December 20, 2011
Digital-first strategy makes Atlantic profitable
Lauren Indvik, writing for Mashable Business, tells the story of how The Atlantic made its first profit in decades with a digital-first strategy:
One of the most interesting aspects of The Atlantic‘s digital success is the unexpected effect it has had on print. Although Smith acknowledges that tablets and ereaders are cannibalizing print newsstand sales, both magazine circulation and print ad revenues are up, “largely due to the brand impact that our digital strategy has had,” he says. “The dramatic growth in digital audience has in turn driven demand for the magazine, because so many more millions are now aware of it.”
The big take-away here is that they had to be willing to experiment, take chances and make mistakes. There is much to learn from what they did, but there is no magic formula.
Link: Inside The Atlantic: How One Magazine Got Profitable by Going ‘Digital First’