July 29, 2015

Digital Magazine Consumption Is Exploding Says Market Study

Five years after Apple introduced the iPad and the magazine industry latched on for dear life, digital magazine consumption has reached 43% of print magazine consumption and is climbing rapidly.

Mequoda’s Digital Magazine Market Study, conducted in Q2 2015, polled 3,624 US adults with Internet access. The study found that 1/3 of them report reading one or more digital magazine issues in the last 30 days, while more than 2/3 report reading one or more print magazine issues in that same time period.

The study also found that consumer spending on digital magazines will top $1.3 billion in 2015 and that above all else, users demand readable and scrollable text on their digital editions.

Mequoda’s Digital Magazine Market Study shows that while the digital publishing industry is indeed still evolving, the overall trend is clear: Multiplatform publishing that includes native tablet editions and fully responsive web editions are the future of magazine publishing. Whether a publisher’s revenue comes primarily from selling premium content or from selling advertising and sponsorships, there are substantial and growing revenue streams to be developed.

As the study notes, “One thing you can be certain of: If you don’t offer a compelling multiplatform media experience for your markets, someone else will.”

Adds Mequoda founder and CEO Don Nicholas, “Its now clear that a well done, native digital magazine can find a profitable place in a digital marketplace.”

“If you have high quality content and invest in creating readable, scrollable, truly native tablet and responsive web editions of your magazines, your readers will thank you with their time, and with their wallets.”

Market study highlights

Nearly 37% of survey respondents reported having read an average of 2.37 digital magazine issues in the last 30 days. With the study polling US adults with Internet access, this brings total digital magazine issue circulation to 184 million.

Respondents were also clear on what they want in a digital magazine: readable and scrollable text. This makes a strong argument for publishers to invest in creating native tablet editions and responsive web editions, which can be accessed and viewed natively on any device or screen size.

Two out of 3 said that 20 articles or less per issue is best and immediate delivery topped their list of coveted digital magazine attributes.

You can download this study here: http://www.mequoda.com/free-reports/digital-magazine-study/