In an increasingly online world, print remains a valuable element for a strong marketing mix. We are convinced that magazines, in particular, continue to play an increasingly important role. Which goals can you pursue with a corporate magazine? We define five.
Fact: marketing and communication are increasingly happening online. But there is a special role reserved for print, and specifically for magazines. With a high reading concentration — 78% of people spend an hour a week reading magazines — magazines cannot be ignored as a marketing tool. Is the average time people spend online higher? Undoubtedly. But the attention span there is significantly lower. In other words: we are online, but we read on paper.
That is why we deliberately integrate magazines into our marketing strategies. And we do so for one or more of these goals:
The exclusive character of a magazine, the distinctiveness in an online world, and the more in-depth articles you provide — because of that higher reading concentration, remember? — help highlight your corporate image. Whether your image is fancy, sustainable, playful, or serious: the content and layout of your magazine can emphasize that unique identity.
The online world is fleeting: people click on your article, but click away just as quickly. ‘Snackable’ communication is the key. A corporate magazine, on the other hand, is tangible. It allows you to go deeper into relevant topics and hold the readers’ attention better.
Giving employees and customers a voice kills two birds with one stone. Firstly: you increase their engagement, give them a forum, and the chance to be in the spotlight. Secondly: employees and customers who are proud to be in your magazine will be happy to help distribute it further.
A magazine is an ideal medium to give away after a showroom visit, to hand out after a sales meeting, or to send to prospects. It is more valuable, more interesting in terms of content, and more up-to-date than the same sales folder you’ve been handing out for ten years. And the chance that your magazine will be opened again at home? We’d bet money that it’s significantly higher than with a standard brochure.
The days when magazines were one-way communication are over. So, get more out of your magazine by adding the necessary calls to action. Think of customer questions answered in a regular column, or a QR code linking to your website. This way, you blur the lines between online and offline.
The advantages of a magazine are clear. Plenty of reasons to include it in your marketing plan. Albeit with an important note: if you want to improve your corporate image, make your magazine truly yours. Is your magazine still recognizable if your name or logo isn’t on it, or could a competitor just claim it as their own?
That uniqueness can be found in details, the structure of your magazine, or the content. How do we handle that for our clients? A selection:
As a pioneer in distribution and control panels, P&V Panels always wants to stay one step ahead of the rest. This translates into their magazine with a focus on novelties and innovation. The recurring article ‘1 step ahead’ zooms in each time on an innovative technology used by the company.
The baseline of construction company Houben is the hook on which articles in their magazine are hung. For example:
Practice what you preach. In our own magazine, we fully focus on the ambitions we pursue for our clients. We do this by linking cases to the set ambition, letting entrepreneurs talk about their personal or business ambitions, and highlighting our ambitious colleagues.