding more team members wondering if your system can take the load. Have a platform that allows you to grow and not one that holds you back.

The print to digital transformation can take a while. But take your time to invest in tool that will support your editorial goals and help you provide the best user experience possible. You should have a tech stack that pushed you forward to keep up not one that slows you down.

Interested to know how Bold can help you with us? Schedule a demo with us today to transform your publishing experience.