Magazines and social media platforms: Strategies for enhancing user engagement and implications for publishers

Using theoretical perspective of uses and gratification and big five personality traits, the current research examines magazine readers’ social media behavior by exploring users’ preferred social media platforms for connecting with magazines and specific genres and motivations behind doing so. In addition, we also examine engagement strategies that are most likely to attract more readers and retain the interest of current users. Finally, we explore the relationship between accessing magazines via social media platforms and various personality types. To answer the above questions, we employ two studies utilizing focus group discussions and survey method. The findings indicate that most people expect magazines to have a presence on major social media platforms, and people indicate varying motivations for accessing magazines’ social sites, including an opportunity to get relevant product recommendations and targeted messaging. In addition, users suggest various engagement and content management strategies that may help publishers optimize their social media presence. Theoretical and practical implications of the study are discussed.