I stumbled across the post below this morning. The concept seems to me a good one. I haven’t test it personally. If you have, let me know how it did!
As media marketers, we’re called on ever more frequently to market digital only offerings. This is an interesting opportunity to leverage the high discovery rate of direct mail to generate either sales or prospects via online conversion.
http://bit.ly/RDzTXD
Any Publisher looking into drafting or revising their online strategy should certainly consider both existing successful as well as under performing models. As part of this review process, the Publisher will undoubtedly come across the Economist. But is it the strategy that drives the success of the Economist or the nature of the publication itself?
I encourage you to read the attached article where the Economist outlines its online success. As you do, keep in mind the nature of the Economist and its audience. Consider how your title compares/contrasts when considering the likelyhood for success following this same strategy. How might your strategy differ from the Economist based on these differences?
http://bit.ly/LWkAgd
I stumbled upon a new for the iPhone app called PaperKarma with the a current direct mail campaign executed for a client. PaperKarma is a great and simple idea. Aren’t all the good ones? You simply snap a photo of the mailers address using the app and PaperKarma creates and deploys an electronic request to remove your name from the list.
PaperKarma.com
We’re still in the thick of the response curve but to date we’ve received approximately a dozen or so email requests from PaperKarma to remove names for the list. A small percent for sure – and in retrospect not totally surprising given the nature of the mailing lists. Most have a strong affinity with environmental concerns and would be considered ‘green’.
So what does this mean for ‘do not promote’ responses to mailings? Certainly, its not hard to believe these rates will increase overtime. Smart phone and tablet growth rates will help fuel this trend as well.
If we’re doing our job right, marketers deliver relevant and timely messages and offers to our customers/prospects thereby minimizing the chance our communications are considered ‘junk’. Selects are available for demographics, affinities, recency, etc. Is it time list owners begin to track, maintain, and provide channel preferences as a select on data cards?
Yes, the newsstand has seen better days. But despite the declining newsstand sales trend, there’s still a substantial and profitable market to be exploited by the savvy publisher.
Like every other channel in the your marketing mix, the newsstand should be held to a profit and loss analysis and evaluation. That means analyzing each and every promotional investment – distribution promotions, point of purchase, and checkouts. Be sure to leverage each bipad, pocket, and promotion to maximize sales potential for your books. Utilizing a p&l, Publishers can improve their profitablity on the newsstand. More importantly you may uncover opportunities for growth too!
Tough times provide opportunities. Have you tried negotiating better rates for your ongoing promotions? Are new checkout or POP programs now available that weren’t before? Has a shakeout in your category resulted in a pricing opportunity? Has a frequency change created an opportunity to consolidate bipads? Have you tested an SIP or bookazine?
Stay on top of your numbers to make the most of your current distribution and to be ready to take advantage of opportunities provided by the declining market.
