Low-cost magazine printing guide

Have you ever wondered how you can stand out even better from the competition and position yourself as an expert in your field? Then a company magazine could be just the thing for you. You will learn what exactly this means and how it works in this article.

In today’s world, content is the best way to stand out in the noisy advertising hype and find a way into the minds and, above all, hearts of the target group.

Advertising, marketing and content are now primarily thought of as digital or online channels – no wonder the internet has turned the entire advertising landscape upside down and opened up many new possibilities. Nevertheless, traditional offline advertising channels still have their place.

Stand out from the crowd with the printed magazines

One of these seemingly dusty, old-fashioned channels is professionally printed magazines. While major publishers are struggling with declining subscribers and more and more are shifting to the digital market there too, this seemingly dying medium simultaneously offers unimagined opportunities for businesses.

Think about it for a moment – how many promotional emails do you receive per day? Per week? How much advertising on social media do you see every day? How much banner advertising? And most importantly – how do you respond to them? Do you look at them with interest and pleasure? Probably not. Each of us already has unconscious blinders with which we skilfully block out advertising messages. For an advertisement to get our attention, it has to be quite extraordinary.

And now ask yourself – how many company magazines do you receive from companies in which you can find interesting technical articles about what the company has to offer? The answer is probably none, or quite few. And if you do get some, you certainly pay more attention to them than to the classic advertising mailing.

This is precisely where the great opportunity for companies lies. The hurdle of publishing a company magazine seems too big, and the channel may seem too old-fashioned. But with the right content marketing strategy, a magazine is actually just the next logical step that complements the strategy and can be realised with relatively little effort.

The way to your professionally printed magazines

Of course, you need a content marketing strategy as a basis – otherwise, it will be quite difficult to imagine what content you should fill the magazine in the first place. We have already described how you can start with such a strategy in an earlier article.

How to choose the right name for your magazine

The first step to getting started with your own magazine is to think of a catchy name for the company magazine. It is important not to choose a name that is too specific. In any case, the magazine should not simply be called “The company magazine of company XYZ”. On the one hand, this does not encourage people actually to read it. On the other hand, it does not indicate what to expect in the magazine. Therefore, choose a name that, if possible, covers the entire field in which you are acting as a company or where you would like to assume an expert status.

The content – with strategy and good planning, it’s a cinch!

After the name has been decided, the next step is to think about the structure of your magazine. What different topics or categories of content do you want to have in each company magazine? Will it be primarily technical articles? Will there be a section for breaking news? Events? Promotional codes? What you will put in the magazine will depend primarily on your target audience and will be further modified by what you can realistically do with your resources and know-how.

In terms of an efficient content strategy, it is also important that your various channels can be filled with the same or similar content so that the effort for content creation does not explode.

Below is a possible process for how you might plan content:

1. Decide on the main topic or focus of your next magazine.
2. Think about which articles would be appropriate for this focus.
3. Now write blog articles at regular intervals that will later be the articles of your magazine in the same or similar form.
4. Distribute these blog articles through other channels, such as email newsletters and social media.
5. Now take these articles to fill the next issue of your magazine.
6. Send the magazines to your target audience.

Unaffordable?! We look at the costs of production

Of course, this is all a question of cost. But in most cases, a magazine can be produced with a cost effective option.

Scope of a magazine

Even with a smaller budget, you can start with a simpler version of a magazine. The smallest ” magazine ” version could be a four pages booklet. Even though this may seem too few pages, it can still very well serve the purpose of a company magazine. From 8-12 pages, you already have a scope that resembles a real magazine. Even if you start smaller, the number of pages can, of course, grow in size over time.

The contents

Provided you have already created the content through ongoing blog articles etc., there are no major additional costs here for the content itself.

Magazine design

Once, of course, you need to have a concept & design created for your company magazine – typography, colours, imagery and much more should be defined here in a clear style guide. Subsequent editions will then be based on this basic layout and design, which means they will require less design effort.

Magazine printing services

Printing can now be done very inexpensively by various online magazine printing services. Custom magazine printing might be stressful, but these services usually ease the process, from the beginning till you receive the final product.

Delivery

The magazines are usually sent by post. Alternatively, there is also a rate specifically for magazines at Royal Mail – depending on the print run and frequency, this option could also be interesting.

The ultimate secret weapon for your customers?

With a company magazine, you can increase customer loyalty, arouse new interest in your target group, as well as strengthen your expert position in a specific field.

Create a magazine with quality articles that focus on a different topic each time. You can also use the magazines created in this way as general information on this product or service. You thus create magazines that are not only sent out once but serve as a source of information for interested parties over a longer period of time.

Conclusion

If you are seriously concerned with the topic of content marketing, you should not disregard your own magazine. It can be the decisive difference to your competition and give your company that certain something.

Do you need support with the implementation of your company magazine in the UK? Contact us, and we will be happy to advise you with our friendly customer service team!