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Can a customer magazine help sales?
In recent research by the Association of Publishing Agencies and Royal Mail:
- 53% of customer magazine readers said they are more likely to purchase products they have seen featured in a customer publication – that figure rises to 64% among readers of retail publications.
Net result of publishing Precision Marketing 2001 - Atom report (PDF)
Do customer magazines have a brand benefit?
Brand image and top-of-mind awareness improve amongst those customers exposed to customer magazines – a company is seen as more trustworthy, more customer-friendly and providing better value for money.
- You’ll also entertain and inform. In the APA’s survey, 81% of consumers and 79% of business readers claim to enjoy reading their customer magazines, while over 90% in both categories find them informative.
How do customer magazines create loyalty?
Loyalty — firm and constant support or allegiance — is a result of a combination of elements. Magazines flexibly can help create loyalty as part of an integrated communications programme.
Magazines:
- Elicit responses and increase dialogue. Through service and product offers in advertorials, promotions and competitions, surveys and questionnaires they can create an environment in which customers feel comfortable and able to respond — giving you a chance to gather more data and more accurate research.
- Establish a community, by allowing customers to feel part of a group, and to see and talk to each other.
- Are a chance to say thanks to your customers and reward them through product offers (a good chance to sample) or service benefits.
- Should arrive regularly, keeping top-of-mind with consumers and staying in touch. (70% of customers actually WANT to hear from the companies they deal with, according to Mintel.)
How can a magazine bring my customers closer?
By increasing the opportunities in which you can communicate with your customers or clients. According to Mintel, 50% of adults have seen or received a customer magazine, while four out of 10 adults retain a magazine for future reference. What actions do customers take as a result of reading a customer magazine? Innumerable. They respond to adverts, they feel better about the company which sent the magazine and they’re more likely to purchase a product or service from the company. The more regular the reader, the stronger the response.
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Do marketers think magazines work?
They certainly seem to, as the market just keeps on growing – up 17% year on year with an ever-widening variety of publications. Retail, travel and financial publications account for 47% of all customer magazines produced, while business to business publications account for 10%. Other areas earmarked for growth, says Mintel, include IT, fmcg, manufacturing, telecommunications and government agencies.
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A thorny question. It’s impossible to be 100% accurate without a specific brief. But help is now at hand. Try out atomiq and we'll take you through an entirely interactive, online costing procedure.
What are the main cost areas of publishing a customer magazine?
The costs can usually be categorised into three areas:
- Publishing expertise and planning
- Print & paper
- Postage & distribution
The proportions which these costs constitute of an overall budget are dependent on the following:
- The size of the audience you are trying to reach
- The pagination and production quality of the magazine
- The delivery/distribution method
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Can a customer magazine be self-financing?
In the majority of cases, the answer is no. But the growing recognition of the power of customer magazines to deliver key audiences means that advertising revenue is on the increase. Advertising generates more than £50m additional income for the customer publishing industry and 55% of customer magazines now carry third party advertising.
How effective is third party advertising in customer magazines?
40% of consumer readers have been motivated to purchase after actively reading adverts for new products in customer magazines; while 44% of consumer readers and 42% of business readers are more likely to trust special offers in customer magazines.
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What are the key stages of production
These stages in the publishing of a customer magazine are established once the key objectives of the magazine have been agreed:
- briefing and planning
- writing and design
- sub-editing and proofing
- reproduction
- print and distribution
How long does it take to publish a magazine?
This obviously depends on the scope of the marketing brief and the pagination of the magazine. Once the brief and key objectives have been agreed, you should plan a minimum time-span of around three to four months for the first issue and an average of two months for subsequent issues.
What role does the client play in the production of a customer magazine?
Atom works closely with its clients to involve them but not overwhelm them. We take on the strategic direction, management and creation of the magazine and have clearly designated areas where the client becomes involved, checking progress and steering the project. Our editors and account managers liaise on a regular basis with our clients and our production process clearly explains every step of the procedure.
A typical production process
Are there any restrictions on the size of a magazine, i.e. does it have to be A4?
“Stand-out” is an important issue in publishing, indeed in any business. Atom publishes a range of different format magazines designed to be distinctive and attract attention. A magazine can be any size. Larger format magazines give a bigger canvas for designers to work on and the use of white space can give a magazine a more upmarket feel. Small magazines (for example A5) are published particularly for distribution with existing mailings such as bank and utilities statements.
One caveat however is the delivery of the final product to the reader. If posted, decide whether the magazine will be delivered in an envelope or polywrapped. Making special sizes of an envelope for delivery can be expensive and polywrapping can overcome this. If the magazine is a take-one (such as some supermarket or cinema magazines) then dispensers may have to be specially made.
Is there an ideal number of pages for a customer magazine?
No. And, er yes.
In most cases, consumers enjoy a good read and the more you give them, the greater the opportunity to build a relationship with them. In terms of cost, however, magazines whose pagination adheres to the largest possible sections printable on a press, will cost less. There are presses which can print 48 pages at one pass, which is more economical than printing say, three sections of 16.
In some markets (such as finance or health), it’s not unusual for some readers to baulk at the pagination of a magazine if they feel their subscriptions or premiums are rising as a consequence. In these instances, evidence has shown us that there is an ideal number of pages which conveys the right brand messages but is not perceived as overly expensive.
Can I use a magazine to target specific customers?
Although print techniques now exist which can effectively deliver a different message to every customer. In practice, most segmented magazines target groups of individuals within the customer database. These groups are chosen using a variety of criteria (see below), and a magazine created which contains core editorial which every customer will receive, plus extra targeted information relevant to a particular group. Direct-to-press digital printing can use information from a database to create personalised messages within a magazine.
How can a database be segmented?
In any way you want, depending on the information held on the database. Age, sex, postcode are basic identifiers but ethnicity, educational qualifications and recency/frequency of spend are all useful in targeting your readership. One profiling programme identifies first names as an indicator of age and/or economic circumstance: Enid, Violet and Mabel have different connotations to Camilla, Tamsin and Fiona.
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How can an organisation monitor the success of its magazine?
Research. Atom uses external market research agencies or the client’s own departments to asses the impact of a magazine on the target market. Research methods include telephone interviews, in-magazine questionnaires and focus groups. Areas covered include the presentation or creative delivery of the magazine through to the actual effect on business.
The success of the magazine is dependent on how well it has performed against its objective. For example, changing consumer brand perceptions or increasing footfall and spend, are evidently different and need different research approaches. In the absence of research, there may be ancedotal evidence which may provide useful feedback, such as response to competitions, offers, editorial features, effect on sales volumes to call centres and so on.
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