Looking back on the last eight years, Samir “Mr. Magazine” Husni has compiled some invaluable lessons in what publishers today must do to keep and grow an audience. It has little to do with bells and whistles and digital interfaces, and everything thing to do with excellent content.
“Many people thought the onset of digital with all its many devices was going to change the world of magazine media, and in some ways, it did,” Husni writes on his Mr. Magazine blog.
“For one it showed us that bells and whistles don’t really matter; in the world of devices, digital and otherwise, there is really only one thing that matters when it comes to magazine reading; it’s called content.”
Husni has a good way of looking at print and its role in our increasingly digital world: he calls it the “collectability factor.”
“Print must have that collectability factor that we never worried about before, because if you want to know how to replace your doorknob, you can bet your shiny new keyhole that Google can tell you that information quicker than next month’s issue of your favorite DIY magazine,” he explains. “Content-driven information that excites the reader and causes that little niggle in the pit of his/her stomach as they’re about to toss that magazine, once read, into the trash; now that’s the collectability factor.”
How do you get there? Husni offers nine specific roles that print media publishers can play, from being curators of information, to data analyzers, to providers of solutions. Publishers must strive to create experiences, tell stories, and become masters of opinions. Finally, they need to stoke the addiction to your content, provoke real emotion, and keep innovating.
As you readjust your thinking about print and where it belongs in your brand media, these nine roles will help you understand how to create print that lasts, that compels the next purchase and the physical share, print that begs to be kept on the coffee table or tucked on the shelf.
This is the gaping hole in our digital experience, and this is exactly where print publishers can make or break their business.