How to Promote a Magazine

Learning how to promote a magazine effectively can provide long term benefits for new and seasoned publishers. Find ways to grow revenue at a steady pace by focusing on niche markets during different stages of the magazine business.

Sell Subscriptions to Businesses
Magazines can be launched and expanded by offering print subscriptions to businesses that provide a public or professional service. Corporate subscriptions help to generate revenue quickly, providing extra time for publisher to build relationships with retailers who will order issues of their magazine in bulk.

Subscriptions can be sold to businesses that use magazines for leisure purposes or to help their own customers escape boredom. Provide paid subscriptions to companies that have waiting rooms, including hospitals and schools. Many people in waiting rooms are likely to read print materials, providing one simple and effective way to promote a magazine.

Dozens of individual subscriptions and retail sales of a magazine can be generated from consumers who become interested in a particular issue after reading it while waiting in a lobby or train station. Publishers can also offer paid subscriptions to beauty salon owners, coffee shops and public transportation companies if the content is appropriate for the customers in these markets.

Develop Brand Partnerships to Get Noticed
Identify a popular brand, product or service and publish the magazine using content that is centered on this element. A corporate partnership may require certain rights to be obtained or written agreements to be made with the owners of well known brands, which could also involve image licensing or profit sharing. This type of collaboration can still be a lucrative way to promote a magazine without trying to sell subscriptions or single issues of a publication that is based on an unknown concept.

Consider partnering with business professionals behind popular television shows, small airline companies or retail stores to promote a magazine that already has a built-in market. The magazine can feature interviews with employees, consumer reviews, product tips and other content that is relevant to the business that was selected for the partnership.

Designate Local Features for a Target Audience
Use a section of the magazine for interviews or profiles of selected individuals from specific communities to build readership through word of mouth marketing. Publishers can also go beyond geographical communities and release articles that highlight people in a larger but targeted demographic such as mothers, single women, teenagers or middle aged auto mechanics.

Publish invitations in issues of the magazine that inform readers about opportunities to be featured in an article and list eligibility requirements for interested parties if necessary. Men, women or children can also be selected as subjects of a feature magazine article by one or more editors who are hired to manage this department for the publisher.