Major consumer magazines have leaped online in 2007, including the big women's celebrity mag, Heat. Heat already has strong circulation figures, and the launch of the online magazine is as much to do with brand building as it is about boosting circulation figures. But does the issue of online magazines play havoc with ABC figures? If a print version of a magazine is suffering, publishers can now point to the increase in digital magazine users. But measuring the overall impact of print and online platforms isn't straightforward. Just because somebody opens an online copy of a magazine, doesn't mean they'll actually get past the first page, which can be problematically vague for advertisers.
Online magazine leave print editions in the dust
However, this hasn't stopped some new online magazines from completely eschewing the traditional world of print altogether – some new online magazines even have ABCe figures of over 200,000. And of course being solely an online magazine means the publishers don't have to worry about the high production and delivery costs the print industry battle with. Online magazines are cheaper, and can be sent direct to your inbox.
Boom in online activity
The boom in online magazine activity has been put down to the new magazine demographic – broadband has changed internet use and availability, and consumers are considered to be time-poor, looking for easy, accessible solutions. Some industry experts predict that the multi-faceted production of magazines incorporating print and online platforms could mean brand becomes more important than circulation figures. The Press Gazette recently reported: "Perhaps as magazines become multi-stranded brands, the ABC figures will start to mean less. Perhaps they will mean more, either as a cohesive form of universal auditing or if separate but ABC electronic and print audits are embraced throughout the market." It seems nobody knows for sure, one thing they do know is digital magazines have a huge role to play in the magazine industry's future.
Online magazines transform publishing industry
Business to business magazines have been on the online magazine bandwagon for sometime now, but now more and more consumer magazines are going digital. At conferences and in editorials, the magazine industry is now debating the benefits of user-generated copy, reader blogs and RSS feeds, transforming the very shape of traditional print publishing. New job roles have been created across the industry, such as ‘Digital Directors' and digital magazines such as Jellyfish are getting rid of print editions altogether. 2007 then could be seen as the year online magazines gripped the magazine industry.