How to Survive as a Consumer Publication

Desperate times call for desperate measures, and many publishers today appear to be trying to weather these times with very desperate measures indeed. We’ve all seen the layoffs, the publications shuttered. And amongst the surviving magazines, as costs are cut and revenues sought, we are seeing a trend that concerns me greatly: increasing cover prices concurrently with reducing the size and perceived value of a publication.

While it’s easy to see what external pressures drive these decisions, in many cases this strategy simply
isn’t working. What I’m seeing is a downward spiral of attrition and loss: fewer people pick up the thinner publications, which result in decreased efficiencies, cuts in draw from the retailers and distributors, further loss in sale at the newsstand, and a publication that might have been somewhat fragile to begin with becoming more fragile still. At the same time subscriptions drop off due to the loss in newsstand sale, and the life of the publication becomes increasingly perilous.

Admittedly some publishers are just “riding down” their publications, looking for the maximum profit that can be derived in the last days of a publication. Other publications’ life sources are elsewhere: in controlled circulation or online, with the newsstand tolerated as long as it pays for itself, no longer. But for a publisher of a consumer magazine, it is a risky decision to try to wring more profit from an existing publication without giving the newsstand customer a reason to continue to buy.

Here are some best practices from publishers that are surviving, and even thriving (and yes, they are still out there):

1. If costs must be cut, from a newsstand perspective it is better to cut a publication’s frequency rather than size. While overall sales will go down, sales per issue are likely to actually go up; efficiencies are likely to be stronger due to the extended on sale period, and the stronger efficiencies will support the more robust distribution which is essential to longevity on the newsstand.
2. Premiums can be found in new places. Many publishers already have wonderful resources available online. Creating a special newsstand-only premium from some of these resources and advertising it on the cover of a publication, with the information how to retrieve the premium available inside the publication can increase interest and sales.
3. If you are going to raise the price, do not cut value at the same time. This might seem like a no-brainer—but many publishers are doing just that. Your customer will very possibly pay a bit more if the value is there. Cutting value and raising price simultaneously is a sure way to alienate your newsstand audience.
4. To increase revenues in a down year or try out a new idea in a low-risk way, try out a related but possibly more targeted editorial in a special issue of your publication.