Digital Readiness: What does it mean and why is it important?
Technology is constantly changing and advancing. How many times a year do you see a commercial for the next generation of the iPhone? As technology progresses, the adoption of new technologies is uneven. For example, in a world of iPhone and androids, the flip phone still exists. For an individual to adapt to new technology they must learn how to use it and trust it. This is an example of digital readiness. Are people prepared to adapt to changes in technology and how will that adaption happen?
In the media world, the segment we are focused on for digital readiness is our print subscribers. Print subscribers are some of our most habitual readers. Imagine thousands of people across our community spending their mornings reading the paper front to back with a cup of coffee. The question is, how many of those readers follow our news throughout the day with our digital platforms? Did you know that our print subscriptions include access to our website, E-Paper, and mobile app? Our goal is to bridge the gap of print only readers and digital readers by helping our print readers become “digital ready.”
The first thing to consider for print subscriber digital readiness is to make sure this group of people are comfortable with navigating the digital space. The recommended place to start is introducing the group to our E-Paper. The E-Paper is a digital replica of the printed product and an effective tool for digital readiness. We offer classes and webinars to teach people how to log-in and activate their digital subscriptions to use the E-Paper. The second thing to consider is building trust with our print subscribers to engage with our digital. Print readers place emphasis on the feeling of completion. When you read the paper front to back, you are up to speed on all you need to know in news for the day. To gain trust with our readers digitally, we can show how our digital products can give that feeling of completion, and additionally keep them up to date throughout the day.
Digital readiness is important because we can focus on helping our print readers maximize their subscriptions and access all the content available to them. We can also learn more about those readers based on their digital habits, and create a better experience for them as a whole.
****This article was written by Associate Director of Audience Growth, Claire Linney******