10 Reasons to Start Your Own Magazine
There’s something so wonderfully tactile about reading a magazine—the weight and coolness of the pages, the texture of the paper. And, let’s face it, we humans are tactile creatures. Touch is one of the five senses, after all, and studies have shown that people react in different ways depending on what they’re touching. One researcher, cited in an article that appeared in The Psychologist (https://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk), studied the behavioral differences between children reading from a tablet versus a good old-fashioned book with pages of paper. The kids reading from a book assumed a much more relaxed and comfortable posture.1
Now, picture in your mind’s eye someone reading a magazine. I bet the image you conjure up is someone enjoying a leisurely moment—perhaps curled up on the sofa or lounging in the sun. Reading a magazine brings into play two of our five senses—sight and touch. And it does it in such a good way.
There are lots of reasons magazines continue to be a valuable resource—not just for consumers, but for business professionals who want to take their marketing efforts to a whole new, powerful level. How powerful? The Association of Magazine Media (https://www.magazine.org) compiles research findings from multiple agencies that study consumer behaviors in its annual Factbook, and those findings show that magazines are more relevant—and trusted—than ever. Which is why more and more savvy real estate pros are turning to magazines—or, more specifically, their own magazines—to bolster their marketing efforts.
Let’s take a look at 10 reasons why.
1. The Ultimate Branding Opportunity
Magazines offer companies valuable real estate in printed form. It’s a place where you can showcase your best properties and establish your brand within the community. And when the magazine is your own, it’s your branding and your listings that readers see framing the editorial content. There are no distractions—and, more importantly, no ads from competitors in your geographic farm. But when you advertise in a regional lifestyle magazine, your branding and advertising competes with those of other firms—including your competitors.
2. Taking the Lead
With your own magazine, you have the space to tell your story the way you want it told. From million-dollar sales to your most alluring listings to the professionals who make up the team, it’s your platform for sharing the information you want your target audience to know. It signals to readers that you and your team are the experts to turn to when they want to buy and sell their homes.
3. A Matter of Trust
Studies show that people consider magazines to be a more trustworthy source of information than television and the internet. Perhaps that’s why magazines are more successful when it comes to engaging consumers. Research has found that people are more likely to “take action” on ads they see in magazines than they are on ads they see on TV or online.2
4. Strong Year-Round
MRI-Simmons, a consumer research company, conducted a yearlong survey of magazine consumer habits and found that readership remained consistent month to month, quarter to quarter.3 Not only that, data culled by MRI-Simmons and other agencies found that magazine audiences continue to grow year over year4—and to an even greater degree in the last year, as more people spent time at home. It’s further proof that magazines remain a relevant vehicle for brand exposure.5
5. The Affluent Demographic
Affluent magazine readers are more receptive to information. They’re big spenders—especially when it comes to their homes. And they spend more than high-income earners who don’t read magazines. These findings, all outlined in the Magazine Media Factbook6, prove that magazines are an effective way for businesses to capture the attention of a desirable demographic.
6. Value-Added Opportunities
There are lots of periodicals filled with dozens of listings but no real content to slow readers down and really capture their attention. But with your own luxury lifestyle magazine, you can shine a spotlight on your top listings in a more curated, storytelling fashion. Being able to offer clients that kind of elite presentation sets you apart from your competitors. Because, after all, who wouldn’t want to see their home featured in a gorgeous magazine?
7. Community Engagement
The pages are yours to use as you wish. You can invite local businesses and influencers to contribute content, which is a great way to network and expand your reach. And here’s something else to consider: People keep their magazines. They grace coffee tables and kitchen counters, and sometimes make their way into doctor’s offices and in the hands of numerous secondary readers.
8. A Rich Experience
In an age when information streams at a constant pace from computers, cell phones and tablets, with pop-up ads diverting our attention and beckoning us to click on this or click on that, reading a magazine is a much more relaxed medium for sharing information. The vast majority—close to 75 percent—of magazine readers surveyed say they “love the touch and feel of print” and think of reading their magazines as a way to “kick back and wind down.”7 It’s a notion that’s apparently not lost on tech entrepreneur Mike McCue, who has said he loves magazines and that he was always asking himself, “Why is that these gorgeous articles just don’t translate well to the web? Presentation was one aspect of it.”
9. Magazine Ads Work
The power of print remains strong. When MRI-Simmons polled readers, people said magazines provided information that helped them make decisions and “inspired them to buy things.”8 NCSolutions, a firm that researches effective advertising, found that the return on magazine ad spending is significantly higher than the return on TV and digital ad spending.9 And, according to the Media Factbook, results from a Nielsen HomeScan campaign showed that sales decline when magazine advertising is cut.10
10. It’s Easier Than You Think
You don’t need to hire a whole staff to make it happen—our team at Private Label Media can do it for you. Each quarter, we create a carefully curated magazine filled with articles aimed at capturing the interest of an affluent audience. Imagine having a luxury lifestyle magazine with your branding on the cover and page after page of beautiful property profiles. You choose the listings, and we do the rest. And here’s the best part—when you claim your farm with us, you gain exclusivity. We won’t sell the magazine to your competition. So claim your territory now!
Sources
1 “Why Magazines Matter,” by Ella Rhodes, The Psychologist magazine, January 2017
2 Magazine Media Factbook 2020; MRI-Simmons Multi-Media Engagement Study, spring 2019
3 Magazine Media Factbook 2020; MRI-Simmons Issue Specific Study, January-December 2019
4 Magazine Media Factbook 2020; GfK MRI 2000, Accumulation Study; MRI-Simmons, fall 2019
5 Magazine Media Factbook 2020; early data from MRI-Simmons, MediaRadar, Havas Media USA, CrowdTangle and Meredith Corp.
6 Magazine Media Factbook 2020; MRI-Simmons, fall 2019; Ipsos Affluent Survey, fall 2019 (adults 18+ with HHI $125K+)
7 Magazine Media Factbook 2020; MRI-Simmons, Starch Advertising Research, January-December 2019; MRI-Simmons Multi-Media Engagement Study, spring 2019
8 Magazine Media Factbook 2020; MRI-Simmons Multi-Media Engagement Study, spring 2019
9 Magazine Media Factbook 2020; NCSolutions 2005-Q1 2019
10 Magazine Media Factbook 2020; Nielsen HomeScan
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