Is digital publishing right for you?

In PUBLISHING
23 September 2021
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There are almost limitless possibilities in the realm of digital publishing. Whether you are using it for professional or personal purposes, there is something for everyone. But how can you know for sure if digital publishing is right for you and your goals? Let us help you with our questionnaire and solutions below!

Access anywhere

One of the major features of digital publishing is that you can access your publications from anywhere. If you are a frequent traveler, for example, or you have professional meetings outside of the office and need to access a presentation, digital publishing is a great solution for you. 

Everything in one place

Having all your documents in one place is a huge asset. You can easily access your materials without having to collect them from several different sites and services. Maybe you want potential clients to be able to view your entire portfolio at once. Or perhaps you’re a teacher and you’d like to post readings and assignments for your students all in one spot. You can even make a virtual library! If this sounds like something you need, then the verdict is in: digital publishing is right for you!

Interactive content

Digital publications don’t have to be boring and static. In fact, they shouldn’t be! You can make yours interactive and unique with music, sound effects, videos, GIFs, links, images, and more. Printed materials simply don’t provide the interactivity that digital publications do. If this appeals to you, then you should make the switch to digital publishing.

Marketing/sales strategies

Do you have something to promote or sell? While traditional marketing materials can be effective, digital marketing can reach a wider audience more quickly. Adding shopping links, strong clickable CTAs, and sharing your publication (more on that below), will enhance your sales and/or marketing strategies.

💡 TIP: Get your checklist for developing your digital publishing strategy.

Sharing 

Want to spread your digital publication far and wide? You can share it in just a few clicks! Embedding your publication on a website or sharing via social media is incredibly easy. If you want to ensure that your content reaches a wide audience, it’s time to embrace digital publishing.

Privacy

Don’t want everyone to be able to see your publications? No problem! You can choose who has access to your publications by making them private. Digital publishing is an excellent solution for those who want to limit or control how many people can view their publication.

Tracking

Oftentimes it’s hard to know whether your marketing campaign has been successful, or how many people have read your magazine article. Digital publishing offers several solutions for tracking your metrics. Calaméo has a built-in statistics feature, and PLATINUM members can link their Google Analytics account with Calaméo. So you will never be in the dark about metrics and data with digital publishing.

💡 TIP: Learn more about the KPIs to watch for your digital publications.

Personal projects

Publish your novel, share your newsletter, upload your thesis, start your own magazine. These (and more!) are all possible with digital publishing. The world is your oyster when it comes to using digital publishing for personal projects, especially with Calaméo.

Your turn!

As you can see, there are infinite reasons to use digital publishing for your sales and marketing strategies, your personal projects, and more. Plus, it’s remarkably easy! So no matter the project, digital publishing can be a solution for everyone! 

💡 TIP: To jump start your digital publishing journey, check out our Ultimate Guide to Digital Publishing! 

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PUBLISHING

Digital publishing: A guide for educators

In PUBLISHING
4 November 2021

Digital publishing is a tool that can be adapted to every industry. And education is no exception! From elementary schools to universities to employee training courses, digital publishing is useful for all facets of education. But how can educators and the education industry best use digital publishing?  Here we have compiled a guide for educators on how to use digital publishing in the education industry. 

Teachers & professors

In 2020, teachers and professors around the world were forced to quickly adapt to online teaching. This big change was hard for many education professionals, especially those who did not have the right tools. While many schools have decided to go back to in-person learning this year, there are some digital tools that proved so useful that teachers will continue using them, including digital publishing!

Online assignments

Easily post homework and other assignments on a digital publishing platform. This is a great solution for a student out sick who needs to catch up, or a teacher deciding to go green and reduce paper waste.“The dog ate my homework” will no longer be a valid excuse! Teachers can post workbooks, readings, worksheets, discussion questions, and everything in between for students to access online. 

Lesson plans

If schools are using a hybrid in-person/online model, students who are at home can follow along with the classroom students thanks to digital publishing. The teacher can add external links to the publication if there is a quiz or video component to the lesson, for example. 

Answer keys, corrections

Using digital publishing, teachers can post a plethora of additional materials for students to help with studying. Archive old assignments so students have a useful study guide at their disposal before big exams. Answer keys, corrected assignments, additional exercises, external resources, and more! The possibilities are endless.

Virtual library

Want to display students’ work? It’s easy with our Library widget! End-of-semester projects, presentations, creative writing assignments…these can all be beautifully displayed and embedded in a website or classroom blog for everyone to see.

💡 TIP: Students can create a digital portfolio of their work! Read our article on how digital portfolios work harder for grads.

Privacy

Teachers have options when it comes to uploading material that is for students’ eyes only. First, by making a publication private, the teacher controls who can access the publication. Then, they can choose to share the publication via a private URL, or using the Subscribers feature with a PREMIUM or PLATINUM account.

💡 TIP: Our Editor tool is the key to an enriched publication!

Administrators

Digital publishing is not just reserved for the classroom. Administrators can also take advantage! From school districts to school boards to Parent-Teacher Associations, digital publishing can help administrators achieve their communication goals.

💡 TIP: Using Calaméo for professional purposes? Take a look at our PLATINUM plan!

School or university brochures

Show off your school or university in a beautiful digital brochure. Add links, videos, music, and other interactive features to wow potential students and their families. Embed it in your website or share it via your social media pages. Display your school colors and logo by using our white label feature!

Newsletters

Much like brochures, digital publishing is an excellent medium for newsletters. Whether it’s an internal newsletter for teachers and staff, or an external newsletter for students and families or alumni, your publications can shine on a digital publishing platform. Add links to sign-up forms for field trips or volunteering, and, if you have a PLATINUM  account, include videos of student performances or other highlights. Online newsletters are the perfect solution for communicating important information to many people at once. Use our Statistics feature to see how many views your newsletter receives!

Professional documents

Policies, procedures, school rules, student handbooks, school directories, annual reports (and more!) can be posted online for all to see. These crucial documents can be shared easily to ensure that both faculty and students receive all the important information throughout the school year.

Yearbooks

Traditional yearbooks have gotten a 21st-century upgrade! Why not include videos of congratulations or well wishes from faculty, for example? Students can share their yearbooks with relatives to show off their accomplishments from the previous school year.

💡 TIP: Need to know what types of files you can convert on Calaméo? Click here!

Flyers

Bake sales, charity auctions, open houses, school plays, talent shows…broadcast all your school events and important announcements with digital flyers! Embed them in your school’s website and share them easily. If there’s a date or venue change, no need to panic. Upload a new version of your publication and the URL remains the same.

Training

Another sector of the education industry that could benefit from digital publishing is professional training. Many companies provide continuing education or training courses for their employees, both online and in person.

Training materials

Professional trainers can upload their training materials to a digital publishing platform such as Calaméo and enrich it with interactive touches like links and videos. In fact, PREMIUM and PLATINUM members can use Folders to organize by theme or company department, managing access via private URLs or our Subscribers feature.

Intranet or employee training portal

Training managers can embed their training materials on the company’s internal website, Intranet, or training portal, for employees to consult from anywhere. Easy to upload and easy to access, employee training will be a breeze!

And more!

Private tutors, professional aides, volunteers…absolutely everyone in education can use digital publishing! Not only is Calaméo a great option for a digital publishing platform, it’s easy and will save educators’ most precious resource: time.

PUBLISHING

Top 5 Digital Publishing Strategy Trends for 2020

In PUBLISHING
26 November 2019

Digital publishers have gotten used to seeing huge trends arrive every couple of years. In 2013, traffic from social media networks was the biggest news in digital publishing. By 2015, it was the pivot to video. After that, paywalls came back in style and in 2019, everybody loved podcasts. So what’s next for 2020? Digital publishing strategy trends that get back to basics and put content first.

Read on to learn which strategies will help define digital publishing in 2020. Plus, discover how they can help your business achieve its goals.

CONTENT MARKETING

Our top trend pick for 2020 is not exactly new. In fact, content marketing has been part of the digital publishing conversation for more than a decade. But that’s because content marketing has proved to be a valuable tool for many types of businesses. Over 80% of brands are making use of online content in their marketing strategies and 96% of marketers think it is effective.

One reason that digital content has become such a popular marketing strategy is the growing dislike of ads. Unlike traditional ads, the content that businesses publish online aims to inform their audiences about relevant subjects as well as entertain and inspire. From funny GIFs to white papers, content marketing will continue to be a key digital publishing strategy trend in 2020.

INSIDER INFLUENCE

A major success story in 2019 came from food magazine Bon Appétit’s digital strategy. Emphasizing video, its set of Test Kitchen series have become an internet phenomenon. Fans have favorite Bon Appétit editors, celebrate the “Cinematic Universe” featuring their teamwork and rank every episode. As a result of that engagement, subscriptions have risen 64% this year from digital channels.

While you may not want to commit to a full-on video strategy, there are other ways for digital publishers to adopt the “editors as influencers” trend. For example, try showcasing the people behind your publications on platforms like Instagram or LinkedIn. Because audiences there are drawn to authentic personalities, they’re smart places to build connections between your contributors and your audience.

SUBSCRIBERS FIRST

Speaking of platforms, digital publishers won’t stop using them in 2020. But another top strategy trend focuses on subscribers over followers. Although platforms like Facebook still provide opportunities for clicks and views, it can be difficult to take advantage of this audience. Many publishers say they don’t see significant value from posting their content to social platforms.

On the other hand, readers who visit your site and sign up to follow you there offer digital publishers a lot of advantages. It’s a great way to learn more about their interests and stay in contact. And creating a direct relationship with your subscribers doesn’t have to mean selling your publications. For example, you may want to develop newsletters, target promotions or send exclusive content to subscribers.

ECOMMERCE EVERYWHERE

In 2020, digital publishers will find new ways to connect ecommerce and digital publishing. It’s clear that internet users are tired of ads. But they’re also less likely to sign up for paid subscription services than they used to be, thanks to “subscription fatigue.” Despite this slowdown, online sales keep growing: revenues over $4 trillion are projected next year.

Above all, these trends show that digital publishing strategy can benefit from including sales. There are lots of possibilities to test. Consider producing shoppable content, branded content and free content to attract customers and encourage them to buy while they browse.

PRIVACY RISING

The last digital publishing strategy trend on our list for 2020 is respecting online privacy. Over recent years, protecting the digital data of internet users has been in the spotlight. And new standards are helping to change how businesses communicate with users online, from ads to email.

Although it’s too soon to know exactly how those changes will look, digital publishers can already anticipate a few best practices. The first is to keep privacy in mind when working on strategy in order to be prepared. The second is create great content that readers will find useful, connect with, sign up for and even shop.

The one thing that all of these digital publishing strategy trends have in common is strong content. If you’re getting ready for 2020, give your publications a boost with Calaméo. Publish in a snap, customize and embed your content anywhere. Create your free account and get started today.

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