There is power in print. There is even more power in print when you create around your brand. A magazine, printed or digital, is an opportunity for you to create the conversation around your brand and foster a community with your existing and prospective customers, partners, vendors and stakeholders. If you think you should start a magazine for your business - you’ve found the right article to help you get started.
Benefits of a Branded Magazine
Starting a magazine for your business is a huge undertaking - but can have major payoffs when done correctly. You should create a magazine for your company if you want to: promote products and services, engage your audiences, and strengthen your brand.
Promote Products and Services
Whether you take a catalog or lifestyle approach, your magazine is the perfect opportunity to showcase the latest products and services your company offers. In your magazine, you can offer context of your products and services, spotlighting them in different ways. This could be just a catalog list of all your products, or a feature on a customer who has used your service and gives a testimonial.
Engage Your Audiences
A company magazine is a unique way to engage all of your audiences, internally and externally. Internally, your magazine can help onboard a new employee with timely, relevant information about the company. Magazines are also an invaluable resource for welcoming new clients, customers, and partners. Additionally, magazines are a convenient way to print company reports and share with stakeholders.
Strengthen a Brand
A successful brand creates a powerful connection between you and your customers. A strong brand cuts through the noise and clearly illustrates who you are and what you do. If you choose to start a magazine for your company it is a chance to unify and solidify your brand. A printed magazine is a tangible representation of your brand for customers, employees, and partners to see. Additionally, publishing regularly helps establish your company’s reputation as a thought leader in your industry, adding legitimacy to your brand.
RELATED: 3 Ways Print Will Bring Awareness to Your Brand
How to Start a Magazine
Everyone appreciates a good quality magazine with eye-catching images and interesting articles. If you are thinking about creating a magazine to promote your business, make sure you have the needed elements and a solid printing partner to produce a quality product.
The Title
To come up with a name for your publication, keep in mind: branding, your target audience, and what your content will be about. The title should give the readers an expectation of what they will find inside.
The Look
If you’ve already established branding guidelines for your organization (color palette, typefaces, logo usage, etc.), then this step should be pretty simple! The look of your magazine should align with your branding to remain consistent and further strengthen your brand.
The Content
If you are already considering starting a company magazine, you probably already have an idea of the type of content you want to fill it with. Curate your magazine with articles and images with your audience in mind. Use high-resolution images of your products, buildings, employees, or other assets relative to your articles to capture the attention of your audience.
The Layout
Once you have all the pieces, it’s time to put it together. Organize page spreads using software like Adobe InDesign to construct the composition of your magazine. The layout should follow visual hierarchy best practices, arranging elements to show their order of importance.
The Final Product
Now that you have it designed, it’s time to get it printed! Your printer will help you determine how the finished product will look, including paper type, coatings, and bindings. These are all choices that will help elevate the quality of your magazine, like a thicker stock paper cover, UV-coated gloss pages, and a sleek saddle stapled binding.
RELATED: Finish Strong: Print Finishing Techniques that Wow
Ironmark has been helping businesses create magazines and other print marketing materials for over 60 years. Our full-service creative team can help you from the start with company branding strategy, copywriting,design and the final layout of the magazine content. Our digital and offset presses are ready to fire off as many copies of your magazine as needed to capture the attention of your audience. From start to finish, Ironmark can help.
