B2B customer magazines boost brand appeal

The APA has launched new findings from its pioneering customer magazine effectiveness benchmark - the APA Advantage Study, focusing specifically on business-to-business customer titles.

B2B customer magazines have been found to engage readers for an average of 26 minutes.

In addition, 24% of respondents spent between 30 minutes and more than two hours with a B2B title in comparison to the Advantage Study average of 19%.

Some 51% of respondents retain their copies for a month or over and one in three people (35%) keep B2B titles for reference, while 8% pass them on to a colleague or friend.

Over half (53%) of respondents were found to pick up a title between one and four times and 55% regularly read half or more of the magazine.

Positive opinion is also strong for B2B customer magazines with 42% of readers agreeing that they either quite liked it, liked it a lot or thought it was excellent.

The research also shows that B2B titles boost brand appeal by a quarter, with 25% of readers saying that a customer magazine makes a company more appealing.

Crucially, B2B customer magazines have also been found to provoke response.

Some 29% or one in four readers visit a company's website as a result of reading the magazine, in comparison to 14% for consumer customer titles and 13% also go on to request further information.

Julia Hutchison, COO of APA, commented: "Traditionally B2B audiences are extremely difficult to reach and engage.

"List data is often woefully out of date and gate keepers tend to block the path to decision makers.

"However, the latest cut of results from the Advantage Study provides evidence for something that those of us in the customer publishing industry have long suspected: the medium's ability to engage with hard to reach audiences that other media channels can't".

Emily Travis, Head of Publishing at Royal Mail, added: "Business-to-business customer magazines are a powerful tool in the B2B marketer's armoury as the research shows that they are valued by recipients.

"Companies can have profitable conversations with their customers, which in turn improve the likelihood of respondents continuing their relationship with the brand as a direct result of receiving the magazine".

The APA Advantage Study was launched in 2005 by the APA in conjunction with Millward Brown.

It was created to provide a recognised industry approach for the measurement of customer magazines as a marketing tool.

The initiative is the first of its kind across all marketing media, meaning that marketing directors, for the first time, will be able to compare the performance of their magazines against other titles in their sector and receive empirical evidence as to the effectiveness of their customer magazine.

Methodology Research Base: 10,000 customer interviews.

Field Work: Carried out by Millward Brown.

Research Period: Ongoing - with results released every six months.

Research Method: Telephone survey.

It has been possible to measure the customer magazine effect on brands by interviewing two separate groups of customers who are matched in all ways except that one of the groups are exposed to the customer magazine.

By taking this approach for all participating brands it is possible to measure the effect on a brand-by-brand basis and also to aggregate the effect and calculate the average.

The metrics used to measure brand strength amongst the readers and non-readers of the magazine are based on a validated approach used by Millward Brown to understand brand equity globally.

The Association of Publishing Agencies (APA) is the representative body for customer magazine publishers, under the umbrella of the Periodical Publishers Association (PPA).

Formed in 1993, the APA now has 31 members, producing publications for over 350 leading companies in the UK and internationally.

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