Media Matters goes beyond simply reporting on current trends and hot topics to get to the heart of media, advertising and marketing issues with insightful analyses and critiques that help create a perspective on industry buzz throughout the year. It's a must-read supplement to our research annuals.
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Although we often focus our attention on television and digital in Media Matters, we also continue to monitor other media, which still have their place in a well-balanced media plan. This summer, we took a closer look at magazines, which still have a unique appeal to audiences and a well-established history of providing an editorial environment that positively affects ad appeal and impact. Here are some of our updated findings:
Variations In Magazine Readership Throughout The Year
Magazine readership is not constant throughout the year, and in fact mirrors television viewership, which is strongest in the fall. However, magazines also show peaks in other times of the year when TV may not perform as well, making magazines a complementary media planning option for reaching some audiences during lower viewership months.
On a more granular level, although there was little variation by day-of-week, time-of-day showed more fluidity, with peaks in the early- to- mid-evening hours.
Magazine Audience Reach
There are three key factors that influence audience reach. Issue cycle is the first; weeklies tend to gain “new” readers faster than monthlies. Secondly, audience size is crucial; because relatively fewer people read an average issue, smaller circulation publications attract new readers faster than larger circulation titles over successive issues. This applies regardless of issue cycle. Finally, editorial has a major impact on reach. Magazines covering universally popular subjects like celebrities/entertainment, sports and general news tend to attract higher proportions of occasional readers than those catering to more specialized interests.
Over time, some of the larger magazines’ reach can approach those of television shows, and comparable reach levels to TV buys can be attained when combining multiple titles.
Magazine Ads Positively Impact Consumers
Although TV is often the focus when we talk media, both magazines and TV are visual media that engage their audiences through program content and editorial matter. However, magazine readers tend to be considerably more receptive to ads in the publications they read than viewers who put up with TV commercial interruptions as the price they must pay for access to desired program fare. Surveys reveal that in many publishing genres, magazine readers welcome ads and consider them a valued part of the reading experience. Ad recall findings support this; typically, 50% of the readers of an average issue recall seeing a page four-color ad in their copy, even though it may contain many other ads. And magazine ads generate sufficient awareness and powerful motivational impact that makes them at least equally effective in generating positive sales results.
It's worth noting, however, that there are variations in ad impact with full page ads in the front of the book generating greater recall levels than average.
Of course this is just the tip of the iceberg. Our latest findings are featured in reports available through our Media Insights & Data Service, and include tables and analyses that support and expand upon the topics touched on in this article.