Audience Development
Basic and Advanced Methods to Acquire & Retain Readers
Advanced Magazine Institute
India 2012
Entire contents © 2012 Sabatier Consulting LLC All Rights Reserved
What is it?
Audience development creates the audience who
receives the magazine (print or digital), e-newsletters,
visitors to your website, etc.
Audience development enables your magazine and
website to monetize the audience by providing the
content that they value and thus, will pay for. It also
offers a market for advertisers enabling the magazine to
sell ads and other products and services.
Audience Development
What is it?
Audience Development plays a key role in the success of
a publishing operation.
o In some cases you will be tasked with creating an integrated
database to permit the magazine to engage customers at every
touch point.
Audience Development
Where do I begin?
The first step is to determine what the goals are for the
magazine and the website
Example: Does the business model anticipate that circulation
revenue will contribute X% to the overall operation? If so, then you
begin from that point and work backward to plan and budget for
promotion tactics that can help you reach that financial goal.
If the publication is strictly missional and will be supported by funds
from donors or an organization, how will you measure success in
terms of distribution of the publication and/or visitors online?
Audience Development
What questions should I answer?
Who is the primary audience? (characteristics,
preferences, need we can fill)
Is the audience different from print to online (website and
digital)? If I do not know, how can I find out?
How does this audience access (find, purchase, visit)
similar content (magazines and online) at this time?
Who is my competition and how are we different (the
value proposition)?
Audience Development
What is an appropriate budget?
This is a difficult question to answer; it is based on your
overall goals. But the best way to budget is to create a
detailed plan with estimates to generate subscriptions by
source and then see what that total is. You then make
adjustments to the source, quantity of promotions, mix of
sources used, etc.
A calculation that is helpful to use is to develop a “cost
per subscription” for EACH source you use. Example: Insert cards-avg. cost per sub $16; direct mail-avg. cost per sub $42;
email-avg. cost per sub $18; paid search keywords-avg. cost per sub $7.50, direct
mail agency-avg. cost per sub $20; online ad (your site)-avg. cost per sub $2.50,
etc.
Audience Development
What is an appropriate budget?
Audience Development
The first line of offense in any circulation plan is
renewals, the most inexpensive way to maintain your
desired circulation level.
Total circulation is multiplied by the average renewal
rate to get the number of renewals anticipated. Include
any percentage increases you expect to garner from new
strategies or increased postage and/or vendor costs
involved. Then multiply that figure by the average cost
per renewal to arrive at the budged needed to promote
renewals.
What is an appropriate budget?
Audience Development
Once total response from renewals is computed it is
subtracted from the circulation goal to get the target
number of new subscriptions needed to maintain
circulation at the current level.
Take the number of new subscriptions needed and
multiply that number by the average cost (all sources) to
obtain a member (subscriber). This sum represents the
budget needed for new promotion.
The two sums added together (renewal budget and new
promotion budget) equal the budget needed to maintain
paid subscriptions at the current level.
What is an appropriate budget?
Audience Development
SUBSCRIPTION PROMOTION ANALYSIS CIRCULATION BUDGET WORKSHEET
This example is for promotion only. No salaries or overhead is included. The point is to illustrate the promotion budgeting begins with renewals followed by new promotion which together create the circulation marketing budget.
Individual Subscriptions Status Quo
120,000
Revenue/Ren $51 Subs due to expire in 2010 55% 66,000
Revenue/Sub $30
Average cost to renew
$5.00 Estimated average cost for new subs
$36.00
Scenario I
Scenario II
Scenario III
Renewal Budget STATUS QUO
Revenue Revenue Revenue
Individual Subscriptions Status Quo 120,000
120,000
120,000 Subs due to expire 66,000
66,000
66,000
Average renewal rate 42% actual 44% 5% lift 46% 10% lift
Renewals obtained 27,720 $1,413,720 29,106 $1,484,406 30,561 $1,558,626
Balance needed to maintain 26,280 $788,400 24,894 $746,820 23,439 $703,161
Estimated renewal budget $138,600
$145,530
$152,807 Estimated promo budget to maintain $946,080
$896,184
$843,793
TOTALS $1,084,680 $2,202,120 $1,041,714 $2,231,226 $996,600 $2,261,787
PROFIT/LOSS
$1,117,440
$1,189,512
$1,265,188
Growth Rate Options Below is the effect of building circulation above the status quo for any scenario
Add
Addl Subs
Addl Expense Addl Revenue
Addl Profit/Loss
5%
6,000 $216,000 $180,000 -$36,000 10%
12,000 $432,000 $360,000 -$72,000
15%
18,000 $648,000 $540,000 -$108,000 20%
24,000 $864,000 $720,000 -$144,000
Worksheet for sources
Audience Development
Effective marketing satisfies a primary emotional
driver.
Consumers to people
Publications, products, services to experiences
Honesty to trust
Quality to preference
Identity to personality
Service to relationship
Audience Development
Key point about sources.
It is very important that your subscription promotion plan incorporate more than one way or method to generate paid subscriptions. Sources ebb and flow so using multiple sources can help keep circulation stable and allow you to continue to test.
Audience Development
Renewals
Direct Mail
Direct Mail
Direct Mail
Direct Mail
This source has been the primary source for new
subscriptions to-date because a) lists are available to rent
for prospecting, b) costs can be reasonable, and c) it can
generate “volume” which many other sources cannot.
Increased package and postage costs and dropping rates
of return, however, create a cost per order that is can be
outside tolerance range
Consumer magazines avg. gross response rate 3.12%,
net response: 1% to 1.8%, bad pay: 42%. Conversion
rate: about 35% (those who will renew first time asked)
DIRECT MARKETING TRENDS – What’s Happening in our Industry
TREND OPPORTUNITY/
THREAT BUSINESS IMPACT
EMPOWERED CUSTOMERS
CHANNELS ARE
PROLIFERATING
ADVANCES IN
TECHNOLOGY
SATURATION
CONSOLIDATION
OF MEDIA
RANKING &
SCORING INDIVIDUALS
Declining response rates, competitive
vulnerability
Difficult to measure “silo” ROI
Greater agility, but increased complexity, and
need for integration
Yields are decreasing at a greater rate
Costs are decreasing
Targeting offer and message to high
propensity prospects
THRE
AT
THRE
AT
OPPO
RTUNI
TY
THRE
AT
OPPO
RTUNI
TY OPPO
RTUNI
TY
Strategy & Planning
Execution
Performance Management
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
Program Management & Budgeting
Media Cost Management & Reporting
Performance History Housing, Reporting &
Analysis
Marketplace Intelligence
Media Key Performance Benchmarking
STRATEGY & PLANNING
Strategic Media Consulting, Optimization &
Development
Monthly Campaign Goals
Media Research and Recommendations
Media Allocation Analysis
Mail Plan / Media Forecasting
EXECUTION
Media Negotiation and Procurement
Post-Merge Recommendations
Media Processing, Invoicing, Reporting
Customized Invoice and Production Reports
CAMPAIGN MANAGEMENT PROCESS
A rigorous, detail-oriented process ensures the best performing segments are mailed for every campaign
DATA DRIVE – A Better way to Build Your Audience
NEW
LISTS
& DATA
RESPONSE &
TRIGGER
DATA
RESPONSE
LISTS
CO-OPERATIVE
DATABASES
COMPILED SOURCES
Long time high volume direct marketers are experiencing higher
costs and flattening performance
• Identify strategies to improve efficiency and
reduce costs
• Quantify each list segment’s contribution to
your results
• Through ranking, scoring and modeling ,
identify individuals who respond at lower
cost
• Negotiate with data and list providers based
on each list/segments relative performance
ANTICIPATED RESULTS
• 10%-30% reduction in cost with
no impact to performance
• Audience expansion of 5%-10%
• Sustained cost efficiencies
through continual negotiations
Gifts
Gifts
Can be a very good source for new and renewal
subscriptions and can possibly contribute as much
as 20% of your file activity.
Many publishers offer special pricing, example:
give a gift and give the second one at half price or
renew your own subscription and give a gift for $x
When renewing gift subscriptions, always go to the
donor first with at least three renewal offers then go
to the recipient.
Insert Cards
Insert Cards
Insert cards are those “pesky” subscription cards
that are stitched or blown into your publication.
Keep offers simple, one year introductory term. Do
not offer renewals on insert cards; this is for new
subs only.
There are various formats. Print at least two issues
worth at a time for volume pricing.
In the US, average cost per sub (cost to print and
bind or blow into publication/number of subs
averages from $15 to $20 each)
Magazine Cover Wrap
Invoice Billing Series
Often the bill
series has four
efforts; one a
month, each
with increasing
urgency in the
copy.
Internet
Web promotions represent from 5 to 25% of new
acquisitions and renewals, but these subs can be highly
profitable
Very important to understand who is coming to your site
and why; demos can be very different from print; frequency
of visit is important
Understand the reach of your site: how many visit regularly
from outside your market (are you the expert on your
market?)
Internet
Backpacker Cover Ad
Internet
Vegetarian Times Cover Ad
For many, one of the best performing promotion on their site
25-35% of total gross orders
35-50% of total net orders
Home page has cover in prominent position above the fold
If possible, have on every page in same position
Internet
Cover Ad
Form
Pay now
link
Internet
Cover Ad
20-25% of total gross orders
25-30% of total net orders for some titles, 10-15%
total net orders for other titles
Depending on audience, can create controversy
for visitors/users
Can cause customer service complaints especially
for current subscribers
Include visible close button
Internet
Pop Up
Vegetarian Times Text Link in Nav Bar
Internet
Internet
Text Link in Nav Bar
Internet
Promotion brings in a steady stream of orders even though it is small and hard to see
Attracts committed buyer 7-12% of total gross orders 7-20% of total net orders
Renewal Links
Gift subscription links
International subscription links
Sub offer at end of articles
Sub offer in e-newsletters
Text links in footers
E-bills & E-renewals
PLACEMENTS WITH INCREMENTAL VALUE
Internet
Use the internet as a source to test prices because
get results so quickly
Your financial circulation goals matter- do you want
volume of subs or high revenue per sub, but less
subs?
What works online…TEST
Internet
Low price works for more mass appeal titles
Higher price works for titles with audiences that are
less price sensitive & used to paying a higher price
1 & 2 year price offer may work for more niche titles
with lower volume
1 year only offer may promote higher volume
What works online…TEST
Internet
• Helps to make the offer more visible on the
website
• Change premiums regularly
• Use repurposed content that complements
the magazine (not new content). Work with editorial staff
Evergreen content & content that customers can use again and again works
well
Examples: checklists, user guides, recipes, exercise routines, travel guides,
screensavers
• Low price works for more mass appeal titles
What works online…premiums
Internet
Internet Paid Keywords Sample Report
Weekly Gross Orders Report
9/16/2008 9/9/2008 9/1/2008
Name of Promotion 9/22/2008 9/15/2008 9/8/2008
Magazine cover ad 100 150 175
Sub Link in top nav 50 40 45
Text Link after every article 5 5 3
Link in Magazine editorial Button 80 70 85
Embedded Forms 100 135 110
Pop up 70 60 55
Newsletters 25 20 15
Resuce Pop Up 10 10 15
Yoga Journal Upsell on BPK 2 0 1
Foreign Page 75 65 68
Canadian Page 40 35 37
Total 557 590 609
Paid Search
Google Paid Search Ad
New England Journal of Medicine Paid Search Advertising
Landing Page
Paid Search
% of Paid Search Revenue by Transaction Type - FY06
3%
3%
2%
Subscribe
47%
Register
31%
Renew
12%
1%
Subscribe
Register
Renew
CME
Pay Per View
Pay For 24 Hour Access
Pay Bill
New England Journal of Medicine Paid Search Advertising
Most publishers have used email for retention versus new promotion (doesn’t draw numbers)
Key drivers to performance include quality of list of email addresses; subject line-to the point; length; file size and download speed
Make sure copy is not being filtered – avoid trigger words-spam content
Email appending is growing – purchasing of lists with perpetual license and appending to your subscriber or prospect list
Email Marketing
Try to capture an email address for every customer
Email Marketing
The message must hit a nerve to get people to open it and
then the benefit message has to be quick
What is the hook? What makes it stand out?
Make it easy to forward to colleagues
Best response is achieved through judicious use and in
conjunction with other sources
Example: email and direct mail; email and link to special
landing page; email then telemarketing (for B2B)
Email Marketing
SEND TO:
Email newsletter subscribers
Magazine subscriber email addresses
Follow opt-in laws
Broadcast email
Email Marketing
TYPES OF PROMOTIONS:
Combo offers with other magazines
Voucher type subscription offers
Gift subscription offer in December
Third party email blasts
Response Rates for in house promotions: .2-.8%
Broadcast email
Partnerships
Academic institutions
Non-profits
Aligned member organizations
Advertisers
Retailers
Other publishers
Partnerships
Understand your brand and how it relates to partners.
Create a wish list
Define volume and expectations
Leverage your resources – work with everyone in the
company. food magazine subs through a culinary class program (bundled w/class fee)
business magazine with career development courses
Attendee Lists
Seminars/Conferences
Events
Webinars
Dinners
Advertisers
Lists
Links
Sampling (promotion must be obvious) Tricky to execute: case by case basis
Example of diabetes link on pharma site
Example of Preemie
Public Relations
Editor/Publisher/Exec. Dir appearances
Demonstrate editorial leadership in print, online and in
person
Research: conduct proprietary polls and studies then
promote then (This can bring a big boost to small budgets)
and sell a sponsorship to pay for the research effort
Track Subscription Promotion
Track promotions – all promotions through unique coding and
documenting costs and (when possible) revenues tied to the
customer
Closing thoughts
A passionate consumer connection is the cornerstone of
smart business strategy and audience development.
With magazines, publishers tend to lose money on sub
acquisition and make money on renewals.
The most important thing in all aspects of circulation
management is the ability to take the long view.