nextstepsmarketing.com

August 25th, 2010

ONLINE

Single Copy: The Sexiest Thing Going

Sit back and enjoy, single copy sales fans, ‘cause Apple will only let you sell your iPad digimag as a single issue. As audience marketers, only being able to sell single copy may cause your heart to palpitate, but it also gives you more money per sale. So if the covers are hitting and you are satisfying your audience, you'll get more for every sale you make, and sell more, too. Full article here.

Got an iPad-ready digimag, and need to market it? Join the Better Paper Project and Next Steps Marketing for a 15-minute micro webinar on 5 Tips to cost-effectively Market your iPad-ready digimag on Wed, Sep 22, at 11PST / 2 EST. Topics covered include email marketing, online promotion, pricing strategy, and (gasp) print to online marketing, as well as samples of what people are doing now. Register here.

PRINT

LAST ISSUE–what are you doing now?

Do you include a LAST ISSUE onsert as part of your paid or controlled renewal/requal effort? Is it worth doing? Answer our 10 second poll.

Our experience is results are mixed and vary by publication. While we often haven’t seen a direct response to the actual onsert offer, sometimes we see an increase in unidentified web orders. Hard to know if it’s tied to that effort. One consumer title tested “Don’t Let This be Your Last Issue” against “This is Your Last Issue” and found better response to “Don’t Let This be Your Last Issue.” Perhaps because the reader felt there was still time to keep their subscription.

If your printer and fulfillment house can do attached mail, we definitely recommend testing it. One of our clients experienced a significant increase in response to the last issue by simply attaching an EXPIRATION NOTICE to the issue.

RETAIL

Retail Sales
According to MagNet, magazine retail sales are down 7.7% for the first half of 2010. Dollars were down by 6.1% and efficiency remains the most unmoved at 35%. One standout category was food and wine, who witnessed sales growth of 6% in this period. Eating-in is definitely helping this category.

Chain Bookstore Update—Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble, the country’s largest book chain with 720 stores, announced on August 10th that it was considering putting the chain up for sale. The move was in response to what the board feels as “undervalued stock price.” One possible outcome is that Leonard Riggio, the company’s founder and largest stockholder at 31%, could make a bid and take the company private. Others predict that Amazon will be the most likely buyer. The good news for Riggio is that a court recently upheld Barnes & Noble’s “poison pill” against a challenge from the company’s second largest shareholder, Ron Burkle, who has a 19.6% stake. The “poison pill” measure prevents any shareholder from holding greater than 20% in the company. This measure does not apply to Leonard Riggio.

At a Vending Machine Near You...
Time Inc. magazines is now available in vending machines at Chicago Rail Stations. The test will run for 6 months and will feature eight Time Inc. titles including Time, People, and Sports Illustrated. Cash and credit are accepted.