Publishers are finding that it has become increasingly important to offer subscriptions to a wider range of markets as the online publishing world becomes more saturated with new magazine titles. In recent years, one key area of revenue growth for magazine publishers has become the institutional market, but figuring out how to target and convert this group to subscribers can require a whole new business strategy.

Whether a magazine features articles about science, history, art or politics, academic researchers, students, libraries and universities need to access this crucial publisher content. Let’s explore how Exact Editions can help publishers market to and maintain this lucrative group of subscribers.

How does Exact Editions help publishers reach their potential with institutional subscriptions?

Science titles listed on the Exact Editions institutional website

At Exact Editions, institutional subscriptions have a high renewal rate of 90%. This is not surprising considering Exact Editions has established relationships with many major institutions who use the platform as their main gateway to accessing publisher content. These include universities from the US’ Ivy League, the UK’s Russell Group and Australia’s Group of Eight (Go8).

There are some key activities Exact Editions carries out, both in collaboration with and on behalf of publishers, which help to increase institutional subscriptions to their magazines:

Targeted marketing and press outreach

      Exact Editions has a 35,000 strong (& growing) database of librarian contacts around the world. Using information from publishers about desired markets, dedicated marketing campaigns to universities are sent out via email, phone and social media. The Exact Editions social channels include a growing audience of librarians and library professionals.

        This successful communication strategy is bolstered by strong relationships with major publishing and library industry press outlets and partnering with them to spread awareness about institutional resources through articles, blogs, case studies and reviews.

        Collections, consortiums and upselling

        Magazines are grouped by subject-based collections to market together and cross-sell to current customers to maximise subscriptions. Consortia agreements are also facilitated to increase exposure of titles to groups of libraries to encourage a higher uptake of subscriptions. Perpetual Access subscriptions, available for a one-time fee, provide fully searchable access to a publication’s archive, meaning publishers get the most value from their digitised backlog of issues. This type of one-time fee licensing can generate an impressive amount of revenue for publishers.

        Discoverability and up-to-date industry knowledge

        Exact Editions works with subscription agents such as EBSCO, Harrassowitz and Prenax to maximise discoverability of publisher resources in their catalogues. It is also ensured that titles are searchable within university library databases through machine-readable cataloging (MARC) records.

        Technology in the digital publishing world is rapidly evolving, so Exact Editions regularly attends industry events to stay up-to-date on the latest trends.

          What activities can publishers undertake to maximise their institutional subscriptions?

          An inside spread from an issue of New Scientist on the Exact Editions reader platform

          Publishers are always encouraged to follow four key best practices when trying to grow their institutional subscription revenue with Exact Editions:

          1. Encouraging clear links on websites: a publisher’s website needs to prominently feature clear and direct links to institutional subscription pages. These pages should be regularly shared across social media channels by the publisher.
          2. Lists of print subscribers from publishers: current or expired print institutional subscribers and target subject areas are crucial to Exact Editions; these lists are regularly targeted in marketing and communication activities.
          3. Contacting contributors to magazines: it is important for publishers to reach out to academic contributors to encourage them to contact librarians at their institutions and point them towards a subscription to the magazine. This is an often overlooked relationship, but one that can result in an uptick of institutional subscriptions to a magazine.
          4. Understand the key subscription features: publishers should understand and promote the main benefits of being a subscriber via the Exact Editions platform, including; fully-searchable access to archives, unlimited IP-authenticated access and remote access options, cross-platform compatibility, usage reports and excellent customer support.

          Want to find out more? Contact Exact Editions today if you’d like to discuss setting up or increasing institutional subscriptions to your publication.

          About Us

          With a high-quality interface and advanced search functions, Exact Editions’ digital publishing platform provides a user-friendly and straightforward reading experience.

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          Digital subscriptions to the above magazines are all available in the Exact Editions shop. You can also click here to request a free institutional trial to a wide range of digital magazines.