Issue #59
– Wednesday, June 26, 2019
http://dennyhatch.blogspot.com/2019/06/59-direct-mail-vs-digital-promotion.html
http://dennyhatch.blogspot.com/2019/06/59-direct-mail-vs-digital-promotion.html
Posted by
Denny Hatch
DIRECT MAIL VS. DIGITAL PROMOTION
You Never Get a Second Chance
To Make a First Impression.
Only a
Fool Would Immediately
Trash This Terrific Offer
Trash This Terrific Offer
The self-mailer for THE WEEK arrived in mid-January 2019.
• This fat, giant interruptive mailing had
not only contained the pitch for a weekly magazine, it included the actual
current issue of the magazine as a FREE SAMPLE.
• At 8" x 10-1/2" it dominates your mailbox and your
attention.
• You can’t ignore it.
• You can’t simply click “Delete” and expect
it to go away.
• You gotta deal with it—physically look at
it and handle it.
• It screams, “HEY! THIS IS REALLY, REALLY
FREE!”
• Plus, GET 6 MORE WEEKS FREE!
• What’s more: SEND NO MONEY!
• NO HIDDEN PRICING. “If I like it, I can continue with 19 more issues (25 in all) for just
$1.39 each. That’s 72% savings off the single-copy price.
• Absolutely NO RISK: “If you do not like it, write “cancel” on
our bill, return it unpaid and you’ll owe absolutely nothing.”
Like the
private briefing presidents receive, it’s packed with inside information and
classified intelligence from around the globe. An invaluable
guide that no leader should be without—it’s yours FREE when you send in your
RSVP Card found on the front of this issue.
This
mailing is hugely flattering.
Wow! The publishers called me "leader!" They think so
highly of me as a possible customer they are spending big bucks to reach me!
• Printing
and production (including the magazine): at least 50¢.
• Postage: According
to the USPS, postage would average 50¢ apiece.
That
means basic price is $1.00 ($1000 per thousand)!
Plus… the
publisher has committed to investing in:
•
Printing and Mailing: 6 additional
free issues
• Printing and mailing at least 6 invoices (postage 38¢ each).
•
Printing and mailing: Free
premium, CONFIDENTIAL INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING.
Selling Magazine Subscriptions
the Old-fashioned Way
the Old-fashioned Way
In the heyday of magazine direct mail circulation
mailings—the 1970s and 1980s—two of the dominant figures were the elegant,
erudite and witty copywriter Bill Jayme and his partner, Finnish art director,
Heikki, Ratalahti. They brought in
gazillions of subscribers and made themselves a small fortune.
When Jayme-Ratalahti magazine offers hit your
mailbox, you did not ignore them. They were lively, fun, pictorially gorgeous
and great reading.
A sample Jayme offer for a monthly magazine: Send
for THE CURRENT ISSUE FREE. No Risk. No Obligation. If you like it, take 11
more for the special introductory rate of $9.95 (a 73% saving under what others
pay).
THE
WEEK went Jayme-Ratalahti one better: instead of simply offering free issue, they
sent everybody the current issue free.
Had Any
of the Above Mailings Arrived in Digital Form…
They would have shown up like these 65-character
subject lines and pre-headers—boring type in the inbox looking like every other
dreary message announcement.
THE WEEK’s Unusual Editorial Model:
Steal Outside Research and Rewrite!
Steal Outside Research and Rewrite!
Our
editors scour hundreds of magazines, newspapers and websites worldwide to bring
you the most intriguing stories and influential commentary—left, right and
in-between.
We find the best. Boil it down. Banish the
boring. And deliver the facts straight to you in a clear, concise package with
minimum advertising and maximum insight.
Buried
in its promotional copy is a brilliant USP (Unique Selling Proposition):
"You read less, but you know more."
Interesting Facts from THE WEEK
It was founded in the UK in 1995 and launched in
the U.S. in 2001:
• 74% of
readers do not read a daily newspaper.
• The
daily news site—TheWeek.co.uk reaches 2.1 million global unique visitors per
month.
• THE
WEEK JUNIOR—published for 8- to 14-year-olds in the UK since 2015—has an average circulation of 59,266.
• U.S.
rate base, 550,000 readers.
These
folks seem to know what they are doing.
Why I did not subscribe to THE WEEK
I’m up at 5:00 a.m. With morning coffee and iPad in
hand, I blow through Apple News (with
links to hundreds of worldwide sources), and pay for digital subscriptions to The New York Times and The Washington Post. I scroll through
most of the sources THE WEEK’s researchers steal from. And I see them a
week earlier than THE WEEK’s subscribers.
(In case
you missed my May post, I fired The Wall
Street Journal when I discovered they were ripping
me off.)
For
current news I tune in to CNN, Fox News and MSNBC throughout the day. I don’t
feel the need to spend $99.99 for a digital subscription to THE WEEK or ($129.99 for print)—yet
another source for last week’s news regurgitated and rewritten.
Takeaways to Consider
• You never get a second chance to make a first
impression.
• Direct mail emphatically ain’t dead.
• However, direct mail is horrendously expensive
and very complex.
• In the current craze to use vastly cheaper
digital promotions, the ranks of old-time direct mail experts are thinning. Do
not be conned into hiring a techie wizard who claims complete knowledge of
direct mail. You’ll wind up deeply in debt.
• Knowledge needed for successful direct mail:
pricing and offers; copy and design; printing and mailing know-how; list
research and rental; scheduling; budgeting; forecasting; product fulfillment;
follow-up mailings, billing series, upselling and renewals.
• “There are two rules—and two rules only—for
successful direct mail. Rule #1: Test everything. Rule #2: See Rule #1.”
—Malcolm Decker
• Ed Mayer’s Corollary: “Don’t test whispers.” (E.g., Don’t test $49.95 vs. $49.99. Testing
is expensive. Look for breakthroughs.)
• “Success in direct mail is 40% lists, 40%
offer, 20% everything else.”
—Ed Mayer
—Ed Mayer
• The three most important words in direct mail: “Arithmetic,
Arithmetic, Arithmetic!”
P.S. A shout-out with sincere thanks to direct mail guru/expert Dick Goldsmith of the Horah Group for taking the time to check my arithmetic and critique this post.
P.S. A shout-out with sincere thanks to direct mail guru/expert Dick Goldsmith of the Horah Group for taking the time to check my arithmetic and critique this post.
###
Word count: 960
Wow, Denny,
ReplyDeleteYou never cease to amaze me!
Just last month I told you about a 'discussion' I had with a website agency for a client on digital marketing vs. direct mail marketing.
I am simply forwarding this to him! Ha!
Thanks so much, Denny. You are indeed a national treasure for us 'ancient' direct mail aficionados!
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