Jodi Sherlock
The South African magazine market has become increasingly competitive in the past two years and aggressive marketing has become essential in order to ensure that readership levels are maintained.
As part of a magazine marketing plan, the subscription drive may prove to be a vital element. Not much is known about how subscription readers differ from those who buy their magazines, but advertisers believe that magazines with a strong subscription base provide a key and “locked-in” audience.
Recent research conducted through Wessenden Marketing in the United Kingdom examined subscribers versus spontaneous retail purchasers in an efforts towards a better understanding of the two groups. A comparison between United States magazines and those from Britain reveals that 80% of US readers are subscribers as opposed to just 5% in Britain.
The Wessenden survey found that subscribers continue to purchase other titles through retail outlets as well, depending on the ease or availability of a title.
The key to taking out a subscription is “convenience”, where you get your favourite magazine on time, through the post, every month. but price is also rearing its head and becoming more important.
Demographically, subscribers tend to be more upmarket and older than retail buyers and this is reflected in their income and expenditure patterns. There is also a distinct difference in the way the two groups read the titles they buy. Subscribers spend longer with each issue, reading more thoroughly, having greater trust in the content and being more willing to try products they read about. Retail buyers, on the other hand, are more likely to zoom in on articles which were flagged on the cover. They will usually flick through a title in a relaxed state of mind, whereas subscribers read purposely, actively seeking information about their interests.
Methods of gaining subscribers are vast, and international magazines are capitalising on the age of “technological networking” through publishing electronic online versions of their magazines.
This is used to both “extend” the service to the readers and to assist in increasing subscriptions through converting Web site visitors to subscribers. “The natural reaction is that you have millions of prospects around the world and all that is required is a credit card number,” says Angus Chenivix- Trench, client services director at Tower Publishing Services, UK.
Although it appears obvious from advertisers’ perspective that subscriptions must be the way to go, there is much debate as to the cost effectiveness of the exercise; that is, although selling a new subscriber two years instead of one keeps marketing costs down, it can be expensive if production costs rise during the period. Especially with the recent experience of paper pulp increases and forthcoming postage rate rises, many publishers are afraid of the commitment to a fixed income.
As subscription marketing continues to expand, the challenge for publishers will not just be identifying potential buyers and using the right media to reach them, but understanding the business case for direct subscription sales against retail. Retail provides volume and coverage while subscriptions provide longer term relationships, a more loyal audience for advertising, more cross- selling opportunities and more information on the readers for marketers.
South Africa may be lagging behind the US in terms of fierce drive for subscriptions, but with the proliferation of titles and competition increasing rapidly, a more aggressive approach to obtaining loyal subscribers will soon become necessary.
Jodi Sherlock is a media planner. This report is courtesy of the Ogilvy & Mather Rightford Group