Apps offer many ways to extend the reach of your magazine, increase sales or strengthen customer loyalty. But to achieve any of these, the first thing you need to do is let your readers and customers know about your app – and the best way to do that is with advertising. In this blog post, we’ll introduce you to some helpful tips for advertising your app and to consider in the planning stages.

Before the app is up and running

Regardless of whether you want to promote your app with a larger-scale campaign or with a few select ads and promotions, the first step is to establish a goal. You might want to increase app downloads, for example – say, to a certain number of downloads in the next three months – or boost magazine sales by a certain number within a set time period. The more precisely you define your target, the easier it will be later to see whether you have reached it.
Start planning your small ad campaign or “one-shot” ads before the app has been created or has gone live. This will give you the time you need to book ad space and brief copywriters and graphic designers.

Who uses your app?

Define your target group using a little thought experiment: Who reads your magazine and why? Why should they immediately switch over to a digital version? What advantage is there to doing that? Do you want your digital magazine to be read by other (new and different) readers? What does a typical day in the life of your reader look like? Questions like this – and, of course, the answers you find – will help you formulate messages and slogans, and decide where you want the ads to be placed. Make sure to coordinate your advertising messages across the different media that you use. This will avoid confusion among your readers and generate higher product recognition.

The agony of choice? Instead, let’s say: creativity knows no bounds

Now that you know your target group and have an idea of what you want to say to them, it is time to find the right advertising vehicle.

The classic print ad

Print ads are a simple but effective way to acquaint readers with your app. After all, print ads are noticed by 90 percent of readers and are perceived for an average of seven seconds. That leaves enough time to direct attention to your app or magazine ad. If you can, use full-page, visually compelling ads in your own and related media. And, most importantly, advertise your app in the magazine for which the app has been created.
Using QR codes, you can steer the reader directly from the ad to the app store. Some QR-Codes automatically recognize the type of device doing the scanning and guide it to the appropriate app store.

Digital readers, digital advertising

Magazine apps are perfect for attracting younger audiences and readers that largely consume media on the go. So it makes sense that digital ad spaces are the effective way to publicize your app. Publish ads on your website, blog and newsletter, and on social media. It’s also a good idea to use newsletters and websites that publish material related to your own. Do you have a fishing magazine? Why not rent a banner in an online fishing shop. You publish a medical journal? How about an ad in a blog that’s popular among doctors.

Just as in print ads, focus on graphic designs with relatively little text. In addition to pictures, you can integrate animations or even videos (showing how to use the app, for example) into the ad space.

Digital ads are also ideal for “customer journey” marketing. Use a simple link to steer users to an appealing landing page or directly to an app store, where you can offer them a free download of a special edition of your magazine and in so doing gain new readers.

Flyers, posters, and stand-up displays

It might sound old-school, but flyers, posters, and stand-up displays are still very effective. Using these standard outdoor advertising media, you can reach readers where they regularly spend time. This is where the “day in the life of the reader” thought experiment comes into play, and you can extend that experiment in a variety of ways. Where do your readers work? How do they spend their free time? Where do they go shopping? The answers to these questions will give you a feeling for where to place your material.
Stand-up displays in cafés located near shopping malls or at the next Fashion Week are great for lifestyle and women’s magazines. Advertising for a business magazine app, on the other hand, is better placed in the first-class compartments of high-speed trains. A good approach for customer and employee magazines are stand-up displays at trade fairs, conventions and conferences.

When employing this type of advertising, special attention should be paid to the images used. The visuals should be easy to understand and appropriate for the target group. In terms of size, the product should occupy ten to twenty percent of the poster, ensuring that the ad communicates your message effectively, even from a distance. Use QR codes to steer users directly to the app.

Actively promote your magazine app and increase exposure

You’ve seen it before – students in colorful outfits handing out flyers or samples, or chatty salespeople tempting potential subscribers with the latest newspaper or magazine issues. Promotional campaigns are often garish and loud but they are effective. You don’t have to give away thousands of copies of your magazine at some random location, but a special edition for your next sponsoring event or at a trade fair will gain you future readers. If you take the digital approach, you can publish the offer in your app and save printing costs.
You can also extract specific content or articles from your publications and distribute them digitally for a variety of occasions. Call on your readers and the public to submit content themselves or report live on an event. You can then present exclusive coverage of the results and winners in the app.

Guerrilla marketing events are also popular. They range from well-placed posters and print ads to conspicuous objects and participatory events. You have countless options, but whichever one you take, it should fit in with your magazine topics and your corporate image. Your app doesn’t have to be the main focus of the ad. Referencing it with a logo or linking to it with a QR code suffices. You can find great ideas and inspiration on this blog.

Conclusion

Hopefully, this introduction has helped you see that there are many ways to advertise your app and draw the attention of potential readers. Just take an hour and do some brainstorming – either alone or in a team – and then discuss your ideas. Make sure to take your other ad campaigns and any special events into account. And remember, you don’t need to do all your advertising at once. Try a more dramatic approach and take the customer on a marketing journey that starts with a somewhat cryptic but intriguing attention-getter and then, once the reader has become curious, gradually reveal the product. Ideally, you would offer a magazine issue, or some premium content, free of cost in the app.

How to make for a good App Store appearance, read here.

Part II: Illustrate the look and feel of your app.

Thanks to the right keywords and categories, you have successfully led your customers to the app. Now what counts is the first impression. In part II of our ASO tips, we will show you how to impress users with informative screenshots and well-designed preview videos.

The app icon/logo

The app icon plays an essential role. As a permanently visible symbol on the smartphone display, it is your digital entrance-ticket to the user’s daily life. To constantly encourage the user to use the app and to do so in a variety of situations, the app icon must have a high product-recognition factor. The benefits and the intrinsic value of the app must be directly reflected in the icon. A practical example: The magazine icon of ‘Natürlich gesund und munter’ – naturally healthy and happy – is a white leaf on a dark green background. The promise of a healthy, natural lifestyle, which the magazine promotes with advice and tips, is already apparent in the logo.
Graphical aspects should also be considered with the icon or logo: do not use photo portraits, detailed representations, or longer words, because these are difficult to recognize later on a display. The logo should work as a small icon image as well as in higher resolution on posters.

Screenshots as preview images

The user gains their first impression of the app through the preview images and screenshots. These must be striking, stimulating and informative if they are to convince the user to download. Don’t use simple screenshots showing different perspectives of the app. Explain images with additional captions, text, and graphics and embed the screenshots in suitable backgrounds. This gives the user a sense of where and when they can use the app, e.g. road-traffic scenes for a navigation app; for language learning, beautiful locations in a country where the language is spoken. You don’t have to rush straight to your graphic artist to spice up your screenshots – great tools and screenshot builders are also Screenshot-Builder available on the web.

In the Apple App Store, for each type of device you can add five preview images; in the Google Play Store this goes up to eight screenshots. Make the most of this – anything else is a wasted opportunity to reach your customers.
In both stores the first one and a half screenshots are displayed. You can determine the order of the images yourself, and you should use these to illustrate navigation through the app or ideal app usage. The images can thereby reflect the functions and the added value outlined in the description and contained in the keywords.

Storytelling on the app store with preview videos

In both stores, instead of screenshots, videos can be integrated to playfully explain the functions and use of your app. Videos speak to the user at an emotional level, placing them directly in a specific usage situation or location. Use background music, voice-overs or animations. Keep in mind that the app video must work without sound. When necessary, integrate subtitles, or show in a real exemplary case how the app is used. Regardless of what variation you choose, it is worth writing a short script in advance, in which all scenes, settings and texts are noted down.

In the Apple App Store, you have the option to upload your own video with a maximum length of 30 seconds. You can also upload different videos in other languages for the various parts of the world where your app is offered.
A YouTube link can be integrated into the Google Play Store, which means the duration of the video is not limited. To avoid giving users unnecessary information and thus losing their attention, limit the length of the video to 60 seconds.

Feature graphics – only in Google Play Store

In terms of usability, Apple often has the edge. However, when it comes to app stores, the Google Play Store offers a larger digital playing field. The videos in the Google Store allow more content and additional animations than the Apple App Store.
Google also allows you to integrate another graphic or a video into the header of the app store page: the feature graphics. The space is ideal for referencing your company or magazine, for instance with the company logo or the latest edition’s cover. Alternatively you can place ads or promotion videos here.

And finally: After the app download is before the (next) app download. The app store users themselves reveal what ought to be considered in descriptions, keywords and, of course, concerning the app itself.

Customer reviews – your guide to the reader

Having downloaded your app, users can rate and comment on it with a 5-star rating system. This rating, which is prominently placed in the Google Play Store, is not unimportant for first impressions and for finding the app. To encourage as many users as possible to evaluate the app, you can interactively integrate a review request. This saves users the long journey round the store. Make a call for app ratings on the web and social media. Use vouchers or prize-games to create incentive and motivation for the user.
In addition to quantity, the quality of the evaluations is crucial. User comments provide you with an inexhaustible pool of feedback. Through a personal response to your readers’ questions, criticism and praise, the readers feel taken seriously and this strengthens customer loyalty. For queries on app features or subscription models, refer the reader to explanatory videos or the Help Center. If the customer has a suggestion, look into it and thank them for the feedback. Every criticism and every compliment is a basis for optimizing your app and the content and adapting to customer requirements. In addition, customer ratings provide good ideas for keywords and can help anticipate future trends.

Conclusion

There are many opportunities, with both text and graphical elements, to effectively advertise and present your app in the stores. Use these and experiment! Exchange keywords and alter images and description text to increase the download count. This provides Apple and Google with a constant feed of new material, which helps their search engines find you and ensures a better ranking.
You’ll see – ASO, like your website, is a steady process that requires some work, but thanks to some tools and integrated app functions, it is quickly incorporated into the usual marketing processes. Get started and get creative!

What can publishers do better?

Subscription models were a tried and tested medium in the newspaper and magazine industry for decades – until the introduction of the iPhone ten years ago. Since then, publishers and media houses have been increasingly struggling with declining subscriber numbers. To complicate matters, numerous niche magazines are competing for the small readership pool.
Paradoxically, subscription models in branches such as film, music and retail are gaining in importance.  So what’s going on? What are the market leaders in the subscription sector doing differently? And what can publishers and media do better to secure future readers? We try here to shed light on the issue and make some suggestions for your subscription models.

A closer look at Spotify, Netflix and Co.

The film and music industry were given a much-needed boost by streaming services. And subscription models from the retail trade, from ironed shirts to razor blades, are increasingly finding customers. The key to such success is relatively simple. There is a great variety of offers out there, which can sometimes be overwhelming. The desire to have controlled and manageable access to ones favourite music or series competes with the excitement of trying out something new. These subscription models offer both.
Many users benefit from such flexible accounts, which allow access to content on all devices.
Additionally, with flexible subscription lengths and notice periods, the user has more autonomy and doesn’t feel tied down. The monthly rates are manageable, and even a real bargain with family and friends accounts. The accounts can be expanded or cancelled with just one click.
It’s not surprising that readers desire such a service from print subscriptions.

Facts from current studies

At the VDZ Distribution Summit in October, the VDZ together with the Siegfried Vögele Institute presented the study “Future of the Subscription – What the reader wants! First results of a large population survey” The responses of around 2,000 respondents aged between 14 and 75 contain interesting indications on what readers expect from print subscriptions.
The study gets straight to the point and lists factors leading to subscriptions being cancelled: decreasing interest in the product (24%), overpriced and underutilized subscriptions (23%), discontinuation of the favourable subscription model (21%) and too little time to read (17%).
These answers are not surprising. Subscriptions are only slightly less costly than single purchases; reductions for permanent readers or students are rare.

In addition, participants were asked about their prior expectations concerning the subscription and how these compared to reality. Reality clearly split with expectation when it came to unlimited access to normal and exclusive content or the availability of the magazines on laptop and smartphones without additional charges.
At the same time there is a lot of potential in the subscription market. 44% of respondents can imagine subscribing to a magazine in the future – provided services such as punctual delivery, a favourable price relative to the retail purchase, flexible duration and notice periods, as well as additional premiums during the subscription period are met.

The study results already clearly indicate how future subscription models can be designed. Some of these can most certainly be applied to your subscriptions.

Choice encourages individuality: Print & digital

Your readers should not have to decide between print and digital. Simply offer your print subscriptions in combination with digital editions along with a digital-only subscription for mobile or environmentally-conscious readers. Bundle-subscriptions can be easily managed using magazine apps and access codes or individual reader accounts.

Another possibility is a print-on-demand subscription. A digital subscription can include the option to reorder individual editions as a print copy. Additional costs can be charged via monthly invoices or you can set a fixed price for such a subscription combination.

Digital or print? — Give the reader a choice

Bundle-subscriptions with related topics

Along with form, content can also be used to define a subscription. What about a package of theme- or product-related magazines? A trade publisher can offer three cookery magazines in a package (at a lower price of course). Another alternative might be a duo subscription for couples with two magazines from the assortment, e.g. a “GQ” for him and a “Glamour” for her.

Multiple accounts for a magazine

These days you could be forgiven for thinking that every flat share and every group of young friends shares a Netflix premium account. After all, with access on up to five different screens for 14 euros monthly, it’s pretty much unbeatable. This is not to say that you should underprice your magazines, but merely provide easier access. The classic print magazine is generally read by all family members or flatmates. Why not allow digital access to the magazine from several devices?
You gain additional readers, who in the long term could sign up for their own subscriptions.

Flexibility and periods of notice

Even though lengthier subscriptions and periods of notice confer long-term planning security, not everyone is ready for a long term commitment. Whether this is due to lack of time or finances or simply the extra hassle, you need to react. Offer subscription lengths and notice periods on a monthly basis that can be conveniently managed through an online account and through your reader service.
The option to pause a subscription, for example during the holiday, also gives the customer more elbow room. You’ll find that granting the reader this autonomy and freedom of choice takes away the pressure and encourages their curiosity. You’ll benefit from satisfied readers, who you can win over in the long term with great service and content.
Also, in the spirit of flexibility, check out the payment methods for your subscriptions. Do you offer enough choice?

With multiple accounts, readers can read on multiple devices at the same time.

Test and trial subscriptions – the pathway to regular customers

Many publishers already offer the classic trial subscriptions or free booklet to entice future readers and subscribers. Target existing subscribers with these offers – most consumers listen to tips and recommendations from friends, family and experts before trying out or buying a product. A refer-a-friend subscription or a free trial issue create incentives for readers to recommend your magazine. With a magazine app, unlocking single editions is uncomplicated.

Flat-rate reading

Providers such as Readly and Amazon Prime Reading have completely integrated the concepts of Spotify and Netflix into the world of publishing. For a monthly fee the reader has access to a wide range of magazines. But what’s good for the reader isn’t necessarily good for the publisher. Flat-rate billing, charging according to pages read, or having to share a substantial portion of the revenue is rarely financially profitable.
If you wish to offer readers a wide selection of magazines for an acceptable price in the future, a kiosk app may be the solution you are looking for. You can provide your whole range of magazines or a selection in an app that readers can unlock for a monthly subscription. The advantage over third-party providers is an in-house product in your own design without additional financial investment and without competitors. You also determine the structure, the categorization and the prices.

Find what works for you

Providing an all-round service at a low price is a thorny issue in publishing and media because of the value of the content. Good content requires creativity and time-consuming research. Nobody wants to give it away for free or sell under value. However, the changing world of media usage and the reader’s desire for varied content means a rethink is necessary. And the more flexible and versatile the offers and subscription models are, the more readers they will attract. Familiarise yourself with the different possible subscription models and test out how readers respond to changes.

The study presented at the VDZ Publisher Summit will be complemented by the VDZ Publisher Summit on 6th and 7th November in Berlin. PressMatrix will be attending and look forward to seeing you there!