Practical Tips for Maximizing Readership and Revenue For Consumer & B2B Magazines

By Sarah W. Frazier

Syncopated Marketing December, 2010

Cover Design Best Practices

Cover Design Best Practices By Sarah W. Frazier

Years ago, designing a good cover to sell on the newsstand was enough. But in today’s world, with declining ad revenues, decreasing retail placements, and increasing subscriber acquisition costs, the importance of strong, consistent covers is magnified.

Your cover is the introduction to readers and invitation to delve into the issue deeper, for both a newsstand and subscriber audience. It can instill familiarity and trust with your brand, or, put you on the bottom of the reading priority pile. And if you think covers don’t matter to your subscriber base, just remember magazines that don’t get read don’t get renewed either. This checklist is intended to be a tool for team discussion. Use it to evaluate the effectiveness of your covers and make improvements where necessary.

Logo Often, I’ll hear that it’s okay to cover part of the logo as “our readers know us.” But is that really true? With an estimated 4,000 advertising messages before consumers each day, all competing for mind share, can you afford missing an opportunity to brand yourself? If your magazine is monthly, that means you have one primary print opportunity to reinforce your identity every 30 days. Combine that with studies on how people read- in shapes vs. individual letters- and it may cause you to rethink your artistic strategy. Here are some logos of well known national brands…names we all know. But can you quickly identify the magazine, without much thought? On the mainline, coffee tables and crowded desktops across America, this is all that is seen:

Your logo is one of the easiest mechanisms to communicate your brand- why would you want to cover it up? Not to mention USPS standards which require the logo to be the most prominent element on the cover. Straying from best practices here could be costly.

The core of a good cover screams your brand, beginning with the logo. It’s critical that the logo pops off the page and is easily recognized by your readers upon a quick glance. Vs. Which cover better communicates the Time brand? Now score your own cover:

A Logo is easy to read and reader can instantly recognize magazine.

B Logo is somewhat obstructed but is still readable. Colors are not ideal but still have some contrast to background.

C Logo lacks dominance on page and competes with or is sinking into background.

D Logo is difficult to read from a distance; 50%+ is obstructed and/or blends into background.

F Reader is confused by what magazine this is; logo is virtually non-existent or otherwise unclear.

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Design/Layout A good cover is balanced between images and text; they support and define one another and guide the reader through the cover. A clear focal point not only draws people in to the theme of the issue but also conveys organization as well as creates a hierarchy of what’s important. Divide your cover into 4 equal quadrants.

Quadrants 1 and 2 are the strongest and most prominent. Quadrant 1 has traditionally been a strong quadrant for mainline newsstand titles as well. How effectively are you using your prime real estate? In addition, most people read in a reversed “Z” fashion- your overall layout should support natural reading habits. If you

place important lines in quadrant 4, you risk them being overlooked. It’s a strategy restaurant menus use frequently- they place the high profit items in the eye path, other items outside those paths. Try it next time you’re eating out and learn from their research. And lastly, don’t forget about the space above the logo, the “skyline.” This is a great spot to highlight special content, yet often it is underutilized. Ignore good layout and you’ll confuse your reader of the issue’s contents and merits of why it should be read. Scoring:

A Cover has a clear focal point and is balanced between image and text; layout effectively utilizes quadrants and “Z” reading pattern; skyline adds additional value or punch to the issue.

B Image and text are strong but are missing balance between each other; skyline is used, but not effectively.

C Image and main text do not support one another and compete in importance. Top quadrants are not effectively utilized. No skyline is used.

D Image and text are independent of each other/unrelated creating confusion of issue content. Instead of quadrants, images and/or text are simply centered.

F Image and text are haphazardly placed and appear disorganized. Cover fails to establish a hierarchy for the reader of what’s important.

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Cover Lines Great cover lines answer the question, “what’s in this issue for me?” They tell the reader why he or she should spend his or her valuable time with your magazine. Too often, magazines promote cute or blanket statements about the features of what’s inside, or, even worse, the text is cryptic or requires additional thought to understand. We live in a world that continually compresses time and favors convenience. It’s your job as editors and publishers to demonstrate the relevance of your content to your reader. If additional thought is required to understand the cover line, you will lose your audience. Seek to create cover lines that are immediately understandable, and, convey the benefit to the reader. For example, why sell “potent aspirin” when you can offer “rocket-fast headache relief?” Smart magazines know the hot interest points of their readers and always touch on them, each issue. Try to find a fitness magazine that doesn’t have a cover line related to “rock hard abs,” “losing unsightly fat around your middle,” or “easy tips for tightening your waist.” They know the formula- their readers want awesome abs. And though it may feel redundant or boring to the staff, it’s not to the reader- remember, they are only receiving your magazine every month and this is a topic of great interest to them. Plus, you have plenty of opportunities to mix it up by altering how you present the benefit. Questions work well when poised at the reader’s hot button: “How do your abs rank on the sexy scale?” One word of caution: when crafting your cover lines, beware of over promising and under delivering vs. the actual content of the story. If you promote “17 weight loss tips,” make sure you have 17 numbered tips in your article. Deceiving a reader is taboo, a mistake that is often not forgiven.

So what do your readers want from you? Why should they read this particular issue? Does your cover address their top 2-3 interests? Use the scoring below to see how you fare. Scoring:

A Decks and sub decks are clear and convey benefit to the reader. Lines supporting multiple reader interest points are present; main text is legible 10 feet away; cover lines accurately reflect content.

B Some but not all cover lines are benefit oriented. Main theme is the primary focus, but another interest point may be present if space allows. Main text is legible from 5 feet away.

C Cover text is a series of features and does not promote reader benefits or are vague. Text is difficult to read from any distance.

D Cover has very little text and/or text has no value or relevance to the reader. 1 or more cover lines over promises the actual content. Text cannot be read from a distance or is covered by mailing label.

F No cover lines present.

Advertising Themes

While not always top of mind for the art director, it’s important to make sure your cover delivers on the editorial selling points of the media kit. I once sat in on a cover design meeting for an annual kitchen and bath issue. The only problem- none of the cover options presented portrayed a kitchen or a bathroom! Imagine how the advertisers who were sold this special editorial edition would have reacted when they learned their section didn’t have enough importance to be listed on the cover! Avoid potentially sticky scenarios and make sure your cover is supportive of advertising sales. Apply your best judgment for how much cover treatment each section needs, make it proportionate to how your media kit and sales teams sell it. And just to clarify, I’m not referring to “special advertising sections” with advertorial based content or 100% ads. I’m referring to the editorial calendar promoted to the advertiser. And if you feel that’s a violation of editorial integrity, then it’s time to revise your media kit and stop selling editorial themes. Scoring:

A Main themes used to sell advertisers are present and treated with importance, visually and with text.

B Main themes are listed but are presented as sub themes, no images.

C Themes are present, but hidden or buried.

D Themes and cover text are disconnected from the actual editorial content or is otherwise insincere.

F No themes present, in text or images.

Style and Overall Presentation

All magazines have a defined style. Perhaps your magazine is very visual with beautiful images. Or maybe you have no photos and only use illustrations. Or maybe you are eclectic and modern. If you are a city magazine, reflect your city and community- that’s what people love most about your publication! Whatever your direction, your cover should reflect your magazine’s unique selling proposition, every issue! After you have worked through the other grading areas previously presented, stand back and give yourself an overall presentation grade. Look with a critical eye: do you engage your readers? Did you give your website a mention? Are the colors or images similar to the previous issue? I’ve seen several magazines shoot themselves in the foot by publishing two back-to-back issues that looked too similar. Each time, the second issue always fell short on the newsstand and advertisers called asking when it would be available. Make sure your covers are different enough for people to realize it’s new.

Putting it all together

Through your readers’ point of view, look at the cover as a whole and rate how you did. If you find yourself coming up short, isolate the problem and review that area’s individual scoring to see if you can improve. The goal is for all elements to work together to provide you with a cohesive product your audience and advertisers love, and an issue you can be proud of!

Overall Scoring:

A Interesting, engages readers, entices them to open magazine and read contents/buy issue. Style is consistent with magazine voice. Clear distinction from previous issue.

B Pleasant looking cover, but not engaging.

C Style is not defined, doesn’t reflect editorial voice or magazine mission. Some elements not suited for target audience.

D Doesn’t reflect target audience. Colors and overall look are similar to previous issue. Lacks luster overall.

F Unattractive; unprofessional; doesn’t represent brand well.

About the author Sarah W. Frazier has more than 18 years experience in media starting her publishing career as a newsstand coordinator working with major wholesalers, national distributors and large retailers across the country. From her early success, Sarah quickly rose in the ranks, expanded her knowledge by venturing into print and direct response product sales, and then moved into senior positions in audience development/circulation and marketing.

With both B2C and B2B experience, she is currently a strategic marketing consultant and founder of Syncopated Marketing, helping organizations increase brand exposure and response rates through the merits of content marketing. Connect on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahfrazier/

Follow me on Twitter: @mrktfraz

Follow my blog: http://syncopatedmarketing.wordpress.com/

About Syncopated Marketing Providing marketing consulting services to companies seeking to rise above the noise, Syncopated Marketing offers creative perspective that shifts emphasis from the norm and ideas that challenge your regular flow of rhythm. Services include marketing evaluation and strategic planning, customer profiling and personas, content marketing, copy writing, sales story refinement and conversion tactics, landing page and website optimization, email marketing, marketing campaign analysis, creative team training, audience development and circulation management, BPA and USPS account management. For more information, contact Sarah at sarah.w.frazier@gmail.com or (303) 437-2742.