Outreach to journalists, producers, bloggers and news sites in order to generate coverage are often referred to as traditional media. Traditional media is not dead; but in order for a company to reach its target audience they must find a way to connect with them digitally. Being a women’s magazine that tackles a diverse range of topics, Cosmo encourages its readers to go to their website www.cosmopolitan.com and blog. They have a “Cosmo Community” where there are many different message boards that go from “Dating & Relationships”, “Fashion Trends”, and “Working Girl” among other topics that encourage readers to share their thoughts, stories, and opinions.
One thing that is cool about blogging or participating in their message boards is that you can participate in conversations on blogs that you love and you can willingly tell your story as well. You can engage and get to know the blogger and the audience by commenting and contributing to the conversation.
Cosmopolitan magazine has grown right along with technology. Cosmopolitan magazine offers a digital edition of their magazine available with any mobile device that has an internet connection. This is an effective way to reach out to the “tech savvy” and the women on “the go” because the magazine can be downloaded onto an I-Pad or a Nook and anyone can read it on a plane, car, train etc. Cosmo is also branching out into a new market with the CFG App, the Cosmo for Guys app is designed solely for guys and they cover topics that are targeted for the male mind.
I think that traditional and new social media are somewhat one in the same. Whether you’re talking to a journalist at the Times or someone who just simply blogs but happens to have the same audience that is relevant to the same industry, you need to understand who you are talking to, who the target audience is an the importance of bringing them a story that is relevant to their interest. I believe that Cosmo has shown that they can mature over time. With new media we have to engage in social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter both of which are heavily used on Cosmos website. More importantly what contributes to the growth of a magazine company is that almost all of their content is also available online thru their website.
Aside from branching out into the Facebook and Twitter world, Cosmo also offers Cosmo Radio. Cosmo Radio is a station on Sirius XM Satellite Radio that you can listen in your car, at your desk, at home, and anywhere on the go. Just like the magazine and the website Cosmo Radio offers expert advice on sex and relationships, beauty and style tips, celebrity news and interviews, and giveaways.
What Cosmo can improve on is their content, I know that they are mostly a fashion, beauty, advice magazine but I would love to see more articles about real life stories and have journalist contribute stories about more current events. Cosmo offers a light read but sometimes I would like for them to tap into their more journalistic side.
I had no idea that "Cosmo for Guys" existed...and there's now an app?! I'll have to check it out.
ReplyDeleteVery nice job of reviewing Cosmo's media relations and of making your own very sensible comments. You could, however, have discussed a bit more what they actually do with Twitter and Facebook. On the other hand, you are the first to get into the use of Sirius radio as a media relations tool
ReplyDeleteYour dissatisfaction with their content may simply signal that you're beginning to intellectually outgrow their market.