How to turn a magazine into a subscription-selling machine

CASE HISTORY

“Let’s mail free copies of our magazine to good prospects and wrap those issues with an attractive, low-priced subscription offer. When people see first-hand just how great our magazine is, they’ll want to subscribe. And in the bargain, we’ll build our brand whether they buy or not.”

Almost every publisher and editor suggests this “win-win strategy.”

And almost every marketing and circulation director who adopts it learns anew, it’s not-not.

This simple idea simply does not work. Test after test proves:

a) Mailing unrequested issues to unsuspecting customers is insupportably expensive given the inordinately low response typically generated — irrespective of any supposed brand image benefits or bonus circulation claims.

b) Giving away free issues — without requiring a commensurate commitment to continue with a subscription — so devalues the worth of your magazine, the only price customers will support approaches absolute zero.

It’s just the cold hard facts of circulation management. Inviolate, settled law in the world of subscription direct marketing.

That is, until THE WEEK.

If you know THE WEEK, you know it has defied virtually every trend in magazine publishing. It flows from owner, Felix Dennis, at the top. And his brand of iconoclastic, innovative marketing is infused throughout the organization.

So it is no surprise that THE WEEK’s Steven Kotok, Sara O’Connor, Peter Corbett, et al., are having notable success with a “let’s-mail-free-issues-to-good-prospects” promotion I helped create.

The results are rewriting the rules of magazine marketing. And establishing a case history on how to wrap a magazine with a promotion that turns a free issue into a subscription-selling machine.

Here’s how THE WEEK is doing it.
(Click on thumbnails to view at full size)

1. Turn the offer into an event. “For a limited time, we’re inviting selected influentials to receive THE WEEK—and TWO bonus gifts—FREE!” That single sentence on the front of the wrap instantly conveys the idea: This is no ordinary magazine delivered randomly to everyone with a mailbox. THE WEEK’s arrival is deserved recognition that rightfully elevates you into the ranks of the cognoscenti (and damn well about time, too!)

2. Confirm what customers know is true. “Congratulations! YOU are on our FREE LIST.” Everyone knows magazines have a private list of people who get comped. By stating it publicly, THE WEEK lends prestige to their offer. Suddenly “free” doesn’t equal worthless. It means exclusive.

3. Don’t ask for the sale. “Mail this VIP Card to stay on it…” Most free issue offers are of the “see-it / buy-it” variety.  Which is why they fail. First impressions are important, but not enough to get customers to part with their money. It’s better to extend the offer over time in exchange for a much easier to obtain “continue-if you-like-it / cancel-if-you-don’t” commitment

4. Don’t believe in your product. It will NOT sell itself. Even to your publisher’s best friends. Firmly establish your unique selling and value proposition. For THE WEEK it is: “All you need to know about everything that matters.”

And they don’t simply ask you to take their word for it. THE WEEK employs fellow “Free Listers” to help do the job. Drew Barrymore: “To be smart, funny, and globally aware is a turn-on for me. That’s why I read THE WEEK.” Bill Maher: “THE WEEK lets you fool people into thinking that you know absolutely everything.”  Tina Brown: “THE WEEK is better than a CIA briefing.”

5. Remember the rules. The myth of marketing is that breakthroughs result from ignoring rules and taking impetuous risks. In truth, breakthroughs are achieved through more effective application of proven best practices in ever more creative ways.

THE WEEK’s mastery of subscription marketing principles is a tour de force: Free issue. Soft offer. Gift upon order. Bill me later. Gift upon payment. Risk-free guarantee. Order now deadline. And that’s just the cover of the wrap.

Inside and on the back: Welcome to THE WEEK. Pictures of the offer. Testimonials from famous readers. Elaborate promotion of the premiums. And repeated, urgent calls to action.

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The lesson is simple: When you know the Secrets of Successful Direct Mail like Dick Benson, and you employ them like Gene Schwartz, you can create Breakthrough Advertising like THE WEEK.

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Case History: THE WEEK
Posted: January 1, 2011

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