Regardless of whether it’s in print or on digital, magazine media outperforms other media in several key areas.
“Their particular sweet spot is to act as a key driver of the metrics that help consumers understand what sets one product apart from another (dynamism and uniqueness), a critical element in helping consumers narrow down product choices immediately prior to purchase,” said Marius Cloete, writing in a WARC best practices paper.
The report notes figures we’ve heard before – that magazine media reaches 90% of the population in the U.S., and 72% in the U.K. But it’s magazine content’s ability to really reach readers that Cloete is stressing.
“It is magazine media’s ability to deliver highly engaged, highly targeted audiences with little wastage that makes them an essential part of the modern media mix,” he writes.
The report points out a few other key benefits of magazine content, including:
- Its ability to creating meaningfully different and distinct brands
- Its power to drive key metrics that help consumers decide to purchase one brand over the other. As Cloete notes, “Their particular sweet spot is to act as a key driver of the metrics that help consumers understand what sets one product apart from another (dynamism and uniqueness), a critical element in helping consumers narrow down product choices immediately prior to purchase.”
- The way it delivers relevancy (especially in print)
- How it raises a brand’s perceived quality (in digital)
- The way it outperforms non-magazine media content in metrics like interaction and emotional resonance.
The takeaway for brands? Magazine content works to drive reach, brand differentiation and engagement. Clearly a vital part of any marketing mix…not as an add-on, but as a powerful option in its own right.
“Magazines have a vital role to play in generating a sales uplift in both the short and long term,” he maintains.