With emerging technologies presenting organisations with a range of tools to reach out to their communities, recent figures suggest print publications are far from the publishing graveyard.

As a creative custom publishing company specialising in design and journalism, our bread and butter is in conceptualising, creating and distributing quality communications for our clients.

With more than 20 years’ experience providing professional services to public sector and community-based organisations, we focus on producing professional and clear communications materials that inspire people to become engaged with their communities. And thanks to evolving technology, the ways in which our clients engage with their communities are also evolving, with more online, video, infographic, e-books and digital publishing mixing it up with traditional print deliveries. Add social media into the mix and clients can stay engaged in real time.

So does the emergence of technology tools put pressure on traditional print publications? To some degree, yes, but for the most part, emerging technology offers organisations ways to create wide-ranging collateral that complements their key messages. So rather than focusing on one delivery method for all collateral, organisations target their communities using a variety of different mediums to suit specific messages or outcomes.

For example, digital publishing offers a great way to repackage existing print content or provide add-ons to existing content. It’s also a handy tool if your organisation is producing a lot of news content that has to be turned over quickly or sent to large audiences. Digital publications and e-books (electronic versions of books which are viewed on readers such as Kindle or Kobo) are also handy for not-for-profit organisations that are tapping into overseas audiences and want to save on distribution costs, for example.

When e-books first came onto the scene several years ago, many heralded it as the beginning of the end of print publishing. And although there is a growing market for digital publishing—recent stats from the US suggests that although e-book sales have increased 25 per cent in the last few years—they are still a long way behind printed books. Indeed, some stats suggest e-book sales, although growing, aren’t growing as rapidly as predicted, with print still dominating the market.

Forbes recently created the following infographic based on book and ebook sales in the US in 2013:

But these trends aren’t just relevant for books, with magazines credited by ProPrint as one of the most “trusted, credible and reliable media channels“. In fact, according to a new engagement metric by Enhanced Media Metrics Australia (EMMA), 95% of readers use magazines to find information about the things that interest them or to learn something new, with more than seven out of 10 readers being inspired to do something after reading. 

So it makes sense that when deciding on your communications collateral you should consider how print figures in the mix.

Understandably, the final decision when choosing communications channels usually comes down to cost, particularly for our not-for-profit clients. In the past, cost has been a driver towards digital distribution, specifically with costs associated with printing and distribution. But with several print options to consider, from offset to digital and print-on-demand, as well as increasingly competitive print suppliers, you’ll probably find there’s a print option to suit your needs and your budget.

No matter which option you decide on, the key to any successful engagement with your community is quality layout and design coupled with riveting, error-free copy.

Need to find out more? Drop us a line…

 

Image: Maria Elena

 

 

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