Mission and strategy

• Harvard Health Publications (HHP) needs to increase the sales of its print and online products (special health reports, newsletter articles).

• To increase sales, HHP needs to engage a younger audience (men and women, age 18-35) using the web as its primary medium for communication

• To engage this audience, HHP must tailor its free content and push it to this demographic.

The need for a targeted email newsletter

• Currently, HHP has nine free email newsletters—but all of these focus on an aging audience with topics like heart health, prostate disease, healthy aging, and arthritis—and most of these are a finite series of seven or eight emails.

• Major websites like MSN, About.com, and AOL are more actively seeking out engaging information about wellness and prevention topics: nutrition, fitness, mental wellbeing, integrated medicine etc.

• The slim margin of current HHP email newsletter subscribers who are younger adults are asking for more relevant content

Email from current subscriber

Hi,

I’ve been receiving your newsletters since 2005, and I absolutely love them. They’ve helped me become more aware of my health and my wellbeing, and have helped me become healthier.

I just have one general question: I’m 22 years old, but it seems that many of these newsletters, mostly all of them, are geared toward people aged 60 and older. Could there be more general topics or tips and advice for younger people?

Thanks!

http://www.bridgetdudleykelly.com/jour147_project/email.htm

The Daily Dose email newsletter

• Free, daily email newsletter from Harvard Medical School

• In 500 words or less, each issue offers expert information and advice on a variety of wellness and prevention issues, from nutrition and fitness to depression to preventing and treating common infections

• Targeted to men and women age 18-35, but relevant for adults of all ages

• Each issue promotes a related product, such as one of more than 50 special health reports, and has a link to the Daily Dose microsite on the HHP website

• Copy for each newsletter is repurposed from existing content

Drawing in and converting subscribers

• Email topics and subject lines are tailored to target audience; have a sleek, Web 2.0 design with sharp graphics; punchy writing while maintaining the Harvard Health brand

• Emails will promote special health reports relevant to a younger audience, for example, The Workout Workbook, Healthy Eating, Improving Sleep, Coping with Anxiety, Vitamins and Minerals

• Promotes HHP products and is within the main HHP site navigation to entice users deeper into the site

Reaching potential subscribers:The Daily Dose microsite

• www.health.harvard.edu/DailyDose (sits within the main HHP website)

• Draws in users based on paid and organic search; try to then convert users to email subscribers and/or paying customers

• One landing page that is highly optimized for search, featuring the most recent Daily Dose article, an archive of past articles, and extra features like video blogs with Harvard doctors

• Promotes HHP products and is within the main HHP site navigation to entice users deeper into the site

Reaching potential subscribers:Social Media

Reaching potential subscribers:Social Media

• Twitter: Will employ casually-written, attention-grabbing tweets to alert followers to new articles, videos, etc.

• Facebook: Will employ a Facebook page with RSS feeds, article and video posts

• Social bookmarking/sharing: Would include a social bookmarking and sharing toolbar to allow users to post articles and videos to Digg, Delicious, Facebook, Blogger, etc.

Reaching potential subscribers:Media outreach

• Target editors and journalists throughout print, web, and TV with whom HHP already has a reputation or relationship: Newsweek, The New York Times, The Wall St. Journal, Oprah (print and TV), Martha Stewart (print and TV), the Today Show, Real Simple magazine

• Broadly promote email newsletter and microsite through a press release distributed to HHP’s current media list

Reaching potential subscribers:Direct mail

• HHP will implement a direct mail campaign using 4x6 postcards to announce the new email newsletter, invite recipients to visit the website, and offer them a 25% discount on all special health reports that focus on wellness and prevention

• Postcards will be sent to anyone who has ordered a printed special health report in the last three years

Reaching potential subscribers:Email

• HHP will implement a an email campaign similar to the direct mail campaign that will offer the same 25% discount

• Emails will be sent to anyone who currently subscribes to an existing HHP email newsletter, and anyone who has purchased an electronic download of a special health report in the last three years

Conclusion: Key points

• Free health information from the experts at Harvard Medical School

• Focus on wellness and prevention, target younger adults

• Packaged in sleek design that appeals to a younger, Web 2.0 crowd

• Appropriate use of social networking to gain more subscribers, and in turn, more potential customers

• Using paid and organic search, a direct mail campaign, as well as traditional media outreach in the form of press releases