Digital Publishing whitepaper

Why Companies are Turning to Digital Publishing during the Global Downturn

A report released by the UK’s Association of Online Publishers found what many people already sus-pected - namely that online newspapers, magazines and catalogues are easier to access, faster for locat-ing desired content and more convenient than their print equivalent.

But it’s not just the technical and functional advan-tages of online publishing that make digital publica-tions so compelling.

In a severe global downturn, the pressure to reduce costs and retain margins is huge. Digital publishing offers a solution to recessionary woes with industry specialists estimating that they can cut publishing costs by up to 82%.

How are these cost sav-ings achieved? Putting a publication online eliminates paper, ink, postage and transport as well as distribution extras.

Online publishing also allows for total cost stabilization which is an important consider-ation in today’s eco-nomic environment.

Why Companies are Turning to Digital Publishing during the Global Downturn and How You Can Too

By contrast in offl ine publishing, raw pulp infl ation (up 24% in two years), coated magazine paper infl a-tion (8% in 2008), ink prices rises (up to 40% infl a-tion) and increased transport costs have all contrib-uted to a very unstable publishing environment.

Online publishing therefore offers a considerable number of advantages to the extent that numerous publishing houses and brand owners are either go-ing completely digital (Christian Science Monitor, and Spin Magazine most recently) and testing it for practical application or at least investigating. The big question, and the prime focus for this whitepa-per, is how do you get started? After all, any Google search will list dozens of e-publishing providers and with no prior knowledge it is diffi culty to gauge

which ones are worth shortlisting as a pos-sible solution.

Here we provide a checklist that contains the six most important questions you must ask any digital pub-lishing services pro-vider. We have listed them here along with an explanation as to why each question is so crucial:

Things to ask your digital publishing provider:

#1 - Is the digital publication easy to read and load?

#2 - Has the digital publishing solution been industry tested by thousands of customers and end-users?

#3 - Can you customize the digital publishing solution?

#4 - How good is the provider’s reputation and customer references?

#5 - Does the solution provider have local and global knowledge of your industry?

#6 - Does the solution provider have adequate support capabilities?

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not offer a free trial then simply avoid it – it could be a costly mistake.

Indeed, the most cost-effective solution in the short term is often not the most cost-effective in the long term and low start-up fees can be mislead-ing. Remember that poor technical performance will cost time and money to repair on an ongoing basis – adding to your costs at a time when you are actively seeking to save money.

Free trials also allow you to test an digital publish-ing solution to its limit and examine each aspect of the solution before purchasing. This is important because many solutions fall short in one or two key areas – for example, 1.5% of internet users can only read HTML (and not Flash) and therefore it’s important to see whether these users can still use the digital publishing software. It’s vital that no readers get left behind!

Question 1: Is the digital publication easy to read and load?

This is a vital question to ask and it is imperative that you try the software out as if you were an ordi-nary consumer. This involves testing out the func-tionality of the software and deciding whether the interface is user-friendly. It also involves loading the magazine and seeing whether the whole process from loading, viewing and closing the publication is smooth and seamless…..and quick.

In short, when using a digital publishing provider, is the online publication as easy and enjoyable to read as the offl ine equivalent? Is the online maga-zine easy to browse, turn the pages, zoom in, zoom out and download content?

When the Association of Online Publishers in the UK researched these questions, they found that half their respondents ‘rated the print version as more satisfying than the website from a point of user-sat-isfaction’.

This is because many digital publishing solutions are simply not good enough to replicate the look, feel and ease of an offl ine publication - the software takes too long to download, the navigation is tricky, functionality poor and the overall sense of enjoy-ment is drastically reduced.

If you don’t fi nd an digital publishing solution easy to use and enjoyable, neither will other users.

Leading digital publishing providers, such as Zmags, offer potential customers a free trial so that users can put a publication online and see for them-selves how easy to use and functional the solution actually is. If any digital publishing supplier does

Question 2: Has the digital publishing solu-tion been industry tested by thousands of customers and end-users?

Many supposedly good e-publishing solutions, particularly those from new developers and non-specialist software providers, fall short because the software won’t work under strenuous circumstance.

As an example, imagine your company sends an online catalogue to 100,000 customers. While the digital publishing software might work for small

volumes of users at one time, what happens when thousands log on to view the publication at the same time? In many cases the software crashes.

Therefore it is imperative that you fi nd a digital publishing solution that has been vigorously tested across a variety of different load situations and which has withstood the rigours of time.

Zmags has served more than 1 billion online pages in its history with more than 4.5 million pages viewed every day for its 2,000+ customers. With worldwide coverage, the company has the fastest global delivery network that can be relied upon even during the most strenuous circumstances.

Remember also that newly established companies might have a seemingly “workable” solution - but is the company, its support, development and cus-tomer service mature enough for you to be confi -dent in making the investment? If not, you might be saddled with a digital publishing solution that has absolutely no back-up or support. During a recession, a digital publishing solution that has a track record of longevity, service and support and is backed by a company with a stable fi nancial infra-structure is key.

Zmags is a mature company with an industry lead-ing solution and backed by a service and support team second to none. With consistent growth and performance for almost fi ve years, Zmags is a safe vendor solution you can partner with in confi dence.

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Question 3: Can you customize the digital publishing solution?

Most digital publishing solutions are standard off-the-shelf packages that publishers have to adapt to rather than the other way around. Leading digital publishing solutions, however, will allow a pub-lisher to customize their online publication in nu-merous ways giving each publication a completely unique look and feel.

By allowing publishers the ability to easily custom-ize the interface, look and feel of any type of publi-cation, brand owners can put their own stamp and identity on each online publication, further enhanc-ing their brand image in the market place.

Zmags, as one example, provides these tools so any marketer or publisher can create and customize the look-and-feel of the digital publication by choos-ing from 8 different views that can all be edited. Buttons, colors, graphics, intro text, logo insertion, language and more can be adjusted individually or for a group of publications. Once setup the layout can be adapted to other publications in seconds.

When choosing a digital publishing solution re-member that one size does not fi t all. Also, bear in mind that an e-publishing solution that is fully customizable offers cost-savings because there is no need for expensive software revisions further down the line – your own creative and web developers are in full control at all times, and backed by Zmags’ superb service and support.

Question 4: How good is the provider’s repu-tation and customer references?

If a digital publishing solution can demonstrate a prominent list of international clients, many of which can be found in the Euro Stoxx 50, Fortune 500 and FTSE 250, then it is safe to assume that the digital publishing vendor is well established, repu-table and delivers an outstanding digital publishing is easy to use and can handle the largest volume of users at one time.

A blue-chip client list is essential if you are look-ing at any digital publishing solution. For instance, Zmags has demonstrated fi rst-class capability for clients such as IKEA, Volkswagen, Microsoft, The Body Shop, Rolls Royce, Geico, Harrods and Harvey Nichols, all of whom have made the decision that:

(a) the digital publishing solution is fi rst class and (b) it has succeeded under almost every commercial situation possible.

Remember also, that large companies have strict procurement protocols and regulations. A blue-chip client list therefore tells you that a digital publishing solution offers a strong combination of cost-effectiveness and technical performance.

Without a blue-chip client list, doubts must remain as to whether a digital publishing solution or the company itself, is really as good as it claims to be.

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Question 5: Does the solution provider have local and global knowledge of your industry?

The demands of digital publishing mean that you need a strong and close relationship with your digital publishing supplier. No country, company or publication is the same is the same and each project demands knowledge of not only digital publishing but also local market preferences and protocols, such as internet bandwidth capabilities.

If the digital publishing supplier has a local pres-ence then they will know the unique market condi-tions within your territory and be able to give you informed and specialist advice tailored to your own particular needs. Remember also that a local pres-

ence saves money – no expensive international mo-bile calls or time wasted waiting on hold for your question or problem to be resolved.

If the digital publishing supplier also has an inter-national presence they will be able to view each digital publishing project from an international per-spective, allowing them to give far superior advice because it encompasses a far wider range of digital publishing experiences.

Zmags, for example, has customers in 35 countries worldwide which allows it to dispense local advice

but also to draw from the compa-ny’s own international experience when need-ed.


Question 5: Does the solution provider have local and global knowledge of your industry?

The demands of digital publishing mean that you need a strong and close relationship with your digital publishing supplier. No country, company or publication is the same and each project demands knowledge of not only digital publishing but also local market preferences and protocols, such as internet bandwidth capabilities.

If the digital publishing supplier has a local pres-ence then they will know the unique market condi-tions within your territory and be able to give you informed and specialist advice tailored to your own particular needs. Remember also that a local pres-

ence saves money – no expensive international mo-bile calls or time wasted waiting on hold for your question or problem to be resolved.

If the digital publishing supplier also has an inter-national presence they will be able to view each digital publishing project from an international per-spective, allowing them to give far superior advice because it encompasses a far wider range of digital publishing experiences.

Zmags, for example, has customers in 35 countries worldwide which allows it to dispense local advice

but also to draw from the compa-ny’s own international experience when need-ed.


Question 6: Does the solution provider have adequate support capabilities?

For every second that your digital publishing solu-tion does not work properly – from slow uploads and software glitches to outright system failures - your audience - and your brand - will be negatively affected, not to mention your bottom line.

Having a digital publishing supplier with only a limited international presence is therefore of little use if you can’t contact them instantly with time-sensitive questions. This means you need phone based support, answered within seconds, rather than email-only support which can take 24 hours or more to receive a response from.

In short, global phone support is critical to the success of any e-publishing venture. It means that the e-publishing provider places high importance on customer service and customer satisfaction, rather than simply providing just a basic software tool. Good customer support provides cost-savings across multiple levels and allows your publication to deliver at all times.

Zmags provides both local and international phone-based support making it a key example of world-class digital publishing alongside superior customer service. Indeed, the company also offers email, online chat and remote connect customer support, operating 18 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Conclusion

Digital publishing offers considerable advantages - it is affordable, accessible, easy to change in real time and importantly offers benefi ts not just to con-sumers but to the environment as well.

Furthermore, at a time of deepening global reces-sion, it offers a superior way of cutting costs and making your publishing expenditure go much further. For these reasons, research fi rm Gilbane Group predicts that the number of publications offering digital editions will grow two and a half times between 2007 and 2009. This trend is set to continue with digital publishing set to become one of the major recession-busting technologies avail-able to companies.

If you are new to digital publishing, just remember that there are many components that go into mak-ing a great e-publishing solution, not just one or two, and it’s important that your digital publishing supplier has them all.

If they do, then you can be assured that your online publication will delight both you and your readers – and that’s what counts.

To learn how Zmags can help you implement a digital publishing solution at your organiza-tion, call 613-233-1201, e-mail [email protected].

On our website - www.zmags.com - you can try a free 14-day trial of Zmags’ digital publishing tool to see for yourself how easy digital publishing can be. In addition, you can see samples from some of Zmags’ more than 2000 customers from all industries.

You can also visit blog.zmags.com for additional resources or to post a comment.

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Digital Publishing whitepaper

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