The role of a print magazine or newspaper is to inform, educate, and potentially entertain the reader. This purpose is accomplished via carefully curated content in the form of articles and images artfully displayed on a page.
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Roger's Publishing is a division of one of the largest media companies in the world. The publishing division of Roger's turns out 75,000 magazines a year across a number of different interests and sectors. We pulled a senior advertising executive from Roger's aside and grilled him on how they are handling advertising in the digital age. You can read the Q and A here.
Limited User
Flip Page Publishing has added a second tier user for each Flip Page account. Previously, any user login and password that was applied to the dashboard login page would provide access to the dashboard. However, with the new ‘Limited User’ option it is possible to setup an account which provides access solely to the analytical data with no access to the editing dashboard.
How do I create a Limited User account?
A ‘Limited User’ account can be setup as follows;
1. Login in to the dashboard 2. Click on ‘My Account’ in the header 3. Click on ‘Edit Users’ in the Account Preferences panel 4. Fill in the required user fields 5. Under the ‘Type’ field select ‘Thermostats’ from the drop down menu 6. Click ‘Save’
Flip Page offers three formats to push your digital editions to the browser - HTML, Flash and HTML5. When setting up a Flip Page edition it is required to select one of these options. But now, one publication can be exported in all three formats.
Using the new URL parameters feature you are able to provide any or all Flip Page editions in any or all formats. Simply add the URL parameter to the Direct URL string.
How do you add a URL parameter? See below.
If Direct URL is...
http://flippubs.com/publication?i=178843
HTML – add “&ver=html” to URL Flash – add “&ver=flex” to URL HTML5 - add “&ver=html5” to URL
Click for the Flash version of newsletter!
Flash version sample
Click for the HTML5 version of newsletter!
HTML5 version sample
*Note – on mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones the HTML5 version is the default regardless of which URL parameter is defined.
Flip Page Publishing announced today that they have expanded the output capabilities of their HTML5 publication viewer. Originally slated to be the mobile viewer of choice for Flip Page readers the HTML5 build has now been expanded to desktop viewing as well.
“Sometimes it is just a matter of meeting demands” replied Sean McKenna - Flip Page Publishing’s Sales Manager.
Flip Page Publishing had released its new HTML5 mobile viewer just weeks earlier but was already receiving requests to make this a desktop option as well.
“The mobile viewer has been really well received” stated Flip Page Publishing President Brent Palmer.
Previously, the HTML or Flash based editions would ‘switch on the fly’ to the new HTML5 mobile viewer when a mobile user attempted to access a Flip Page edition. However, content publishers are now provided the ability to put the HTML5 version into non-mobile reader’s hands as well.
When asked how the new HTML5 desktop version is received on desktop browsers Flip Page Publishing’s Sean McKenna remarked “It is really slick. The toolbar overlay in the HTML5 version, which removes the visual toolbar, offers an expanded layout compared to the standard Flash and HTML based versions. It just means that paginated content occupies more of the display’s landscape which is what you want”.
Flip Page Publishing maintains that current versions of all of the major internet browsers (Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple’s Safari, and Internet Explorer) support HTML5. “An upgraded programming language for browsers is long overdue” stated IT Consultant Mark Reynolds. “As the HTML5 language continues to expand, the browser support for this language will follow suit” he concluded.
Flip Page has stated that the HTML5 desktop viewer renders exactly the same as the HTML5 mobile version and includes the same toolset as the mobile product.
How does a publisher take advantage of the new HTML5 desktop version? Flip Page Publishing has made it very simple. There is a new option in the Issue Settings ‘Viewer Version’ dropdown called ‘HTML 5 Viewer’. Select this option during issue setup to offer your Flip Page editions in HTML5 to both mobile and desktop readers.
Valued Flip Page clients,Flip Page Publishing is very pleased to announce the launch of Version 2.0 of our mobile browser version. Our goal was to create a mobile viewing experience that closely resembled the desktop experience. With that in mind we have added a number of features that have helped reach this goal.
Now Serving Background
For a full listing of features please see below.
Navigation Elements
Pinch and Reverse Pinch Zoom URL links Article links – display in media deck Page-to-Page links Search enabled – per issue and publication Archive issues (if allowed by publisher) Orientation handling for mobile devices Spread or Single Page Viewing Left/Right navigation buttons for non-touch devices Slide transition Scrubber – visual page scroll and selection
Multimedia
Embedded Video Popup Video Autoplay Video Audio Slideshows
Smart App Banner – reader notification that a Native App exists for that publication (iOS devices only)
Retail (Catalogs and Circulars) features – Rollovers
Supported customization
Custom/masked publication domain names Background color and text color of these areas can be customized: Toolbar Search Panel Table of Contents Toolbar can be completely customized with HTML coding
Authentication/subscriptions
Thermostats integration *The upgrade to our mobile viewer will instantly be applied to all publications (past/present/future) with no additional requirements from our clients!
Contact your account representative with any questions you may have related to our new mobile version!
Cookie Monster
There are a predicted 7 billion cookies consumed in a given year in North America alone. They come in a variety of flavours, shapes, brands and sizes which are equally delightful. But the physical cookie doesn’t stand alone. It has a digital counterpart - the web cookie – and we also consume an incredible amount of these as well. Unfortunately for the sweet-tooth, web cookies have no physical form, or smell, or flavour or anything that would relate them to their namesake.
So what do web cookies do? Cookies are small bits of data that are transmitted between a web browser and the web site being visited. Much like the baked product they come in a number of shapes and sizes. Some cookies provide a better web experience, others authenticate users, some store information, and others track usage. If you have ever visited a website and noticed that on the second visit to that same site the experience was faster, smoother, or adapted to your preferences you can thank a cookie.
Would you like to gain some insight on the impact that web cookies have on web browsing? Try this recipe - the next time that you find yourself aimlessly browsing the web turn off or disable cookies in your web browser (here are instructions on how to do this for Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome and Safari). You will be surprised. There is very little successful web browsing that can occur with cookies in a ‘disabled’ state. The images in our April 2013 Newsletter are the result of a one hour, cookie disabled, browsing experience.
So does Flip Page Publishing use cookies? We do - in a number of different applications and uses as has previously been mentioned. Our cookies authenticate users (ie. subscriptions or free registrations), create a better browsing experience (stored images to facilitate page rendering), track reader usage (analytics) and store information (bookmarks, notes). Without the use of cookies the functionality of our platform would be severely limited.
It may seem that 7 billion cookies consumed per given year is a large number. What if the population of North America were to eat a chocolate chip cookie for each website visit in a day? How quickly would we reach 7 billion cookies consumed? I would guess a single week. After a week it would not be long before weight gain, elevated blood sugar and tooth decay set in. But all is not lost. We can continue to digest morsel after morsel of web cookie and enjoy the heightened browsing experience as a result.
Do you have a sacred document that you would like to keep under tight wraps so it doesn’t get in the wrong hands? Maybe a corporate document that you would like to share within the office but would not like it to be viewable outside the office even by employees. Let us introduce you to the feature we call ‘The Vault’. The Vault allows the publisher to lock down a publication to a single or group of I.P. addresses. Unauthorized users will be prompted with a login page with no authorized credentials that will allow permission to access.
What is an I.P. address? It is the unique string of numbers that identifies a device that is connected to the internet.
Contact your Flip Page Publishing account representative for more details!
The Vault
Portage2
According to Wikipedia “Portage or portaging is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A place where this carrying occurs is also called a portage.”
Currents_Flipboard Icon
Flip Page Publishing is happy to announce that we now allow you to portage your content from the dry surfaces of a digital edition to the warm currents of Google. What is Google Currents? Find out here. In a nutshell it is a newsreader App that allows publishers to push their textual and image content into a mobile savvy version for ‘on the go’ consumption. Currents features tidy categorization, reader subscription and of course full function searchability.
So what have we done? We have provided an ‘export’ URL that allows you to portage all of your ‘Article’ content across the great divide directly into Google Currents or Flipboard. Once your Google Currents account is setup, new articles are automatically pushed to the aggregator with no manual intervention from you.
Need some more information? Contact your Flip Page Publishing account rep!
Are you familiar with the classic Kevin Costner baseball film ‘A Field of Dreams’? In the film a haunting, albeit soothing, voice emanates from the corn fields that surround Kinsella’s Iowa farmhouse. Each tour that Ray Kinsella (Costner) takes into the acres of prospering land a hollow whisper gently recites ‘If you build it, he will come’. As though he is able to decipher the coded message from the unknown Kinsella opts to build a baseball diamond on his farm as it becomes his belief that the voice is compelling him to do so. Without giving away the entire plot for those who may be intrigued... ‘they do come’. If only marketing were that simple. I guess there wouldn’t be a need for marketing if ‘they came’ every time something ‘was built’. With that said here are some concepts that will ensure that ‘they come’ to the Flip Page edition that ‘you built’.
Print Promotion – Generally speaking, a Flip Page version is derived from a physically printed product. There is no better place to make your target market aware that you offer a digital version of the print medium than... in the print medium. Make that audience aware of the digital or App edition by setting aside some layout space inside the initial pages of your print edition.
Email Campaigns – Email campaigns, with opt-in subscribers, are a very valuable tool for brands to connect with their consumers. An email campaign to existing consumers with details outlining your new digital edition availability can be used to expedite the process from design to distribution. Strong campaign software will also provide valuable data that tracks client engagement.
QR Codes – The tech-savvy way to jump from print to digital is via a QR code. The options for quick response codes are digitally limitless so get creative. As an example, use a QR code to link a reader to a mobile optimized landing page where you provide options to download your publication App from Apple’s App Store, Google Play or Android store, or a direct link to the digital edition.
Website – If you already have traffic arriving at your website make sure that traffic is aware that there is a digital edition available for them to access. There is a good chance that there are readers who enjoy the content but are not able to get it in print format so it is advisable to provide them with an alternative. A simple banner ad will provide enough exposure to your website visitors to make them aware of your digital edition.
B2B – There are incredible opportunities available to savvy marketers who would like to cross promote with other similar businesses. Find a business that shares a similar demographic but offers unrelated content or products and leverage that market. Offer to provide advertising in your mediums (print, web, digital edition) in return for the same.
Online Advertising – Maybe you are not entirely familiar with technologies such as Google Adwords. An Adwords campaign provides you with a cost effective means of reaching your intended demographic via the web. The ad campaign is customizable but is intended to target users who search for products related to yours. A well orchestrated campaign can apply to almost any budget.
Social Media – Social media provides an entirely different means for communicating with your market. Followers and friends are typically more invested in your product and want to be current with what you offer. Post your Flip Page editions to your various social media markets so that your invested readers/viewers can share with others.
Word of Mouth – Sometimes referred to as ‘shameless self promotion’. Any good marketer would argue that the most effective and influential method of promotion begins in a mouth and ends in an ear. Make people in your circle brand ambassadors for what you do. This was how social media was successful... before social media.
‘App’etize – Is not even a word, but it should be, because it offers another cost effective means to get content into uncharted waters. Remember, the focus is to acquire prospective leads and the App store happens to have all kinds of consumers looking for things to consume. App stores are making it even easier to navigate their waters with categorical Apps such as Newsstand which is solely for magazines and newspapers as well as a category strictly for ‘Catalogs’.
Until 2010 the baseball diamond and farmhouse that served as the shot location for the film had been a private residence and the owner (Don Lansing) had curated the landmark for the thousands of visitors that drifted in each year. It has been reported that the field/farmhouse combo had been receiving an average of 65,000 guests per year since the film was released in 1989. Maybe those ‘hollow voices’ in that Iowa cornfield were on to something.
Santa, as the story goes, knows when you are sleeping and he knows when you are awake. However, Santa does not know if a digital print media marketing campaign is good for goodness sake. So Santa refers to Santalytics.
Santalytics actually can’t provide any information on when readers are sleeping but they certainly do provide plenty of information about what readers are doing while awake. Santalytics are easy to access via the Flip Page dashboard. Simply login and click on the ‘Reports’ button from the dashboard to access data for any publication within that dashboard across any timeframe since the publication was activated.
To provide an idea of what Santa can see – click here to view the Santalytics Definition and Description Guide. This guide outlines what data is captured and what that data represents.
Santalytics provide a great deal of information specific to a digital publication. However, only we can provide data as it pertains to all of the digital print media produced by Flip Page software. We have isolated some data from a 2 week period in November of 2012. We chose this time frame since it tends to be a heavy traffic period with many of our retail clients experiencing increased digital volume due to the holiday season. Here are some interesting trends...
Browser Usage (by Page View)
Analytics Browser Pageviews
Among the 5 million views in the 2 week period nearly 54% were via Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer has seen increased competition from Google Chrome, Safari and Firefox but still remains the preferred web browser for Flip Page visitors.
In relation to globalized browser use, it appears as though Flip Page readers are well behind the curve. Global browser use is showing a near ‘neck and neck’ tie between Google’s Chrome and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. Both show a split of approximately 30% with Firefox maintaining a 20% share.
The trend to note among browser usage is two-fold. Internet Explorer usage, among Flip Page readers and global web users, is falling dramatically. Similarly, the increased usage of Google Chrome and Mobile Web can be attributed to the drastic decrease in IE’s use.
Mobile Browser Usage (by Page View)
Mobile Web browser usage is on the incline as both devices and access speeds ramp up. In terms of Flip Page, Mobile web browser usage consists of less than 5% of the total page views over the 2 week span. However, when that data is compiled with the data for mobile Apps, the total mobile page views jump to over 12%. This correlates well with global mobile browser usage which approximates to about 13% of total web usage.
The trend to note among Mobile Browser usage is that mobile browser usage is definitely on the incline for both Flip Page readers and web users in general. However, the mobile market still remains a very small slice of the browser pie – something that needs to be considered.
Global Browser Usage Source - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Usage_share_of_web_browsers_%28Source_StatCounter%29.svg
Operating Software
Analytics OS Pageviews
Microsoft and MacIntosh have long been the two major players in operating software. Microsoft is the OS of choice with Windows 7 running on 49% of all machines accessing Flip Page publications. Windows XP contributes another 28% while Windows Vista adds another 14%. Those 3 Microsoft OS’s alone tally 90% percent of the entire market. MacIntosh plays a small, but very vital, role in the OS market place.
There is no emerging trend to report with regards to OS use among Flip Page readers past and current. Windows is still the primary choice for both our readers and global computer users.
Flip Page Feature Focus
One of the greatest attributes of a Flip Page edition is the ability to distribute print media to all clients or customers quickly and cost effectively via email. However, in order to distribute an email campaign to a customer base, well, customer emails are needed. There are a number of methods that can be used to entice a potential customer to subscribe to a brand or to create ‘leads’. The intention, at least for this blog, is not to provide insight into all of the approaches but rather to generate awareness of one - ‘The Flip Page Registration’. The Flip Page Registration is essentially a free subscription tool. It allows the publisher or business to prompt a reader or customer, at any point within the Flip Page edition, to provide data into customizable fields. A sampling of this lead generation tool can be found in this digital brochure. The information that a customer provides is then captured in a database where the publisher or business can extract it for future use ie. the next email campaign!Any marketing effort should seek to generate new leads as well as foster the existing customer relationships. Here is a potential ‘use case’ for using the Flip Page Registration...A company sends a digital flyer to the customers in its current database via email. The digital flyer is circulated from members of the database to other non-members (leads) using the common share tools that are available with each Flip Page edition. For example, Sally Smith decides to share the digital flyer to her Facebook wall. A number of Sally’s friends are intrigued by the share and click on the link on Sally’s wall. None of these new viewers are actual email subscribers to the digital flyer and are potential customer acquisitions. These non-customers view the digital flyer and are intrigued by the products that are available. As they navigate to the end of the digital flyer they are prompted with an optional form to subscribe to future flyers of that brand. The means by which the customer data was collected is non-invasive and meets regulatory controls because of the ‘optional’ nature of the registration. The customer data that is collected is customizable and provided fields can be offered as ‘optional’ or ‘required’.In the above scenario, a non-customer becomes a potential lead as they progress from having no affiliation with a brand to ‘opting in’ for future information. However, this scenario can only occur if you have the ability to capture that customer at the time of engagement. If the customer is not offered the ability to provide their data (or ‘register’) in that moment then it is assumed that they will find another way to seek out your brand. That presents a flaw in the customer acquisition process (as pictured). A new lead cannot be acquired if there are not presented with an opportunity to engage with a brand. A digital print media campaign using effective marketing practices should work to increase your brands prominence and provide increased opportunity to acquire new clients!