Launching Your Brand’s First Magazine? Start Here.

Print magazines for smaller brands are going to be HUGE this year. We’ve got some great tips on getting yours off the ground.

If you’ve been paying attention to any of the marketing predictions for this year, you already know that brand publishing is going to be HOT in 2017.

According to content guru Joe Pulizzi at Content Marketing Institute, “more brands will launch print magazines in 2017 as a way to cut through the clutter – a critical goal that has been proving increasingly difficult to do online.”

We’ve seen evidence of this happening for a while now. Magazine media publishers are still figuring out what their future will look like; non-media brands, on the other hand, are finding huge value in brand publishing.

If branded print is on your marketing strategy for 2017, congratulations on being in the smart crowd. Now, it’s all about figuring out how to do it successfully. Fortunately Grace Wang of Stack Magazine has some great advice on where to begin.

“From magCulture’s Modern Magazine conference to the talks we presented, 2016 was packed full of advice from independent publishers, editors and art directors on the finer points of magazine making,” Wang writes.

Among her top tips are:

1. “Focus on your niche, and may it be as weird as possible.” The move from mass market to indie niche continues, and your publication should be no exception. Stay focused on your target market for print content success.

2. “Make a dream list, and just keep emailing.” Your print magazine must offer something beyond what your readers can get online. Find the best voices in your field and get them onboard for an interview/article.

3. “Work hard for the support of your gang.” For most businesses launching branded print, the work falls to the existing staff. Use their expertise by featuring them in content and getting their input on what the magazine could be. Avoid making this a “marketing team only” project; you need this to be a whole-enterprise effort to truly make it a content vehicle that works.

It’s also okay to start small; in 2016 we launched our print magazine, PressReport, at just 12 pages. We’re already expanding that for 2017 due to the positive response. Your title doesn’t have to be huge to be effective; it does have to offer quality content, compelling images and great production values to be taken seriously.

Is print right for your brand? Talk to us about your ideas and let’s see where it could go.