Many of you reading this month’s installment of “By The Numbers” don’t know that our parent company – Shaw Group Media – publishes a similar daily online publication but for brand-specific muscle cars and trucks named Mopar Connection Magazine. This publication, unlike The Watercraft Journal (WCJ), doesn’t require the efforts (such as this monthly feature) to educate and inform current and potential advertisers as to the legitimacy of its performance within its niche industry. Why? Primarily because it, again unlike WCJ, is not the only magazine of its kind to successfully operate within this medium. There are dozens of similar digital outlets for daily magazine-grade content that charge their readers no subscription fees, require sign-in passwords or large downloads to access their articles.
Unfortunately, such is not the case with WCJ. There are no other online publications, blogs or digital outlets that maintain any sort of comparable reliability, professionalism or readership. By either divvying up an already intimate niche of enthusiasts, or just by failing to reliably publish on a steady and dependable schedule, those intimating to be our competitors fail to access the vast majority of personal watercraft enthusiasts, thus failing their responsibility to present their supporting advertisers before the widest audience of self-identifying PWC enthusiasts as possible. And as a paying advertiser, you want your brand and products before the widest audience of potential customers as possible, don’t you?
At the first of every month, we publish “By The Numbers” primarily as a tool to inform the many companies within our industry who either have yet to consider advertising on The Watercraft Journal, or those currently considering joining our continually-growing family of supporting advertisers. For those who do come to enjoy the benefits of working with WCJ, they find measurable and evidenced results. In fact, so much so that we have written testimony of avid WCJ readers purchasing the latest models from both Sea-Doo and Yamaha upon our recommendation, as well as several of the products we’ve reviewed, from new runabouts all the way down to riding boots, gloves and battery chargers. More than any other magazine in our industry, advertising on The Watercraft Journal results in proven sales.
January 2016
May 2015
A Proven Rate of Growth
You might be looking above and wondering why exactly we’re publishing two performance reports – one from this past January and the other from May, 2015. We do so intentionally, as we want you to notice how January, 2016’s readership eclipsed that of May, 2015. When the month most noted for being the height of winter for most of the Northern Hemisphere outperforms effectively the first month of the summer season, there’s reason to take note. On every level, The Watercraft Journal is welcoming more and more readers, and at an accelerated, exponential rate. No other magazine is growing as quickly as The Watercraft Journal and that’s just the beginning.
December 2015
Total number unique readers: 19,360*
Total number of articles read: 43,309
Percentage of new readers: 60.4%
January 2016
Total number unique readers: 24,221*
Total number of articles read: 57,448
Percentage of new readers: 60%
*This number is considered equal to an individual sale of a single copy of a magazine.
The Reason We Stand Alone
The internet is a funny thing. When you prove yourself as steady as clockwork, people tend to return more often and regularly. As we publish industry news, product reviews, ride reports and more – more regularly than anywhere else – we’ve learned that PWC enthusiasts have come to depend on new and interesting content every single day. And that means we’ve got a responsibility to deliver. Unlike anybody else, The Watercraft Journal maintains a strict publishing schedule of developing and publishing new and informative content about its advertisers and their products, as well as the industry and sport as a whole.
News articles published in December 2015: 24
Feature articles published in December 2015: 13
Total feature word count: 13,947 words
News articles published in January 2015: 25
Feature articles published in January 2015: 12
Total feature word count: 11,040 words*
*When this number is translated to print publication standards equals a 102-page magazine. Please note that this number does not include an average of two uniquely-written news articles published daily.
Bringing WCJ Before Social Creatures
Many companies chose to use their social media accounts (be them personal or for business) as their sole outlet to accessing new and interested customers. Plain and simple, this is lunacy. Why? Because the people following said accounts already know who you are, and unless they are feverish return customers, you’re not getting the influx of fresh, new customers that a company needs to thrive. That’s why you need The Watercraft Journal. We are your bullhorn to the largest audience in the world. By offering 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: 15,000
Top Five countries: United States, Australia, France, Canada, French Polynesia
We’ve Got That Going For Us
So what do you do with a quarter million annual readers with over one million page views in a year? You go up and you keep going up. We have no plans to slow down and no dreams of contentment to grapple with. We’re looking to surpass every major forum in the way of readership and expand our reach well beyond that of our core industry, helping to introduce more companies to the world of personal watercraft for our readers. Again, we’re a resource. And to be one, you need to act like one. And now more than ever is the time to get your company and products on The Watercraft Journal. To inquire more about advertising with The Watercraft Journal, please email kevin.shaw@shawgroupmedia.com
