[Omigosh, you guys. We got so wrapped up in putting the final touches on our “Predictions for 2016” article this past weekend that we absentmindedly forgot to publish this month’s “By The Numbers” yesterday! So, with our apologies, here’s our monthly performance report. – Ed.]
What an unbelievable year 2015 was! For The Watercraft Journal, 2015 was a year of major milestone, unprecedented growth and marked and measurable returns on our advertisers’ investments. Not only did The Watercraft Journal welcome over 235,000 individual readers throughout the year, but we also surpassed 1,000 uniquely-written articles published. And most of all, we also surpassed one million articles being read since our launch in November 2013.
“But,” you say, “There was a lot of good stuff happening this year. Sea-Doo and Yamaha both came out with lots of new product, the industry grew by double digits in new unit sales and most of North America experienced mild riding weather longer than normal.” And yes, you’d be right. And The Watercraft Journal was first to break the news of the new 300-horsepower Sea-Doos, as well as Yamaha’s all-new TR-1 engine. We also provided more in-depth coverage of more club rides, events and race coverage than any other publication.
And as you’ll see below, our December readership dwarfed that of 2015’s March or April readership. What does that mean when winter readership surpasses the previous Spring’s? Easy. Continued growth. Unlike the last print publication teetering on its last legs, The Watercraft Journal draws in more personal watercraft enthusiast readers month-after-month, year-after-year. This means greater exposure for your company’s advertisements, with a wider reach of professionally-written articles on your product.
No website, blog or YouTube channel has managed to come close. And for many companies choosing to develop and publish their own images, updates and videos through their own social media outlets they find that they’re only preaching to the choir. “Only people who have heard of you will see your posts,” we tell them. “You can reach a lot more people if you had a wider range. Let us be your bullhorn.”
December 2015
There Ain’t No Wintertime Blues
Notoriously, all of us sit and watch as customer traffic dwindles as wintertime rolls in. Such was the case this November, and even in October as riders and racers finished up their seasons and prepared to winterize their watercraft. Amazingly though, we watched – even through Christmas and New Year’s – as our readership increased day-after-day. Why was that? you ask. Because unlike every other media outlet, we didn’t take the week (or even the month, in a few cases) off. While many regulate this as a seasonal industry, we call it life – and we’re not alone. No other publication offers more consistent and reliable coverage and people have come to depend on us.
November 2015
Total number unique readers: 16,297*
Total number of articles read: 38,598
Percentage of new readers: 56.6%
December 2015
Total number unique readers: 19,360*
Total number of articles read: 43,309
Percentage of new readers: 60.4%
*This number is considered equal to an individual sale of a single copy of a magazine.
‘Tis The Season to Prepare For Riding Season
There’s a funny thing about being a resource: people tend to rely on you (see above). If you’re as consistent as we are in publishing industry news, product reviews, ride reports and the like, PWC enthusiasts will come to depend on new and interesting content every single day. That means you’ve got a responsibility to deliver. Days off? Long vacations? A full night’s sleep? Pfft! You can sleep when you’re dead. Unlike others, The Watercraft Journal maintains a strict publishing schedule, developing and publishing content about its advertisers and their products to place before the largest reading audience in the industry.
News articles published in November 2015: 27
Feature articles published in November 2015: 10
Total feature word count: 8,699 words
News articles published in December 2015: 24
Feature articles published in December 2015: 13
Total feature word count: 13,947 words
*When this number is translated to print publication standards equals a 108-page magazine. Please note that this number does not include an average of two uniquely-written news articles published daily.
Social Behaviors
We’re amazed that other publications or websites haven’t learned from The Watercraft Journal – in that we don’t require our readers to download large PDFs or specialized apps, pay for a subscription, or even a setup a password to log in and access our content. Thus far, the evidence would speak louder than bombs. Our way works. But again, we’re not everyone, and we only make it look easy. We offer our content freely and easily – whether it’s via a desktop, a laptop or a portable device, anyone can read our content. And with our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and weekly newsletters, we bring our content directly to them. And that’s a huge part of our success!
December Facebook likes: 14,845
Top Five countries: United States, Australia, France, Greece, United Kingdom
The Time to Act is Now
With 2015 behind us and a whole new year ahead, all of us at The Watercraft Journal are incredibly enthusiastic with a full calendar’s worth of new events to cover, product to review and rides to report on. That, and with some of the best companies in our industry as supporting advertisers, you can expect to see much more in-depth coverage of these shops, manufacturers and services in the coming months – all while more and more readers come to learn that The Watercraft Journal is their primary source of news, reviews and feature articles. Again, now is the time to get your company and products on The Watercraft Journal. To inquire more about advertising with The Watercraft Journal, please email [email protected]
