Digital publishing, also known as online or electronic publishing, refers to publishing and distributing content in the form of journals, ebooks, magazines and catalogues for consumption on digital devices such as computers, laptops, tablets and smartphones.
There are several digital publishing tools available which large businesses can leverage to create digital versions of their publications and make them available to a wide audience using various communication channels. These digital publishing tools simplify the process of publishing text and graphics in a digital form.
A recent report by Statista reveals that as of January 2021, there were more than 4.66 billion people active on the Internet, accounting for nearly 60% of the world population. This figure is representative of almost all demographics, thereby presenting an extensive market that no publisher can afford to ignore.
Another major factor that has accelerated the trend for online publishing is the fact that today most people consume their content on their smartphones while on the go. It, therefore, became imperative for publishers to digitalize and offer responsive content that their readers can access on the device of their choice.
Digital publishers not only create electronic content to distribute to their online audience but also collect marketing data to optimize content and efficiently reach target audiences through digital publishing platforms. As of the year 2020, the global digital publishing market amounted to $50 billion and is expected to reach $56.09 billion in the near future.
What are Digital Publishing Tools?
The digital publishing format has evolved from the simple Adobe PDF to the more complex graphic-based, animated and simulated form of content. The Internet offers a sea of content to the readers, most of which is free. With so much content available you have to go the extra mile to attract your audience and convert them into sales.
While the role of quality content cannot be under-estimated, there is need for digital publishing tools to create interactive and responsive content that can attract and engage the readers and provide them an immersive experience. This is where digital publishing tools can help.
Also known as authoring tools, digital publishing tools are used to create ebooks and other forms of elearning materials. These tools allow to add several multimedia elements to the content and make it more interactive.
Some of these multimedia elements include audio/video files, hyperlinks, images, both static and dynamic, virtual reality and augmented reality. These features help to heighten interest in the content, making it interactive and the reading experience more personal.
With these digital publishing tools you can also sequence the content, edit and update your ebooks, and collaborate courses with various stakeholders while creating the content.
8 Major Benefits of Digital Publishing
Cost-efficiency
Traditional content is more expensive than ebooks because of the cost of production and distribution involved in print books. So with digital ebooks, you can offer your readers content that is easy on the pocket.
Wider Audience Reach
Digital publishing allows you to reach audiences from across the globe and they don’t have to visit your physical store to make a purchase or order books for delivery via courier, which adds to the cost. Added to this is the fact that using digital publishing tools you can translate your ebooks into several languages and thereby cater to both local and global audience.
Remain Competitive
The online marketplace is very competitive which means you need to leverage digital publishing tools to make your content stand out from the crowd. This could include adding simulations, animations, graphics, text, infographics, and hyperlinks among other features to make your content relevant, contextual, practical, interactive, engaging and immersive.
Benefit from Simple-to-Use Features
Digital publishing tools offer pre-built templates which you can use to create exciting interactive experiences in multiple formats such as HTML5 and SCORM. Some of these tools are cloud-based and allow you to design responsive content that you can scale to your requirements. You can add images, graphics, videos and also third-party content like animations and Google Maps etc. to further build the narrative.
Add Interactive Elements
You can use the drag and drop features to create interactive content. In case you are creating elearning content, you can leverage a complete range of interactive features such branches, rules and badges to create personalized learning experiences.
You might also like to read: How to Select the Best Digital Publishing Platform
Gives Customer Insights
The digital publishing tools come with a powerful analytical dashboard which you can use to create reports and glean insights about customer behaviour and purchase patterns. For instance, you can gauge from where you are getting maximum traffic to your website, which ebooks are gaining the maximum traction and which ones are being shared across social media.
Then again, you can analyse social media conversations around your ebooks and understand what is working and what is not with your readers. You can also view the reports to understand how many times your ebooks are downloaded, on which device type and regions. You can use these insights for more targeted marketing while also improving your ebooks in tune with customer requirements.
Increases Revenue
Digital publishing tools also have in-built language translation features allowing you to translate your ebooks into multiple languages. You can therefore increase your audience reach and maximize your revenue through increased sales.
Updates Existing Content
Knowledge is constantly evolving in tune with technology. If you are publishing educational content, you will constantly need to update your existing content to the current realities. With digital publishing tools, you can easily update existing courseware and libraries.
However, this can prove very expensive with print books which would require a new edition to be printed every time there is a new update.
Conclusion
Large businesses are increasingly using digital publishing tools to use the online medium to their advantage. These tools allow you to author interactive content using digital media such as audio/video files, AR and VR, presentations, hyperlinks and more.
All these features help to make content engaging and immersive thus drawing in the readers. While there are several digital publishing tools available in the market, you may wish to consider the Kitaboo authoring tool, a cloud-based authoring solution by HurixDigital.
KITABOO is an award-winning digital publishing software trusted by leading publishers in the industry. You can use these digital publishing tools to create ebooks for multiple platforms and enable your readers from anywhere in the world to view them on their chosen devices.
