Magazines are in flux – and under attack. For example, according to the Wall Street Journal, Fortune is planning to publish about one-quarter fewer issues annually and make other changes, joining the ranks of publications scrambling to reinvent themselves in the continued advertising downturn. It has been a turbulent decade for business magazines, according to the newspaper, and is representative of the type of stories being reported in other media.
Many blame the Internet, but we believe that part of reason – if not the main reason – is the failure of the industry to understand the changing needs of its readers and how they want to receive specific information – that, and for taking for granted that business “will always be the same.”
Within our marketplace, a b2b magazine operates by attempting to bring advertisers and readers together to “conduct business.” Yet, because of the flux in that marketplace and other communication channels opening up, it becomes increasingly difficult to find out how readers seek, gather or even want information.
For example, MAGAZINE A was a publication in in the B2B arena, but today, it no longer exists. One of the things that happened before it crashed illustrates the opportunity in front of all of us. Here is the story.
We had an ad running in it for a number of our clients that drove people to a Website we had created called www.contractor-resource.com. At this Website, we collected information for our clients from readers who would either 1) come to the Website and request information, or 2) circle the reader service card if the magazine had one. And here is where the problem – and the opportunity – occurred and why we are writing about this experience.
MAGAZINE A ceased publication with its March 2009 issue, but didn’t tell anyone, and then published that issue in September 2009 (probably because they want to receive the last-gasp revenue from the advertising)! When we started receiving leads from this final issue, we called the leads as we always do, and were asked point blank where the “other” companies were that were in MAGAZINE A could be found on our Website, www.contractor-resource.com. Apparently, the magazine cut the readers service card and made it impossible for the reader to get information from the advertisers. The readers were going to our website, and thought it was the magazine’s! We capitalized on this opportunity, and put many of the advertisers from the now defunct MAGAZINE A on our Website, where we collect leads and send them back to the advertisers.
We believe the time is perfect for such opportunities for the following reasons, especially since the explosion of the social media channels. First, according to the Magazine Publishers of America, the growing composition of public-place readers among total magazine audience has fueled advertisers’ interest in understanding the effects of circulation source and price. When you can get 50 “likes” on Facebook for $100, but it costs you tens of thousands to “maybe” get some inquiries, what’s to figure out where to spend your money? Advertisers are learning this, and magazines have to deal with it whether they like it or not.
This “examination” of circulation and price isn’t just happening with the “public place” readers – it is happening in our own trade magazine arena. Advertisers continually question the “value” of advertising, and we have to tie in the circulation to that justification, and more.
More important, what is “advertising” is being redefined. This further confuses the issues and presents even more opportunities. Talking to one publisher today, he is offering an advertiser “custom content” along with advertising to help them penetrate his audience. Just a few years ago, editorial as advertising was one of the few places you just couldn’t go. Now, everything is fair game.
The real measure, however, is in the follow-up – the back room – where the action happens, and that is our specialty. Let’s face it: Many advertisers don’t have the back-room structures in place to monitor and fulfill the activity from a magazine, much less understand its value. This is the opportunity to do it for them.
We must understand circulation’s relationship to readership, and to sales – not just building a “bridge” between buyers and sellers, but actually creating ways to push those two pieces together.
Our interests here at Interline is to help both sides become better marketers by offering a wide-range of services (see www.interlinegroup.com). All of these services are centered on one thing: driving response.
Affinity Research LLC noted that based on interviews with more than 60,000 magazine readers in 2005, on average, more than half took or plan to take action as a direct result of exposure to specific print ads. How does a magazine currently show that to advertisers? Reader action levels were similar for both paid and non-paid readers. It is this “action” that this channel can capture.
Our experience in not only tracking such activity, but documenting the sales activity that results from proper lead management, will help prove the value of advertising in your magazine!