MOTIONS ere Issue BY ISSUU
The Premi
A Word from Issuu CEO, Joe Hyrkin Stories are the cornerstone of how we communicate. Everyone every culture has a story to tell. Stories serve as the wings upon which our culture and our lives move forward and they unite us in shared interests and enable us to explore transcending our differences. It’s through the story that we express our creativity. We are fortunate to live in a world where technology is available to accelerate the ways in which we can create and offer our creations to people globally who share our curiosity and interests. Stories aren’t limited to campfires or novels. Businesses of all kinds tell stories through their marketing materials and collateral, through magazines and catalogs. We tell our stories with words, pictures, videos, and links to more information related to the subject. The best stories have a lingering effect. We remember the story teller by the way they connect us to their subject, whether the hero of our favorite movie or a product that is marketed to us on a supermarket shelf or the pages of a brochure. Cereal boxes tell stories of treasures to be found within, tempting us before the box is even in the shopping cart. Magazines have long relied upon their covers to tell the story of the articles within. Even the most seemingly mundane businesses interest us with the way they tell their stories of helping customers or
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why their products has particular benefit. Each generation seems to think they live in the golden age of story telling. The truth is, humanity has always lived in the golden age of story telling. The mediums by which deliver our stories, change, but they’re always golden. At Issuu, we’ve built a global company by offering millions of people and companies, form the largest Fortune 500’s to high school journalism students to real estate agents and everyone in between, the ability to tell their story digitally. We started off making the pages of their collateral, brochures and publications look great on any screen. We added in the ability to include features like video and commerce and sharing and now we’ve offered the ability to create one piece of content and have it transformed into the right size and format for every digital space adn canvas in which it can be consumed by the audience that most needs to access it. Welcome to the current golden age of Story telling. At Issuu we’re empowering, millions of companies and organizations to connect with hundreds of millions of human beings in every corner of the globe who are inspired, informed and offered a set of ideas that matter most to them. #ISSUUSTORIES
IMAGE CREDIT: QUEST MAGAZINE COVER IMAGE CREDITS: VETER MAGAZINE, SISTERMAG, ROSE & IVY JOURNAL
MASTHEAD & CONTRIBUTORS MEGAN BREUKELMAN EDITOR
WILLIAM SMIAROWSKI CONTRIBUTOR
NICOLAS BORBOLLA CONTRIBUTOR
KATHERINE QUILLES CONTRIBUTOR
SERINA NGUYEN CONTRIBUTOR
SPECIAL THANKS TO JOE HYRKIN JOHN STURINO VANESSA HERMAN MEGHAN COLE
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CONTENT CALENDAR IDEAS
IMAGE CREDITS: CHICKPEA MAG, BBC GF ME, BECOMING ONE, MY MAGAZINE BY MOLLY MY, LUCY’S MAG
OCTOBER 2 0 19 CONTENT CALENDAR IDEAS 4
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AU T UMN E AT S Food is a major part of content planning and sharing for October. We’re deep into fall now and preparing for Thanksgiving, enjoying our pumpkin spice lattes and getting ready to hibernate for the winter with some cozy recipes. Focus some of your autumn content strategy on good eats.
USING ISSUU FOR SOCIAL Fill up your October 2019 content calendar with content from the Issuu Story Cloud. The Issuu Story Cloud is a suite of integrated digital publishing products. Tap the power of the Issuu Story Cloud to create and share content to your website, on your blog or as Instagram Stories, Stories on Facebook, Snapchat Stories and more. Using the Issuu Story Cloud to distribute your content will allow you to reach a global audience with design-forward assets and digital content. Ready to get started? Head over to the Issuu Creator Hub to see how Issuu can best serve your brand.
TRENDING Orange, Brown, Red Pumpkins, gourds, squash Fall fashion Big sweaters Changing leaves Halloween costumes Party decor ideas Baking, cookies, pies
H O L I DAY S I N O C T O B E R ‘19 IN OCTOBER, the magic really begins. Some say the veil between worlds is thinning. Marigolds bloom mimicking the orangey hues painted above them in the trees. Plus, little ones crave candy while adults prepare for the up-kick in the holiday season. Start planning your October 2019 content calendar today with these content calendar ideas from Issuu.
Boyfriend Day (October 3rd) Teacher’s Day (October 5th) Mental Health Day (October 10th) Coming Out Day (October 11th) Dessert Day (October 14th) Halloween (October 31st)
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USING THE ISSUU ADOBE INDESIGN EXTENSION 1. 2. 3.
Open Document in InDesign Under Window -> Extensions, select Issuu - Create a Story, Or Under File -> Issuu - Create a Story Select your Story Style (Issuu Styles are templates that reflect your brand needs). Voice Story Style: Fast paced. Strong quotes are the hero. Make use of image takeovers and dynamic text animations to create a strong impact. Inspire Story Style: Get ready to inspire with big images and visual breathing space. Tell your story, where Editorial meets Interactive for an engaging experience.
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Click PREVIEW to preview your Story Style and Click SELECT THIS STYLE Select Pages and Images that you want to appear in your Visual Story and Click PREVIEW TIP: Include at least SIX High Quality Images in your Visual Story.
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Provide Story Title, Publication Title and Publisher Name to your Visual Story and Click EDIT AND SHARE To Edit, Review and Share your Visual Story, you need to have an Issuu Account where you can also Save your Visual Stories Once you login to your Issuu account, you will see below screen where you can Review, Edit and Share Visual Story
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CONTENT MARKETING
Creating Custom Advertorial Content for Advertising Partners BY PAUL VITALE, Marketing and Business Development Director of Sweet Paul Magazine
Selling full-page advertising can be a challenge for small and independent publishers these days. When we first launched Sweet Paul Magazine as a print quarterly in 2009 we had a small core group of advertisers who supported us in our early efforts. Companies like Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day still had print budgets to invest in full page advertising for small magazines like Sweet Paul. We loved this period and grew wonderful long-term relationships with brands we admired. Over the years print budgets got smaller and smaller. We found it to be very challenging to sell ads to the same folks who had supported us in the past. At the same time the print budgets were disappearing, influencer budgets were growing. At this point, we realized that what we needed to do to fill our magazine with beautiful ad content was to stop trying to sell ads and start selling Sweet Paul as an influencer. I began crafting content development pitches for brands we loved and bonusing pages of advertising in our print and online magazines instead. Now, nearly all of the advertising that we publish in Sweet Paul is based on a content development project. We develop recipes and craft projects, shoot gorgeous photo and video content, design advertorial pages in the magazine that resonate with our readers, and then give the content to the advertiser to use as they please. Not only has this allowed us to maintain and grow our advertising program, but it’s also allowed us to provide our readers with more content that they have come to expect from Sweet Paul. READ ON FOR PAUL’S TIPS FOR CREATING CUSTOM CONTENT >
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CONTENT MARKETING
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TIPS FOR CREATING & SELLING CUSTOM CONTENT TO PARTNERS: 01.
Reaching out via Instagram is not a bad idea. Often times the folks who manage the Instagram accounts also control some of the content development budgets.
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Pitch the idea of creating the content and then add on a page or spread of advertorial in your publication as a bonus.
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Always conspicuously mark custom content as advertorial. We always mark advertorial pages with “ADVERTISING FEATURE”.
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Develop ideas to highlight your partner’s content that you think will resonate with your reader. If it’s not a good fit, don’t try to force it. KEEP UP WITH SWEET PAUL ON ISSUU >
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CONTENT MARKETING
HOW BRANDS ARE USING VISUAL STORIES 12
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IMAGE CREDIT: ESCAPISM
BROCHURES Convert your digital brochures into enticing assets that captivate your audience. Move your potential customers beyond the static pages of your brochures with Issuu Visual Stories across social and web.
CATA LOGS Show off your products across your platforms with Issuu Visual Stories. Keep your brand at top of mind for your consumers by converting your catalogs to Visual Stories. LEARN MORE ABOUT VISUAL STORIES >
PRESS RELEASES Take a press release and elevate it with Issuu Visual Stories. Make your next big announcement highly visible and engaging on every platform with Issuu Visual Stories. ISSUU.COM
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Storytellers to Watch Keep your eyes on these storytellers this OCTOBER for upcoming trends, gorgeous editorial content and major inspiration. Browse the FOOD & DRINK category on Issuu for more features and feasts.
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P U R E LY E L I Z A B E T H
TESCO
Purely Elizabeth is a brand and magazine focused on vegan, glutenfree recipes and beautiful ideas for your next big social gathering.
The British grocery brand puts out a monthly magazine, featuring incredible edibles and tasty treats. Plus, plan your next party with their decor tips.
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BBC GF MIDDLE EAST BBC Good Food Middle East provides creative and unique recipes for your next holiday gathering. This monthly food publication is one to watch.
SISTERMAG CELEBRATES 50 ISSUES ON ISSUU With the release of their July 2019 issue, sisterMAG celebrates 50 wonderful issues. They have published on Issuu since their first issue in 2012. I guess it’s true what they say: time flies when you’re having fun! The publication is celebrating its 50th issue all month long. It’s time for a digital party! In case you’re not familiar with sisterMAG, they are a digital magazine made in Berlin. Publishing in both German and English, sisterMAG dives into fashion, beauty, lifestyle and more. Their magazine celebrates and caters to women with diverse interests. Each month, sisterMAG publishes beautiful and thoughtfully curated digital editions on Issuu. sisterMAG has used Issuu since its very first issue. They started with Issuu because it gave them a platform to start from nothing. Since then, an incredible brand has been built thanks to the power of digital publishing.
“We are still a family business through and through, but we are continuously growing and have 12 permanent employees by now, who put their heart and soul into every issue each month. To the next 50 issues!”
Every issue is created with the help of over two-thousand national & international contributors. They are published in both German and English to reach a broader audience internationally. The connection that sisterMAG has with their audience doesn’t just lie in the magazine. You can also find sisterMAG active on social media. Their anniversary month celebrations heavily involve social media, including Instagram giveaways and more. They are even giving their readers the chance to be their new cover model. KEEP UP WITH SISTERMAG ON ISSUU >
sisterMAG was founded by sisters Thea Neubauer and Toni Sutter, and her husband Alex Sutter. Over seven years ago, a hobby started by the two sisters turned into a full-on publishing company. Carry-On Publishing GmbH was founded to grow sisterMAG. Toni Sutter speaks on the creation of the company and brand:
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IMAGE CREDIT: THE INSPIRED HOME
How to Use Stories to Drive Sales
Issuu connects content to people. One of the best ways to do that is through Stories: bite-size, mobile-optimized segments of your publication that you can share easily and effectively throughout social media. But Stories are useful for more than just promoting your publication—they actually present a whole world of social marketing opportunity. And Issuu is more capable than ever to help you excel.
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IMAGE CREDIT: SISTERMAG
How to use the Issuu Story Cloud Think of the Issuu Story Cloud as your toolbox. How you use the tools is entirely up to you, but we’re here to improve your experience. With new Visual Stories and the Issuu Story Cloud, as well as premium features like Digital Sales and our uniquely in-depth analytics, Issuu can help you drive sales. Here’s how to best use our features.
Issuu Embeds If you’re a publication that already generates a lot of traffic, Issuu Embed is your best friend. By embedding your publication onto your website using Issuu, you can improve your reach and drive impressions. Or, if you’re selling digitally, you can display preview pages on our flipbook style reader alongside a prompt to buy digitally. For interested readers, the process couldn’t be more seamless. No lengthy downloads, emails, or codes. Just a quick payment, and instant access to your content. The best part? Stripe makes transactions simple, straightforward, and without strings attached.
Issuu Analytics An understated but equally important aspect of digital marketing goes beyond just writing copy and designing splash pages. And it doesn’t matter if you’re an indie magazine, a local biweekly, or a student journal: if you’re looking to sell, market research matters. Here’s the good news: if you have a premium Issuu plan, the Issuu Story Cloud automatically gives you access to all the most important metrics. From the big numbers (total impressions, reads, sales), to the nitty-gritty (read times, read locations, link-outs), to important overviews (publication performance), Issuu offers you powerful insights you can use to better market your publication. But when it comes to social media marketing in the Stories Age, Issuu Stories offers possibility, creativity, and unique engagement with your publication that you simply can’t find anywhere else.
Stories as Teasers If you’re well-versed with Issuu’s digital sales capabilities, you know that part of setting up digital sales is selecting preview pages. But did you know you can create Stories from those teaser pages, and share those freely? If you have an exciting cover story, a fantastic creative spread or an exclusive interview that you know will
hook readers, a great strategy would be to build half of it as a story. This leaves the other half to the eyes of those who’ve bought the issue digitally. This is a classic marketing move, updated for modern publishing tools. The advantage here is that you can share whatever you’re teasing across all social platforms easily. Essentially, you’re creating an ad for yourself that you can send to all your followers (and others, if you choose to promote it). If you have something in your publication that you think is marketable, market it! Issuu Stories make it easier than ever.
Stories as… Stories! With Issuu’s new Visual Story tool, you can convert existing Article Stories and create engaging video Stories from them. These can be shared just as easily as Stories themselves, and work even better on certain platforms. Visual Stories are especially powerful for marketing your business on Instagram and Facebook. By targeting your social marketing on these sites, you can drive sales even further. Combine stories with embedding and Digital Sales, and, well, you’ll be unstoppable. What’s more, is that with the Issuu Story Cloud, you can have your Stories tell stories themselves. By serializing Stories, or planning them on thematically appropriate days, Issuu Stories can help engage your audience on social media and beyond.
Stories as Ads If you’re using your publication to sell something, Visual Stories can help you advertise those products in an engaging format. Let’s say you’re using shopping links within your publication to redirect readers to your product. The unique benefit of using the Issuu Story Cloud to do this is that after making the story once, you can share it everywhere.
Get started with the Issuu Story Cloud So while Issuu Stories offers a unique ability to market your content creatively, you can unlock their full potential by pairing Stories with all of Issuu’s other publisher tools. Together, they can help drive sales and build your online presence, on social media and beyond. With the Issuu Story Cloud, this is easier than ever. Get started today with the Issuu Story Cloud.
CREDIT: THE INSPIRED HOME
How to Organize Your Editorial Team So you’ve got your concept, and you’ve got the drive to start a publication. You’ve managed to recruit similarly passionate and driven individuals, and you’re rearing to get started. But how do you organize your editorial team? How do you make sure each person is reaching their full potential in the framework of your publication? Here are some of our tips.
The Classic Model
If you have literally no idea how to organize your team, the classic newspaper organizational model is a good place to start. You’ve got your Editor-in-Chief at the top, who steers the publication’s overarching creative vision. Below you have your Managing Editor(s), Creative Director, and any Business Managers. Of course, the specific titles will change depending on your needs as a publication, but these are the ones who oversee the different departments within your publication. Below your Managing Editor you have Section Editors, who commandeer the writing staff (staff or freelance). Similarly, your Creative Director manages your Visuals, Layout, 20
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Photo, etc. editors, who then manage staff photographers/designers/editors/etc. You might have noticed that this is all very vague and freeform. That’s because there’s no secret sauce to organizing an editorial team — the best way to organize is whichever way works for you. That being said, there are strategies you can employ to best divvy up the work.
Divide and Conquer
First and foremost, find what needs to happen. Are you dividing your publication into different sections? Then put someone in charge of those sections. Are you planning on launching a website? Social media? Find out what tasks are large enough for a person to take on, and then find people to fill those roles. If the work on those different sections builds up, see if they need to be staffed further. Add people accordingly. What’s important is to stay perceptive of what your publication needs and in what capacity.
CREDIT: LUCY’S MAGAZINE, GODDESS COLUMN, EST LIVING
Have A Chain of Command
It’s important to know where the buck stops. Not only is it important for someone to be leading the creative charge, but it’s also important for that same person to be accountable for all the content that is published. So it doesn’t matter if it’s one person or two, what’s important is that everyone agrees on it. Beyond that, it’s important to have a clear idea of who’s doing what. Part of organizing your editorial team is making sure boundaries are established. Defining roles is important not only so that your team doesn’t step on each other’s responsibilities, but also in order to cooperate effectively.
Play To Strengths
Find out what your team members are good at, and give them the opportunity to flourish. If there isn’t a job suited for a certain team member, create it! The best content is going to come from writers, designers, and managers that enjoy what they’re doing.
To make delegating easier, make a style guide
The easiest way to avoid micromanaging and to delegate more freely is to establish a brand-wide style guide. By noting down all of your stylistic rules, you not only cement your brand’s look and sound for posterity, but you magically redirect all questions that would normally come your way to a document with all the answers.
Be ready to wear all the hats
To explain the necessity of being flexible in a publication, let’s invoke a soccer analogy. There’s a Dutch soccer strategy called totaalvoetbal (total football) which essentially states that any outfield player can assume any outfield position, making the team dynamic and dangerous. Everyone is always ready to play striker and defender. And on a small editorial team, the same principle applies. It’s important to be ready to take on any position. The managing editor might have to take over social media, or the copy editor might have to write up some expense reports. The editorin-chief is especially not immune to the work of editing, reporting, or writing. Not only does this maximize productivity and make putting out fires easier, it also builds a sense of cooperation and teamwork within your publication. And when you’re starting something from nothing, the importance of having a good team cannot be overstated.
Get started with the Issuu Story Cloud
Starting a publication can take a lot of work, but you don’t have to go at it alone. We all get by with a little help from our friends! Get started with the Issuu Story Cloud to learn how Issuu can streamline your publishing experience. ISSUU.COM
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PUBLISHER SPOTLIGHT
Purely Elizabeth
PURELY ELIZABETH IS AN ORGANIC FOOD COMPANY COMMITTED TO PROVIDING THE BEST GLUTEN-FREE, VEGAN, AND NON-GMO PRODUCTS POSSIBLE.
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PURELY ELIZABETH TURNED TO ISSUU TO EXPAND THEIR BRAND AND TO PROVIDE CUSTOMERS WITH A STUNNING PUBLICATION FEATURING ALL THINGS HEALTH AND WELLNESS. Purely Elizabeth was founded in 2009 by Elizabeth Stein, a Certified Holistic Nutrition Counselor. “Start a natural foods company.” Those were the words Elizabeth wrote down on the blank piece of paper while in class during holistic nutrition school. Purely Elizabeth was founded on the goal to provide healthier, better-tasting alternatives to what was currently on the market, using the incredibly powerful superfoods like quinoa, hemp, chia seeds and coconut oil.
Purely Elizabeth is full of stunning content, that also integrates products and goods. Any advice on how to effortlessly mix editorial and product sales content?
How can other publishers work to leverage social media to grow their audience?
We get a lot of inspiration from lifestyle and food magazines and we put a lot of work in capturing beautiful imagery using our products to create an editorial publication people want to look at again and again.
Give your publication the spotlight it deserves on social media through paid campaigns and Instagram stories. The best thing about creating a digital magazine is that you can repurpose the content in different ways across your website, blog and social media forever.
Do you have any advice on expanding a business with digital publishing?
Each issue of Purely Elizabeth is filled with healthy recipes. Any favorites you’d like to share with us?
Creating content can be time-consuming and a lot of work, but it pays off when you publish something that serves as a unique resource and marketing tool for your business. Listen to your consumer and create valuable content that can set your business apart from the rest.
In our Purely Summer issue we created a spread of recipes that incorporated our granola 5 ways. From Grain-Free Pancake Tacos to a Blueberry Lemon Oat Muffin using our Vibrant Oats, these recipes are quick, easy and delicious! You can find them in the Purely Summer 2018 issue.
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What are some challenges you face as a publisher? How do you conquer them?
At Purely Elizabeth, our team is small and we are all working on many different projects at once. Finding the time to create the content for each quarterly magazine is the most challenging part we face as a publisher. The way we conquer this challenge is making sure everyone on our team contributes to the magazine. Whether you are sourcing contributors, creating recipes or designing the publication, we want the entire team involved so everyone feels a part of the exciting process. We set aside time in our busy schedules to brainstorm ideas together with a goal to create something even better than the last!
How do you think publishing digitally has helped Purely Elizabeth?
Our quarterly magazine gives us an opportunity to connect with our consumers that goes beyond just buying our products. It has pushed us to create consistent content throughout the years that we’ve been able to use time and time again. We strive to create foods people will obsess over through a brand they can trust and publishing digitally has definitely helped us achieve this goal.
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“WE WANT THE ENTIRE TEAM INVOLVED SO EVERYONE FEELS A PART OF THE EXCITING PROCESS”
What is the best part of running a magazine?
After all of the hard work that goes into creating the magazine, being able to publish it to the world and have people share it with friends and family is an incredible feeling and definitely the most rewarding part of the process.
What can we expect next from Purely Elizabeth?
We have so many exciting things happening in 2019 that we will be sharing through our magazine. You can expect even more lifestyle content, new product announcements and a brand new look for Purely Elizabeth this upcoming year. Stay tuned!
KEEP UP WITH PURELY ELIZABETH ON ISSUU >
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IMAGE CREDIT: OLSSON
How Olsson Corporate Communications & HR Teams Improve Employee Engagement Using Issuu The accomplished engineering and design firm Olsson, uses Issuu to improve Corporate and Employee communications such as Newsletters and Company announcements with seamless digital publishing resulting in over a 30% increase in employee engagement.
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As a nationally recognized engineering firm, Olsson focuses on fostering a corporate culture to celebrate their people. They know that by creating an environment in which employees can learn, thrive and grow, the result will be: “Inspired people. Amazing designs. And projects with purpose. A win-win for all.” Issuu digital publishing is an important tool for them to support this employeecentric environment.
“We work to leave the world better than we found it. We are Olsson, a nationally recognized, employee-owned engineering and design firm with a rich history of success. Founded in 1956 on the very mindset that drives us today, we’re here to improve communities by making them more sustainable, better connected, and more efficient. Simply put, we work to leave the world better than we found it. Our most important asset is our people, and we are dedicated to an environment where we continue to learn, grow, and thrive. This entrepreneurial spirit has made us successful and will keep us successful. The result? Inspired people. Amazing designs. And projects with purpose. A win-win for all.”
CHALLENGE: Reach & Engage Employees with an Enhanced Reading Experience The Olsson Corporate Communications team is in charge of creating employee communications and Company public brand and profile content. The team is led by Lisa Sedivy, Corporate Communications Area Leader with support from Alicia Krieger, Communications Coordinator. “A [company-wide] pain point was that employees just didn’t want to link back to the intranet. They wanted to look at it [Employee Newsletter] in the PDF form or just look at it right there in the email and move on.”
The team outlined the challenges they were hoping to address with a digital publishing solution: • Publish a professional employee newsletter with a more engaging reading experience and improve upon the flat PDF currently being created. • Deliver employee newsletter to teams both at the Headquarters and in remote satellite offices that maximizes reading enjoyment. • Ensure newsletters are mobile-optimized for onthe-go reading. • Increase employee readership. • Avoid linking employees to Company Intranet
or requiring VPN to read the newsletter, but still deliver in a private manner. • No easy way to track reads, time spent reading or what content performed best.
THE RESULTS: Better Informed & Engaged Employees With a One Stop Solution For Multimedia Content Distribution Before publishing on Issuu, it wasn’t uncommon for less than half of the company, with over 1,000 employees, to read the monthly Employee newsletter. After publishing on Issuu, the Employee newsletter saw a 30 percent increase in employees reading it in addition to more time spent reading and a higher engagement of employees outside of the Headquarters. Employees were spending at least 3 minutes reading the Newsletter and even more on an important Company Announcement. Being able to track the readers on mobile vs. desktop was a big improvement too for their engagement goals. Finally, using the Issuu “Unlisted Publications” feature ensured the Olsson company publications remained private. “We are using a lot more video throughout our communications, but video is only helpful if people watch it. Being able to add embedded videos within an E-reader so that people actually click and watch the video is a game-changer for us. It’s really exciting to provide engaging content to our employees and know that they’re interacting with it.” The Olsson team was impressed by the comprehensive analytics and suite of publishing features that the Issuu Premium Plan offered. Many of the features fit their immediate needs, and quite a few of the multimedia features were going to be new publishing capabilities that the team is excited to try. The Premium Plan was also a great value for their small team. After exploring a few other options, Lisa selected Issuu, “As far as the [Premium] plan selection, we wanted to be able to have [Statistics] to go along with this, to get an idea of how much time people spent reading, how many people actually visit the publication, etc. We also wanted to be able to have links that would be able to take people back to our intranet, so the auto- detected links [are] perfect. Overall, it just seemed to be the best bang for our buck.” The need for an improved reading experience goes hand in hand with the Olsson team’s
focus on enhanced employee content including photography, video, testimonials and more. Issuu’s strength in elevating content with the multimedia features in a seamless way was the perfect compliment to Olsson team goals for improving Corporate Communications content. Lisa shares her excitement about the multimedia features, “We are playing around a lot more with video...and just being able to put those embedded videos within an E-reader so that you can have an experience and pull all that together is good. It doesn’t look like oh, I just hit PDF on a document... It’s really upping the game to make it something that is really taking the user and making it kind of engaging and exciting.”
THE RESULTS: Publishing Publications Beyond the Company Newsletter The Olsson Corporate Communications team is already looking ahead to how they will use Issuu beyond the newsletters and Company announcements they first sought out the tool for. From critical Company Standards & Process documents called “Playbooks” to key recruitment documents in the highly competitive Engineering field, Issuu will take these document types to the next level and help Olsson stand out and bring in the best talent. Lisa highlighted the opportunity here: “We do have a pretty extensive recruiting process... So we have a lot of requests from our HR staff: ‘Can you send me the PDF?’ for this high level, mechanical engineer who we are trying to recruit. It would be really nice to have something that we could send on the fly, pull these things together, be able to personalize them and have it look like a book...[Issuu enables] documents to be all tied together, so they’re really easy and professional looking, but we’re not re-inventing the wheel every time because we have it already created.” Issuu can also support external Corporate Communication, company profile building and content marketing goals including publishing Company Articles, Stories and publications for easy social sharing on social media platforms such as LinkedIn. In the highly competitive recruitment and project landscape, Olsson’s company profile and public persona can make the difference in landing the big project or hiring the best people. Issuu’s digital publishing platform allows the Olsson team to create once and share everywhere, publishing sleek, multimedia content to set themselves apart from other design and engineering firms.
The Corporate Communications team at Olsson has been using Issuu for just a few months and are happy to see the transformation Issuu has made to their Employee publications. The Issuu platform transforms the flat PDF they used to send out into the multimedia reading experience that excites the employees and demonstrates that Olsson is invested in their people and the employee’s experience too. For Olsson, better content that is easily shared equals more engaged and satisfied employees.
INTERVIEW
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KOLOR MAG KOLOR MAGAZINE IS A BI-ANNUAL HIGH-FASHION MAGAZINE FOR BLACK AND BROWN MEN. FOUNDED BY NIGEL ISAIAH, KOLOR OPERATES OUT OF NYC.
How did Kolor Magazine get started? What’s the inspiration behind it?
Kolor Magazine started after I had gone to several interviews for fashion editorial positions and I wasn’t getting callbacks. I decided I could either continue to wait for someone to hire me to do what I love or I can find a way to do it for myself and Kolor Magazine was born. As we finish out this year and move into 2020 and beyond, Kolor’s inspiration is to create a high fashion space anchored by black and brown men and our stories, ideas, and presence.
What are some challenges you face as a publisher? How do you conquer them? The unknown is my biggest challenge! As I’m prepping for a shoot I never know which PR firms are going to be able to loan samples or if a model or photographer is going to cancel due to whatever reason. This list grows on the number of things that are simply out of my control as a publisher. To conquer any challenges I may face producing an issue, I refer back to a quote from my mentor Angela Gilltrap on the job of content creators, “our jobs are to be creative on cue.” If I stay in a hustle and get it popping creative mentality, always believe that I can get the job done and I will get the job done a window of opportunity to pivot and move forward always presents itself for me to create.
How do you think publishing digitally has helped Kolor Magazine? Publishing digitally gives me two great advantages, a better opportunity to reach an international audience and more importantly, a more direct way to reach black and brown men searching online for content with them in mind.
What is the best part of running a magazine?
The best part of running a magazine is taking the skills I’ve learned, love and passion that I’ve desperately wanted to sew to another magazine to be the best fashion editor they’ve ever seen and investing that into the magazine I’ve created. Now almost two years in that skill set, love and passion are helping me cultivate a loving, respectable, tolerant and stylish space for the audience I want to engage.
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What advice do you have for someone looking to start a magazine?
If you google how to start a magazine like I did, when I made the decision to start Kolor, you’re going to find a bunch of great advice shuffled into a deck of cards stacked against you. The high start-up costs, the unfortunate truth that people aren’t buying print magazines like they once did, an overwhelming and overcrowded digital space that makes it seem like your POV will drown out amongst the big-name media outlets already covering your ideas, the struggle to turn a profit. The list goes on and it’s enough to make you doubt if you should start in the first place, but I did. My advice to you is to just do it. Start and let your personal life journey and passions and the new journey you’ll be embarking on help mold your publication into a niche, unique space that an audience that thinks like you, google searches like you and post on social media like you will enjoy and become your readers.
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Here at Issuu, we believe everyone has a story to tell. How do you like to tell your stories? I like the tell my stories with the mindset that no matter who you are or how you identify as a black or brown man, straight, gay, femme, masc, bisexual, trans, non-binary or whatever labels that describe who you are that we are brothers and our experience, as different as they may be, can connect us.
What’s next for Kolor Magazine?
Kolor Magazine will continue to develop its brand as a welcoming space for black and brown men. I want to create a space that feels like the army of stand up men that surround me with their love and brotherhood. Every day moving forward we’ll be working towards that goal. KEEP UP WITH KOLOR MAGAZINE ON ISSUU >
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How Brands Use Stories to Optimize their Digital Content With more platforms than ever adopting the Stories format, the Internet has become “storified.”
Consumers are finding themselves browsing content on their phones in higher frequency. This has led to the rise in the Story format for networking platforms. The transition from news feeds to Stories is changing how brands communicate with their audiences. Mobile-optimized formats show people how your product fits into their lives, not just the cost. Issuu helps brands do more to entertain and educate their audiences with Issuu Stories. Here are some ways companies are mastering their brand voice with Stories.
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W H AT A RE IS S U U S TORIE S? Issuu Stories is the best way to optimize your PDF content for mobile. For years, publishers have loved using Issuu to host and share their PDF content. Now, users can create Stories from their PDF content to share with their audience across devices. Stories are a fantastic way to make sure your audience has the best experience no matter the device. Whether they’re reading from desktop or mobile, Stories optimize your content and get your readers right to the good stuff. With the ease of a few taps, Issuu Stories are a simple way to connect your audience to the content they care about. Share Stories across your social channels to expand your reach and pique audience interest. Let’s take a look at how some brands are using Stories to optimize their content. IMAGE CREDIT: LUCY’S MAGAZINE
U SE S TORIE S TO COMMU NICAT E YO U R MIS SION S TAT EMEN T People are demanding fewer sales pitches and products without negative world impact. A 2017 study found 87% of all consumers would purchase a product because that company stood up for a cause they cared about. Therefore, show off how you are carrying out your mission with social stories across platforms. Patagonia taps into the momentum one of the most popular causes today—climate change. By integrating editorial into their brand catalog they show how people are appreciating nature with Patagonia products. The brand uses mobile Stories like this about a young family’s journey hiking in the mountains with two toddlers. Inspiring and relatable this Story builds brand trust by showing the reliability of their products not only in extreme weather but also for children. Similarly, airline company Southwest takes a human-centered approach. The company values “sophisticated storytelling about the people and places that make this country special.” Southwest Magazine writes on business trends, sponsored events like this music festival Luck Reunion, and celebrities. They focus on in-depth interviews with inspiring figures such as Airbnb exec Chip Conley, and Netflix star Lana Condor. Stories that you can tag influencers and celebrities are ideal because they attract engagement by tapping into existing social networks. Advertise events, run contests, or feature cool people and entertain customers. Creating a mobile Story is as easy as uploading your PDF, clicking pages, adding a description, and publishing. From the Story builder, you can directly publish to the social media of your choice. Now, you can even convert your Instagram Stories into an Issuu Story with just a few clicks. Stories are also featured on Apple News for additional reach. Check out our social sharing toolkit for Story promotion strategies.
STORIES BREAKDOWN USEFUL CONTENT INTO SOCIAL MEDIA-READY PIECES Rule number one of online branding: curate evergreen content, or content “that is continually relevant and interesting for readers regardless of time.” This includes pieces like how-tos, lists, and recipes. Customers return if they consider the brand a trusted source of information. For example, Tesco, UK based market chain, uses Stories for distributing recipes featuring ingredients from their stores. Their posts are interactive, seasonally relevant, and simple. Issuu also SEO optimizes all Stories so their readymade content resurfaces easily as the seasons change. Useful content does not have to be dry and boring. People respond better to material that doesn’t sound scripted. For example, the Guardian found that lo-fi Stories resonated significantly better with their audience. Taking note, they boosted Instagram followership to over 1 million in four months. Chances are your company has learned something over the years. Share what you learn and be open!
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HUMANIZE YOUR BRAND BY SPOTLIGHTING EMPLOYEES Tell the stories of people who work with you! People want to feel connected to other humans, not bots and algorithms. Show audiences you value them by asking for user-generated content. WeWork dedicated an Instagram Stories page to customers using their workspaces. This intimacy increases brand loyalty. And don’t forget a swipe-up call to action on Instagram Stories for business accounts of over 10k followers. These native links are proven ways to drive sales. Tesco takes Stories to another level by putting out special articles featuring employee recipes. The idea of sharing a recipe is casual and homey. Converted into Story format people feel like they’re reading grandma’s recipe book from any device and on any Story platform. What are some ways you can feature the people who make your company special?
TELL YOUR BUSINESS STORY! The Stories format is an excellent opportunity for expressing the history of your brand. For example, Subaru shares the evolution of the business in a sleek embeddable publication and mobile Story. Or Patagonia shares how they transitioned to recyclable materials in their snow gear. A subject that could easily put people to sleep if told as chemical research. However, they told it through world-famous powder surfer Kazushi Yamauchi, aka the Orange Man— a much more engaging lens. People enjoy feeling like they’re getting exclusive information. Be vulnerable, and sift through those records for gems to share.
IMAGE CREDIT: LUCY’S MAGAZINE
T R Y I S S U U T O D AY Stories are now the most popular and impactful media format to connect with and captivate new audiences on mobile and social. Streamline content creation and distribution by using the Issuu Story Cloud to transform your content into Instagram Stories, AMP Stories, LinkedIn Stories and more in seconds. Create once and share your brand, business and editorial content everywhere with Issuu. The Issuu Story Cloud makes it easy to convert your content into new formats for sharing on your website, as mobile Stories on social and across the web. GET STARTED WITH THE ISSUU STORY CLOUD >
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