Product category:
Direct Marketing
News Release from: Royal Mail | Subject: Secrets of customer magazine success
Edited by the Marketingservicestalk Editorial
Team on 30 June 2008
Secrets of customer magazine success
Companies can significantly increase the effectiveness of their customer magazines by altering frequency, pagination and distribution methods, an in-depth study has revealed.
To continue its support of the customer publishing industry in an increasingly competitive advertising landscape, Royal Mail has worked with Association of Publishing Agencies (APA) and Millward Brown to analyse the impact of these three key variables on reader engagement Currently the average number of pages for a customer magazine is 36 and the most popular frequency is quarterly
This article was originally published on Marketingservicestalk on 1 Jul 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
Related stories
Royal Mail launches production helpline
Royal Mail is continuing to demonstrate its commitment to the direct marketing industry by launching a dedicated production helpline for production managers.
Royal Mail offers discounted APA Advantage Study
Royal Mail is demonstrating its commitment to the customer publishing industry by offering a financial incentive to organisations to benchmark their publications and improve their marketing value.
The study unveiled a range of benefits by making some format adjustments to the customer magazine.
Frequency and pagination influence number of pick ups and percentage of magazine read: when pagination is higher than average, 63 per cent of recipients read half or more of the magazine in comparison to 47 per cent when the number of pages is lower.
Sixty two per cent of those surveyed read half or more of the magazine if the frequency was more regular than quarterly - an uplift of over 10 per cent - and nearly double the number of recipients picked up the magazine more than five times.
Further reading
Lloyds TSB tries hybrid new media DM push
Lloyds TSB has announced that it is the first UK bank to deliver a hybrid new media direct marketing campaign, targeting key prospects within the market.
Customer publishing continues to segment
Customer publishers predict that segmentation of customer titles will increase by almost 50 per cent increase over the next two years, a new survey has revealed.
Royal Mail unlocks secrets of direct mail success
Companies can increase the success of their direct mail activity by at least 50 per cent by following a five-point plan, an in-depth study of more than 600 mail campaigns has revealed.
Pagination has a significant effect on active response: over half of individuals surveyed (54 per cent) respond to calls to action when there are more than 50 pages - a 23 per cent increase on titles with fewer pages.
Perceived relevance and rating of magazine increases with frequency and pagination: customers respond more favourably to customer magazines, claiming they think it is "excellent and like it a lot", when a title has more than 50 pages and a frequency higher then biannual (28 per cent and 27 per cent respectively).
Posted titles increase reading time: the research shows that posted titles command an average of eight minutes more attention than their picked up counterparts.
Magazines through the mail have more staying power: posted titles are kept for longer than picked up titles.
A quarter of readers keep a posted title for over a month, while just 16 per cent keep a picked up title for the same length of time.
Greater pagination and frequency of titles generate longer reading times: the average time spent with a customer magazine is 25 minutes.
but a quarter of recipients will read a magazine with more pages for longer than 30 minutes.
Emily Fovargue, Head of Publishing at Royal Mail, said: "This in-depth study shows that frequency, pagination and distribution methods can have a significant effect on the success of a customer title.
"By focusing on key elements such as increasing pagination, or by adding an extra issue a year, brands can significantly raise response rates, engagement levels and rating of the title, often resulting in increased loyalty and a boost in ROI".
Julia Hutchison, COO of APA, said: "Customer magazines have long been proved as an extremely effective way of communicating with customer, stakeholders or prospects.
"However, this research now demonstrates how marketers can squeeze even more value out of their titles and shows how frequency, pagination or distribution method can boost engagement, which is invaluable insight for the customer publishing industry, particularly for new business".
• Royal Mail: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Marketingservicestalk email newsletter
• Marketingservicestalk Home Page
Search the Pro-Talk network of sites
