Sunday, October 21, 2012

Touch Me, Tap Me: Users Engage With Digital Magazine Interactivity

FIPP reporting:


One of the hottest discussion points among developers in the digital magazine space in recent years has been how much interactivity users really want from their virtual editions. Many titles came out of the gate onto the iPad more than two years ago with all bells and whistles blaring. Creating tappable moments was the mantra. Meanwhile off of the iPad and on less dazzling devices like the Nook Color and Tablet, it turned out that many people were also engaging in magazine apps that were barely modified from their original static form. Since then many titles on tablets have retreated from rampant interactivity in digital editions to more modest enhancements. But it remains unclear how much interactivity really matters in attracting people to digital editions and retaining their interest over the long haul.

New research from GfK doesn’t necessarily settle this issue, but it does indicate that the interactive moments in these tablet editions are getting used, especially in advertising. In looking at 30,000 ads across 1,000 magazine issues, GfK MRI Starch Digital found a majority of tablet or e-reader edition readers both noticed and interacted with an ad. When asked if they noted seeing an ad, 55% said they did recall an ad in the virtual issue. Almost as many (52%) reported took some form of action with the ad. As the chart below shows, more than a third clicked an expandable ad to enlarge the create, while slightly less say they went beyond the first page in ad units with multiple pages. And so on, down the line, the report suggests that about a third of people encountering an ad in a tablet issue are doing something in response, whether it is going to its Web site (34%) or downloading an app (30%)...

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