Circulation professionals convene in New York in an atmosphere tainted by recent scandals over inflated numbers.In the midst of the most difficult time in their industry's history, circulation managers of leading magazines will meet in New York Thursday to learn how to survive and thrive.
The Circulation Management Show at the Marriott Marquis hotel features 30 educational sessions, including panels of experts who will compare notes on how to keep Internet technology from undercutting print publications, as well as ways to use technology to help propel magazines toward greater success.
The newspaper and magazine businesses have been rocked in recent months by circulation scandals. On Wednesday, three circulation executives from the Tribune Company's Newsday division were arrested for fraud in connection with inflated circulation reports.
The increased scrutiny of circulation numbers, combined with advertisers' skepticism about the size and effectiveness of magazine advertising and the giant changes created by Internet publishing, have all combined to put circulation managers under unusual pressure.
Click here to read about some publishers' reaction to Google Print.
Revelations of artificially inflated circulation numbers have exacerbated the steady decline in the circulation numbers that are actually reported, resulting in ever-decreasing confidence by advertisers.
It's understandably difficult for marketers to believe that they're getting what they paid for after seeing four big-city newspapers admit to faking as much as half their daily circulation numbers. Those papers include New York Newsday, Hoy (its Spanish-language counterpart), The Dallas Morning News and the Chicago Sun-Times.
Add to that the fact that according to The Washington Post, the newspaper business hasn't seen a net circulation gain since 1987. Worse still, the proportion of reported circulation that comes from deep-discount or free copies has doubled to nearly 10 percent of total circulation.
In the face of so much difficulty, circulation managers attending the conference have come seeking new ways to boost overall readership and generate new revenue streams from the readership they already have.
Attendees will exchange tips on how to use technology to acquire new subscribers as well as how to retain current subscribers. Several sessions will cover e-mail marketing in an increasingly cluttered and heavily regulated environment.
Google Inc. representatives will kick off the conference with a primer on search engine marketing and how that avenue can benefit print magazines.
Nxtbook.com, a digital book technology vendor, is sponsoring a session on digital circulation, or how and why to create a digital version of a print publication that takes advantage of the distinct value of digital subscribers.
Many magazines are realizing quick returns on investment by converting even 5 percent of their readership from print to digital subscriptions. Not only does the conversion eliminate postage costs, it expands potential readership to a global audience rather than just a regional or national group.
Also, the flexibility of digital subscriptions allows more content customization and "niche" marking than is ever possible with a print publication.
Even though the Internet competes for the time, money and attention of an increasing share of the reading public, circulation managers hope that the highly interactive, real-time combination of print publications, related Web sites, e-mail, blogs and other new media can help turn familiar print brands into rich opportunities to create compelling relationships with readers.
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