THE STATE OF DIGITAL PUBLISHING

6 STATS TO SUM UP

The media industry today is nearly unrecognizable

compared to that just 10 years ago.

Print dollars are shrinking into mere digital dimes.

Ad blockers are rendering mobile

visitors less valuable.

And the amount of free content has exploded across the web.

This is what they had to say.

To understand how these shifts are re-shaping the publishing industry, we surveyed hundreds of publishers.

•  Email

64% of publishers send email on at least a weekly basis

53% of publishers have increased the amount of email they send over the past 6 months

EMAIL IS ON THE RISE

Publishers should remember quality over quantity to avoid list fatigue.

BUT, IS MORE BETTER?

•  Email

13% Only of publishers cited paid subscriptions as their greatest source of revenue.

SUBSCRIPTIONS AREN’T PAYING OFF

AND NOW MOST

PUBLISHERS OFFER

LESS PAID CONTENT

IN THE FIRST PLACE

Only 20% of publishers have a paid-only subscription model

The remainder, 80%, offer some form of unpaid subscription 44% ONLY offer unpaid subscriptions

Then what is making up for the loss?

If subscription revenue is on the decline…

•  Email NEW REVENUE IS FILLING THE GAP

of publishers offer website banner ads offer sponsored content or native ads offer email banner ads or newsletter sponsorships offer event sponsorship offer lead generation for advertisers

83% 68% 67% 47% 41%

With so many choices, where are publishers hedging their bets?

WHICH WILL BE BEST?

•  Email

Over the next two years:

SPONSORED CONTENT & NATIVE ADS

Of publishers predicted that sponsored content or native advertising would increase most in value.

(Including print ads, display ads, and video or audio advertising.)

That’s a greater percentage of responses than any other revenue streams.

•  Email

On the other hand, print advertising was predicted to decrease most in value by

PRINT ADVERTISING

of the publishers we surveyed.

What’s your contingency plan?

•  Email

of publishers are planning to

adopt marketing automation

software

of publishers are planning to adopt

search engine optimization

software

TECH IS PLAYING A BIGGER ROLE

of publishers are planning to adopt

customer relationship

management software

WHICH MAKES SENSE

GIVEN THAT…

Only 4% of publishers are extremely satisfied with their ability to increase their email database size Just 5% of publishers are extremely satisfied with their ability to increase site traffic A mere 6% of publishers are extremely satisfied with their ability to gain more insight on their site visitors and subscribers

These facts are important to understand, but they’re just the

beginning.

We’ve got more stats, analyses, and actionable takeaways to help you get started.

READY TO LEARN MORE?

DOWNLOAD THE REPORT

Download the full complimentary Digital Publishing Benchmarks Report to get the full picture on the state of the industry.