Paper vs. pixels — more is often more

Print newsletter and magazine publishers often wonder whether they should put their publications online. Online publishers wonder if they should take their e-publications to print. The answer is that it often makes sense to provide content to electronic and print media at the same time. Benefits include building greater brand recognition, reaching a broader audience and being able to cross-promote features.

• Expensive investment. “Some companies believe they will save money by eliminating a printed publication and putting it up online, but the reality is that they won’t,” says Chris Farrar, electronic news manager for Van Kampen Investments in Oak Brook, Ill. “It takes a lot of time, resources and staff to start an online center for news and keep it updated.”
• Enhanced exposure. “You have to remember there are people who don’t have Web access,” says Ed Duzak, Web manager for Advocate Health Care in Oak Brook, Ill. “Companies need to make sure that they reach everyone in their target audience.”
• Cross-sell. “In the print edition of Health Advocate magazine, we encourage readers who have Internet access to visit our website for more information,” Duzak says. “We hope that once they visit that area, they will go through other parts of the site.”

Online readers quickly scan material before deciding whether to invest their full attention. If what they see doesn’t immediately appeal to them, they’ll move on. An electronic version of a printed newsletter needs to hit the highlights with short paragraphs. Links can be used to direct readers to longer articles for more information. Publishers share their thoughts about length and appearance of e-pubs:

• Simply stated. “With our employee newsletter, we’ve kept each news item to a paragraph with four or five sentences,” says Wes Strickland, marketing manager for Sentinel Technologies in Downers Grove, Ill. “We use primarily text, so the format is palatable and easy for the employees to digest quickly.”
• Avoid large images. “If there’s a good opportunity for a photo and it will say more than words can, I will use one,” says Farrar. “The goal is to avoid long download times because people don’t like to wait.”
• Colorful but simple. “Our electronic newsletter has a colored background and features some simple graphics and photos, but I don’t overuse them,” says Vic DePalo, manager of publications for Nabisco in Parsippany, N.J. “This gives the publication a contemporary, clean look.”

For more information about how The Simons Group can help your organization with print and electronic marketing projects, contact Lee Zoldan at lzoldan@thesimonsgroup.com.

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