Illustration of a cell phone and a coffee mug

6 Publishing Mistakes That Can Hurt Your Brand

Sep 14th, 2018 by Issuu

You’ve put so much hard work into your publication – making sure the design, layout, photography and writing are all the best they can be, and getting it together on time. However, there are always things that can prevent people from buying, reading, or even clicking on your magazine. More often than not, the culprit is one of these publishing mistakes

No Previews

In the old days, you’d flip through a magazine, skimming the pieces of writing and checking out the pretty pictures and designs, and then you’d decide if you wanted to spend on it. If you don’t have previews, you’re basically forcing people to buy the magazine without giving them a peek of what to expect. We are trusting beings, but not that trusting.

No Social Presence

Magazines take a while to make, and an even longer while to make good. But you don’t want your brand to be like that one person who always brightens your day before disappearing for a month. To keep people engaged with your publication, make sure you have a consistent social presence on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. This is also a great way to build excitement for new issues, and spread your publication by word of mouth.

Related reading: Social Media Marketing for Beginners

Typos/Mistakes

Don’t let your publishing mistakes be actual mistakes. You can have the most beautifully composed pictures or the most perfectly selected color palette, but if your text has mistakes in it, you can kiss your credibility goodbye. For people to take your brand seriously, and want to read more of it, professionalism is important. The devil is in the details, make sure you catch it before it’s too late.

Inconsistent Branding

People are allowed an identity crisis every now and then. Brands? Not so much. It’s important to know what your purpose is as a magazine and to not waver from that, or else you run the risk of your readership feeling betrayed and confused.

Related reading: Tips to Focus Your Brand Voice

Inconsistent Publishing Schedule

‘Baby Got Back’ is a work of genius. It bumps in the headphones, and kills at parties. But have you ever heard anything else by Sir Mix-A-Lot? Yeah, no. Don’t let your publication be a one-hit wonder. A consistent posting schedule is the best way for your readers to build a connection with your brand. An inconsistent one will make you seem flaky. Even if it means putting out less content, publishing consistently will allow your readers to build trust in your brand.

No Descriptions/SEO

We’ve talked a lot about the readers you already have, but what about new ones? Uninitiated fans of your creativity? These people are the reason it’s so important to have good SEO. Of all publishing mistakes, this is a vital one to pay attention to. The more you pop into people’s search results, the more eyes will reach your pages. The best way to improve it is by spending some quality time in your description, and making sure that key words in it match what people might search for. A helpful game to play: pretend to be someone who doesn’t know about your brand, and search for something you’d want to lead to your publication. Then add keywords to your description accordingly.

Avoiding these 6 publishing mistakes can save your business hours of heartache. Now that you know what not to do, show us what you can do, and publish some of your content for the world to see.

Learn more button on a light purple background for the Issuu blog.