Magazine Industry Overview

Magazine Industry Overview

 The magazine industry is going through troubled spells mainly because of the current economic climate. The guardian predicts that smaller, weaker titles will struggle the most, with advertising being a big problem. Maintaining or increasing revenue from ads will be the biggest challenge for magazines from all sectors this year. Most insulated perhaps are the top-end glossies - the Vogues, GQs and Elles - which, while not recession-proof, are unlikely to be hit hard by a plunge in advertising revenue.  They also predict that larger publishing houses in the business-to-business and consumer sectors will be looking increasingly dominant. This year greater emphasis will be placed on editorial in these titles: get the quality of content wrong and magazines could find themselves in real trouble.

Niche-appeal consumer titles that rely on devoted, engaged readerships are also more favourably placed than most when it comes to advertising. There is a more unique audience which means it may be easier to advertise items that you think they will be interested in.  Mainstream magazines may have a harder time when it comes to advertising as the range of readers is so large; it is hard to assume what sort of items the readers will want to see in the magazine as advertisement.

Technology is a big factor when you consider how the magazine industry can grow. Having a TV station can be a source of advertisement for your readers as it will be easily accessible for readers to watch. Large publishers such as IPC Media, Condé Nast and Future Publishing, which have invested in extending their brands into TV, web, mobile, radio or shopping, are more likely to weather the impact than those with standalone products or thinner portfolios of titles. TV is such a big part of people’s lives in the modern era so making a TV channel is a great way of expanding the name and company. The web is also heavily relied upon in today’s world so having a website for the readers is very recommendable. People who surf the net can type in one word into a search engine, and every bit of information about the magazine can appear. This can easily help the expansion of the magazine if people like what they see or read on the website. The web is also another way in which you can advertise bringing in more income for the business. Overall, in the UK we spend about £2 billion pounds a year for magazines.