2 September 2010

Previously in our blog we’ve published information about the iPad and competitors that are due and have already been launched. The latest news is today Samsung Electronics Co have announced the launch of the Samsung GALAXY Tab. A statement from the company have announced the Samsung GALAXY Tab will be launched in Europe in mid September, and in other markets including Korea, the US and Asia in ‘coming months.’

“Samsung recognises the tremendous growth potential in this newly-created market and we believe that the Samsung Galaxy Tab brings a unique and open proposition to market,” says the press release

The Galaxy is smaller in both size and weight compared to the iPad. The iPad is 9 inches in height with a weight of 680g whilst the Galaxy is 7 inches in height and weighs just 380g.

When it comes to operating systems, the Galaxy tab will run on Android and it will support the latest Adobe Flash Player 10.1, to enable the device to fully support “swift, seamless viewing of every single page of the web.”

One notable exclusion from the iPad was the web cam and it seems the Galaxy tab has this issue covered boasting both a front-facing camera for video calling and a rear-facing camera for taking regular photos and video which can then be shared with family, friends or colleagues.

On paper the features and usability for the Galaxy certainly position the device to be a competitor for the iPad, however, price will certainly be a key factor in this race. Apple have created a huge buzz in the mobile market and although they are well ahead of the race at the moment the increase of strong competition could be hot on their heels.  A video demonstration of the device can be seen here http://galaxytab.samsungmobile.com/

1 September 2010

When putting together the layouts and design of your digital magazine, there are some typical behaviours and usability issues that your readers may have adopted which you should consider and take into account at the design and creation stage. Although digital magazines are on the rise and becoming ever more popular they could still be a relatively new concept to your audience… so these few tips can help improve your end readers’ experience…

Test and adapt
Its a great idea to test out layouts and gain reader feedback, if you have a feature article or call to action that needs to be prominent in the publication try different placements, and see which placement gets found and responded to the most.

If you are introducing a digital version of your print version get a handful of existing print readers involved with testing, listen to any concerns and adapt the publication accordingly, also watch how readers use and navigate through the digital magazine.

Don’t keep your readers waiting
People don’t like waiting and are getting increasingly impatient when it comes to viewing online content. It’s important to get the balance between the quality of the publication and the load speed. Adjusting and testing the dpi and image quality settings of your online magazine can ensure you get this balance right.

Optimise for ‘scanners’
When online, people read differently to when they’re reading a print magazine. Online readers can often scan information waiting for that keyword, phrase or object they are looking for to jump out at them.  There are ways that you can cater for scanners and make your publication much more scanner friendly.

If you can, optimise your online content by reducing the word count, breaking up articles with highlighted sub headings, including lists / bullet points and offer video / audio alternatives where appropriate so as to cater for a wider audience.

Provide usability info
In the 3D Issue software there is the area to the left side of the front cover which we refer to as the ‘intro area’ . This area is a great opportunity to display some quick hints and tips of getting started with the digital edition…. we even provide customers with a file that can be placed here which can be used for this purpose. Alternatively custom files can be created and uploaded to this area. This info file is ideal to display if your digital publication is a new concept and will be viewed by many first timers of digital publications.

Many  of our customers use their website as a medium to sign up new subscribers for their digital magazines and newsletters. We’ve been looking into what makes a successful landing page as it is here where the reader can too often back away and not complete the process of signing up. So what makes a good landing page and how can you optimize this page to convert more visitors into subscribers? Here’s a few of our top tips….

1. Be clear and concise
Clarity is very important, on the landing page you need to let the reader know exactly what signing up will entail. Will they receive a monthly magazine, weekly newsletter? Ensure you give the reader two to three key reasons why they would benefit receiving this digital edition. Too often visitors to a landing page will turn away as it is not clear what is on offer.

Don’t be tempted to introduce other offers or present new information on this page. You want them to follow through and subscribe so keep links to a minimum so the sole focus is on why they would benefit from subscribing.

2. Keep required information to a minimum
Of course you will need to gather some information such as their email address, however try not to request too much information. People do not like filling out long forms for a number of reasons – primarily because a) it takes time and b) they think their details will be used for marketing campaigns that they do not want to be part of.

3. Make the most of the thank you page
Once a visitor has signed up for the future digital edition they will probably be directed to some sort of thank you page. This page can be underused, it’s a great place to….

Set expectations
Thank the subscriber and outline what and when they can expect to receive.

Give share options
Be social. This is a great opportunity to get further subscribers by giving them some ‘share’ options. Let them post a message to their twitter followers and facebook friends to tell them about it.  

Follow options
Highlight other ways they can keep up to date by following you on social networks or your blog.

4. Test and tweak
Once you have your landing / subscription page use your website analytics to track the success. Tweak your page and see what works best, tools such as Google Website Optimizer are a great way of comparing several different design and content alternatives.

2010 has seen a great deal of statistics and trends being released about digital media and publishing. We’ve read with great interest the developments in reader habits and behaviour as digital publishing surges.

What is interesting aside from the figures of growth is that digital reading has made us enjoy reading again. Amazon, reported that customers buy 3.3 times as many books after buying a Kindle. Whether this figure is enhanced in the early days due to the novelty factor of readers having a new gadget is not known, only time will tell. Another finding published on Fast Company seems to complement this figure by finding that 40% of ebook reader owners read more than they did prior to their purchase.  So why?….

Ease of purchase
Purchasing books through traditional bookstores is not the most convenient way for most people. The ease of access and checkout process of online bookstores make purchasing a 2 minute task and one that can be done when and where suits the purchaser.

Anytime, anywhere
Reading now fits in with the busy person’s lifestyle. They no longer have to wait to get home or settle on the train to resume the reading of their current book. It’s now easy to take out their iPad or ebook reader during that unexpected spare ten minutes.

But….not faster!
When evaluating options in today’s fast moving world ’speed’ is nearly always up there as one of the most important factors. So it may be somewhat surprising to many to learn that studies have shown that reading on the iPad is not faster. An article on PC World reported on a study by the Nielsen Norman Group found that reading on an electronic tablet was up to 10.7% slower than reading a printed book. Interesting that it seems the whole reading experience is therefore more important.

Multitasking future
A fifth of all media is now consumed at the same time as another form of communication, according to research compiled by Ofcom. The report from the FT quotes Dan Cryan, analyst at Screen Digest as saying “[Multitasking] has become quite a distinct phenomenon because there was obviously a certain need or desire to do this before, when the tools weren’t there,” said Mr Cryan. “But now we have a new, more efficient and more effective way of doing it.”

Photo credit

25 August 2010

The 3D Issue software allows you to create and then host your own digital magazines. This allows you to have complete control of what and when you publish without reliance on third parties.

We are often asked ‘how’ to upload digital magazines to a website and if this is a complicated process. It is actually a very quick and easy process and we’ve put together this short video showing you a demonstration of uploading a digital magazine to a website. If you want more details about hosting solutions and what to look for check out this previous post.

This demonstration shows the Professional Windows version, however the Lite versions and the Professional Mac all follow the same uploading steps.

23 August 2010

Seth Godin, the well known and bestselling author and marketing guru, has spoken out about his future plans for publishing, and in particular his move away from ‘traditional publishing’.

Godin has written 12 influential books including bestsellers ‘Permission Marketing‘, ‘Purple Cow’ and ‘Tribes’ he is also no stranger to digital ebooks…. Seth’s ebooks including free ebook ‘Unleashing the Ideavirus’ are among the most popular ever published.

Seth announced today in a blog post “Linchpin will be the last book I publish in a traditional way.” Seth says he has been seeking and sharing thoughts about the future of publishing with various industry experts this year in order to come to plan for his publishing future.  He says ‘It’s been years since I woke up in the morning saying, “I need to write a book, I wonder what it should be about.” Instead, my mission is to figure out who the audience is, and take them where they want and need to go, in whatever format works, even if it’s not a traditionally published book.’

There’s a very insightful recording available from his blog site from a talk for the Independent Book Publishers  Seth did in May this year where he discusses the change to the new rules of a digital age. The recording can be found here.

Speaking to Mediabistro’s Jeff Rivera, the marketing guru said “I can reach 10 or 50 times as many people electronically. No, it’s not ‘better’, but it’s different. So while I’m not sure what format my writing will take, I’m not planning on it being the 1907 version of hardcover publishing any longer.”

19 August 2010

We are often asked by marketers, publishers and business using 3D Issue to create their digital publications if we have any tips or advice of what to consider, so here we’ve put together our list of checklist items that should be taken into account pre-launch.

Checked previous issues’ analysis?
The analytics feature can give you invaluable information on the performance of your publications. It’s always a must to check the data in these analytics reports as you can then understand your readers better – what did they find interesting, what articles were sent on to their networks, which videos were most watched etc… Armed with this information you can ensure that the next issue is tailored more to their likes.

Optimize, optimize, optimize!
Digital publications have the great advantage that they can be optimised to be found by the right audience. Always ensure that the SEO and meta data section of the software is completed so that search engines can promote your publications in their listings.

Digital publications should also be optimised by setting appropriate output file sizes, by changing the dpi and image quality in the software you shorten the load speed of the digital edition so readers do not have to wait more than a few seconds.

The other area to optimise is the content. Remember people tend to skim read more online than with a printed publication so optimise your copy by highlighting key areas and keeping the copy straight to the point. Remember too that a picture – or indeed a video is worth a thousand words.

Make it ‘visible’
Have you planned your marketing and social media strategies? Make sure that you have your target email list set and ready. Remember as every page in the digital edition has it’s own html page you can link directly to specific pages rather than the front cover all the time. Use your Facebook and Twitter accounts to post links to the new edition, if you’re followers like what they see they can then retweet and share the publication further to their networks. On your website link the publication from an image of the front cover making the link more obvious than a ‘Read latest edition here’ text link.

Involve the wider team
Communicate with your colleagues prior to launch, let them know the key messages, the publications’ location online and any other information about your digital edition that is useful – involving your team can give you valuable feedback as well as having the advantage of them promoting the publication via their social networks.

Cross link
Don’t forget to utilize the ‘previous editions’ feature, whilst you have a reader flipping through your digital edition you can direct them to other issues that could be of interest or that they have previously missed.

17 August 2010

It’s been a busy and positive first half of 2010 for digital publishing. Apple’s iPad has certainly had a huge impact on the digital publishing market since it’s launch and eased to a huge 3 Million sold – in just 80 days. The competition to the iPad is also set to heat up – see our recent post on the future devices that will compete with the iPad. There’s also been a number of iPad Apps released that have been classed as ‘sozines’  – dynamic publications that are populated based on a readers preferences such as Flipboard and Pulse. So a lot of developments in the last 6 months alone which has sparked a number of reports and studies that given interesting insights and predictions.

In June the Qmags (www.qmags.com), 2010 Annual Digital Magazine Readership Survey gave insights into the readership habits for digital magazines and this week a new study has caught our eye. The results from a new study conducted for Next Issue Media by Oliver Wyman surveying 1,800 U.S. consumers has revealed the potential for $3 billion in Subscription Revenue from Interactive Periodicals by 2014.

The white paper detailing the survey and results is available at www.nextissuemedia.com, the key findings from the study have been listed as:

1. Among device-owning subscribers, the availability of interactive editions at the point of renewal, at the same price as today’s print editions, drives a 9 point increase in the overall subscription renewal rate, from today’s 55% industry average to 64%.
2. Many subscribers perceive print and interactive formats to be complementary; 30% of renewing subscribers choose a bundled print and interactive edition, at a 33% premium to the stand-alone price of either.
3. The interactive format enables effective cross-selling via recommendation engines and browsing features; 17% of current subscribers make additional purchases.
4. Automatic renewals eliminate the traditional “bill-me later” model and greatly reduce churn, from an average of 45% today to 25%.
5. The introduction of interactive editions in an online store setting, at the same price as today’s print editions, triples uptake rates among device-owning non-subscribers, from 5% to 15%.

News Corp. is set to launch a new national newspaper which will be distributed on mobile devices, via a paid for App according to a recent LA Times article.

It is believed that the new digital newspaper is likely to compete with the other national publications including  USA Today and The New York Times and will be marketed towards those readers wishing to consume their news ‘on the go’.

This latest news may not come as a great surprise to many, and has perhaps been on the cards since Rupert Murdoch CEO, News Corp. voiced his opinions for the potential success of the iPad recently “We’ll have young people reading newspapers,” he said during a recent conference call. “It’s a real game changer in the presentation of news.”

A title for the new publication is not yet known, but what has been revealed by the LA Times is that the digital newspaper would “have its own dedicated reporting and editing staff and could nonetheless draw from New Corp.’s publishing assets, such as the New York Post and Dow Jones.” New York Post executive editor Jesse Angelo has been named as the person who would oversee the separate digital news operation.

Is this latest revelation further evidence of the importance of winning over a younger audience through digital content?

13 August 2010

It’s been reported that on 4th August 2010, Microsoft filed a trademark application for the name “ONIT,”  which has been described as a “An Internet website portal featuring information of general interest to men.” The portal will focus on providing “information in the field of entertainment, sports, fitness, recreation and leisure activity.”

This is not the first time Microsoft has delved into online magazines, Glo and WonderWall are other recent online magazine sites launched by Microsoft. They recently declared that the lifestyle sector is clearly one of their most popular categories on MSN reaching more than 8.2 million unique users a month.

At the time of the Glo launch in April this year  Microsoft acknowledged the ‘importance of delivering visually compelling and innovative designs.’ So will ONIT be something similar?  Tech Flash’s Todd Bishop believes it could be “Based on the sound of it, the site could be a natural addition to the growing stable of online properties created for Microsoft by the high-profile team at BermanBraun Interactive, which teamed with the company on the successful WonderWall celebrity site, and the follow-up Glo online magazine for women, created in partnership with Elle and Woman’s Day publisher Hachette Filipacchi Media.”

So what’s in the name ONIT? TechFlash explains “Trademark filings put names in all-caps by default, so we’re thinking it’s probably “OnIt,” as in, “On It” — which would presumably be a synonym for “all over it,” as opposed to an exasperated “Yeah, yeah, I’m on it.”

So what do you think, will a men’s online equivalent to Microsoft’s Glo be a success?