Forbes: Half our revenue is from digital

As yesterday’s Newsweek announcement reminds us, the magazine industry is changing by the day, and those that aren’t changing with it are going to be left behind.

In that regard, Forbes seems to be in good shape. The magazine said this week that half of its 2012 revenue will come from digital.

During an appearance at the American Magazine Conference, Forbes chief revenue officer Meredith Levien said that the company will hit a 50-50 balance between print and online this year, a first.

While it’s tempting to attribute that to the decline in print, Levien noted that Forbes is actually doing fairly well in that regard, with ad pages up 12.5 percent this year.

Digital revenue has grown even faster, up 27 percent.

Forecasters have long cautioned that growth in digital revenue won’t make up for print declines. But Forbes has adopted a number of innovative strategies to help grow its online brand, going beyond traditional internet advertising, including a product that lets marketers create their own content on Forbes.com and its own ad exchange.

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