In many ways, digital editions are an audience developer's dream come true, solving pesky problems like how to budget for sample issues, reach international readers (without incurring astronomical costs for postage), and foster pass-along among readers.

According to Jim Ziegler, circulation manager for Penton Media's New Hope Natural Media group, "a revolution is occurring right now." Readers have a much-improved level of engagement with reading content on a screen, and advertisers are slowly but surely catching on, he says. "People are using the digital edition much more now to retrieve an ad or article specifically and send it to someone else."

Natural Foods Merchandiser, one of the titles Ziegler works on, had a domestic-only audience before teaming up with Texterity to put out a digital edition. Since then, the title has gained 324 digital subscribers in Canada and abroad. "The digital edition has helped us grow and enhance our audience," says Ziegler. "We serve a larger market now than in the past."

The next step, Ziegler says, is to get his company's digital editions audited by BPA, which he plans to do in June. At that point, he says, his company will reassess its marketing strategy and consider transitioning the digital edition from free to paid.

EH Publishing has expanded its reach as well with digital editions, particularly overseas with its Church Production title.

"The publisher is passionate about the editorial product," says Elizabeth Crews, vice president of audience development at EH. "He really wants foreign subscribers to have it, but that can be expensive since it's driven by editorial, not advertising. He particularly wanted people in Nigeria to have it, but postage costs are very high, so our solution was to send digital editions."

Crews says the key now is to continue spreading the word about the digital edition so the audience can grow and be enhanced even more.

No Digital Edition? Not an Option
When National Geographic launched Green Guide, formerly a 12-page e-newsletter, as a 100-page magazine, having a digital edition was essential. According to founder Wendy Gordon, 40 percent of the newsletter's eco-conscious subscribers opted for the electronic version only. Asking that entire portion of the title's audience to convert to print would risk alienating readers whose concern for the environment deemed print unacceptable.

For her part, Gordon says, "I wouldn't consider a print publication ever again if it didn't have a digital edition."

Other Audience Development Perks
Another benefit, from an audience developer's point of view, is the ability to deliver the magazine as soon as someone subscribes. Gordon says this is sometimes a selling point. "It may take a few weeks minimum if someone subscribes to print only. With the digital edition, new subscribers get instant access."

Also a plus is the ability to offer samples quickly and inexpensively. At EH Publishing, Crews says each magazine's subscription landing page includes a link to a "preview issue" in digital format which is updated four times a year. "It's recent but not the most recent," she says. "It's a way to say, ‘Here's the product. Pay now. Rather than having bad debt by sending free samples, it allows us to make a hard offer on the Web without losing money on the trial." From this method, EH also acquires e-mail addresses for its database-something that is relatively hard to do otherwise.