With the rise of digital media, print media seems to be under threat! But surprisingly, print magazines haven’t died (Although their sales have declined)!
What keeps print magazines alive in today’s digital age? Let’s figure out:
Major Culprits Behind the Decline of Print Magazines
Print magazine culture has seen a massive decline. Once-popular print magazines are now entirely online or are largely sustained by digital subscriptions.
Social media has also cut into the advertising market on which print magazines have traditionally relied.
Online audiences expect new content daily or even hourly instead of waiting for a weekly or monthly print magazine to arrive in the post or on a newsstand.
The ready availability of free or cheaper digital magazine may deter them from buying print subscriptions or individual issues.
Yet print magazines haven’t vanished as quickly as anticipated.
Prominent periodicals, such as the New Yorker and Vogue, stubbornly cling to a global readership in both print and digital formats.
New titles are emerging as well – 2021 saw the launch of 122 new print magazines in the United States alone. In Australia, print magazines sales have increased by 4.1% in 2023 and previously axed publications are now receiving one-off, nostalgic returns to print.
Why?
Some commentators have attributed the nostalgic appeal of print magazines to the physical experience of reading. We absorb information differently from the page than from the screen.
Digital fatigue has resulted in a small pivot back to print media. The revived interest in print magazines has also been attributed to the analog preferences of Gen Z readers.
Writer Hope Corrigan believes that there is also something appealing about the aesthetics of print magazines. The care taken with layout, images and copy can’t always be replicated on as screen. Indeed, magazines with a significant focus on photography and visual design, which is enduring.
Magazine expert Samir Husni says that independent print magazines are more focused on a niche readership. Also, advances in printing technology have made smaller print runs more cost-effective, allowing new magazines to focus on quality over quantity.
Today, print magazines come at a higher cover price and with higher production standards. They are also published less frequently, with quarterly or biannual schedules becoming more common. In fact, because of this trend, print magazines are now reframed as a luxury product.
The past few years have seen staffing upheavals, mass resignations and shutdowns at popular magazine-style websites. The original vision and standards for these sites have suffered from the constant drive to increase daily traffic and reduce costs.
Print magazines may also be seeing a revived interest from advertisers. Recent research indicates a strong preference for print advertising among consumers. Readers are far more likely to pay attention to a print advertisement and trust its content. By contrast, online advertising is more likely to be ignored or dismissed.