Digital IQ Index®: Magazines 2012

Key Takeaways

after four years of Revenue declines in 2012 magazines appear to have stopped the bleeding the lone bright spot moving forward digital by 2016 revenue from digital advertising is expected to represent 13 percent of the total growing at 18.5 percent per year versus flat growth for print advertising and subscription Revenue however the fundamentals of this growth are Troublesome Revenue growth is concentrated in two sectors of parallel accessories and cosmetics meanwhile Industries with a reputation for more discipline marketing retail food and Automobiles have decreased their magazine spend considerably within the past year nearly half of the brands in the L2 digital IQ index have launched Digital Editions on Android and Kindle over one-third have added support for Nook and 25 Brands released an iPad Edition monetization on these devices will take time cumulative subscriptions across Digital Editions in the second half of 2011 totaled only 3.1 million less than one percent of print circulation magazine brands have embraced emerging digital platforms 89 of brands have established a presence on Pinterest 83 percent have launched on Google Plus 58 are active on Tumblr and 30 are using Instagram two Brands real simple and Better Homes and Gardens have already crossed the 100 000 Milestone on Pinterest and 12 brands have built large communities on Google Plus and Facebook magazines are beginning to discover which platforms fit well to their specific content and audience more than half of the magazines in the cooking food and beverage or home and gardening categories now receive more referral traffic from Pinterest than Facebook however Magazine's broader digital advertising efforts have yet to reach critical mass less than half the Publications in the index are actively promoting an Advertiser or sponsor On Any Given digital property beyond the brand site and tablet moreover only 15 percent of Publications coordinate advertising programs across multiple platforms demonstrating a failure to deliver on the primary ask of their advertisers integrated digital campaigns this year's digital IQ methodology has expanded to register progress in three areas expanding digital efforts on tablets experimenting with emerging platforms and exploring integrated advertising across digital channels six Brands successfully defended their 2011 top 10 status wired jump to number one in 2012 demonstrating an unmatched ability to promote Partners across multiple elements of its digital footprint Better Homes and Gardens and early innovator on Pinterest Advanced its position among gifted brands meanwhile Vanity Fair Popular Mechanics and Good Housekeeping all made impressive jumps from average to gifted driven by tablet Innovation a site refresh and accelerated growth in social media there is mounting evidence that the biggest advertisers are engaging in a direct conversation with their customers versus relying on Publishers to connect to their target audience only time will tell if the leveling of revenues in the magazine industry is a bottoming or a temporary respite from a structural decline expedited by their own intransigence and lack of innovation l2's digital IQ index magazines attempts to quantify the digital competence of 80 magazine Brands our aim is to provide a robust tool to diagnose digital strengths and weaknesses and help Brands achieve greater return on incremental investment members can download the full report at L2 thinktank.com