The reason as to why magazines have difficulty in converting the same experience onto screen is due to the process of designing for print first then screen. As a way to promote the website/app and encourage more publishers to use it, the platform should be an example of what can be done to editorial content using digital techniques. During the design process of a magazine, it is definite that the publishers have the digital spreads prior to sending off for print. Therefore the publishers already have the content already made for this platform. They just need to convert it into an engaging digital experience.
There was another issue of having both print and digital magazines side by side. A physical copy of the magazine would be the better option for the subscriber if both platforms have the same content. Due to preconceived notions of how bad on screen reading can be, a digital copy of the magazine may not be a viable option. Especially if it means the publisher has to do twice the work. Therefore rather than having both a digital and physical copy of the magazines content, the digital side of things should be more of a promotional feature, to get readers to buy the physical copy through featuring selected articles etc. Two magazines that do something similar to this are Printed Pages by Its Nice That and the Gourmand, which have different content for its website and magazine.
Extending on the social media direction this idea could take, there was a suggestion to have a feature where users can see who has looked at the digital preview of the magazine. Take for example the Following page on Instagram. Not only will you have the posts people have liked but the people who have viewed magazine previews. Seeing influential designers or people you admire view these magazine previews would encourage and garner curiosity to the magazine itself, hopefully providing future sales.
Another aspect that would help encourage users to view these previews are the fact that how some magazines have a subscriber base that are only associated because of its brand image, like for example GQ. Some readers would prefer to buy the physical copy in order to carry it around, implicitly showing other people that they are as sophisticated as the content shown in GQ. Not only that but on social media as well. People love to take photographs of certain magazines that show off to the world what kind of person they are. This can be seen on http://thekinspiracy.tumblr.com/ The entirety of the website summarises the lifestyle choices Kinfolk subscribers make and the visual aesthetic they aim for. Although not as explicit as these methods, it is a step in the direction of helping generate exposure for these independent magazines.
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