This topic was created for two reasons.
First, I’ll be giving this presentation in Helsinki, Finland next week for their 2009 Customer Magazines Symposium.
Second, I was inspired by the book, The Ten Commandments for Business Failure, written by former Coca-Cola CEO Donald Keough (good book by the way). After reading, I thought it would be interesting to look at custom magazines in this way.
So here’s the quick overview. To be sure, if you follow any of these commandments, your custom magazine will be an utter failure.
The Ten Commandments for Custom Magazine Failure
Commandment #1
Keep Thinking Like a Marketer
Some custom magazines are often positioned as glorified sales brochures – lots of company news, case studies that tell how great the company is, and advertorial type informational pieces. For a custom magazine to work, brands need to remove the “sales speak” and start to think like a publisher – with the #1 goal of providing valuable and relevant content to the reader.
David Tokheim from Six Apart put this nice roundup together about thinking like a publisher, including:
- Give them something to talk about
- Listen
- Foster relationships through social currency
- Align with influencers to create something remarkable
If you cannot take your sales hat off and communicate like a publisher would, your custom magazine is bound for failure.
Commandment #2
Talk about Yourself A Lot! – Sell, Sell, Sell
If you mention your company or brands more than a few times on each printed page, you’re in trouble. In one test of a recent corporate magazine, we found up to 19 mentions of the company’s brand and products on just ONE PAGE. How valuable could that be?
One of the cores of content marketing is that you can actually sell more in the long run by selling less (best case, not at all) in your content. Custom magazines are no different.
Commandment #3
Keep Doing the Same Thing
The majority of custom magazines still use this formula:
- Create glossy custom magazine
- Mail magazine to targeted customers or ship to distribution locations
- Upload content to website/microsite and/or create digital magazine replica
- Repeat in three months
A custom magazine today cannot just be a custom magazine. Here is what the custom magazine of the present and the future looks like.
- Record interviews (video/audio) for later repurposing.
- Develop a news release schedule pre- and post- issue release.
- Discuss upcoming issue on your magazine blog (editor). Set up RSS feeds.
- Post video interviews via YouTube or Vimeo. Embed in your blog post.
- Print and mail/ship your magazine.
- Send digital replica version to international audience or online subscribers.
- Upload content onto magazine website. Be sure content is sharable via social media (Facebook, Digg, StumbleUpon)
- Provide a “remarkable” download on magazine site (eBook, white paper, etc.). Here’s an example.
- Continue to provide relevant content on magazine website – articles, blog posts.
- Use Pay-Per-Click, targeted specific keywords to drive people to your online magazine or download (in addition to the SEO magic of consistent, compelling content.
- Continue news release program (plan for at least one, best for two per month).
- “Listen” to who’s talking about what online (more to come on this).
- Upload articles to key vertical and social bookmarking sites.
- Other social media – Facebook group, LinkedIn group, etc.
Commandment #4
Wait for Better Timing to Expand
There has never been a better time for marketers to leverage publishing tools than right now. The rules of the game have changed.
- If you create and develop consistent and relevant content to your customers, buyers will engage in it as credible, just as they have traditional expert media content. This is happening now!
- Check your databases. Do you have customer information and permissions to communicate directly with your customers and prospects? You most likely do.
- Traditional media is losing journalistic talent. Hire some!
- There are no technology barriers.
Commandment #5
Don’t Leverage Free Online Tools
If you want your custom magazine to fail, don’t use:
Usage – Finding new stories, new distribution channels, listening to customers prospects, speaking one-on-one with customers, becoming a part of the conversation in your marketplace, developing real relationships with customers and prospects.
Commandment #6
Create Multiple Marketing Objectives
Many marketers want to accomplish the following with their custom magazine:
- Customer Retention
- Lead Generation
- Thought Leadership
- Lower Customer Service Costs
- Open New Markets
- Inspire Former Decision Makers
- Magazine to Pay for Itself
- Solve World Hunger
That’s a recipe for failure. Too many goals = lack of focus. To succeed, focus on one key goal.
Commandment #7
Ignore Traditional Media in Your Market
Five out of every 10 magazines and newspapers will go out of business, scale down their frequency or move entirely to the Web,” predicts Andy Cohn, vice president and group publisher, Fader Media.
The opportunity? Do what camera manufacturer Adorama did with JPG magazine and invest in traditional media outlets. Brilliant move.
Any struggling media properties in your market? Buy them.
Commandment #8
You Don’t Need a Content Audit
If you want your custom magazine to fail, don’t develop processes to extract the best content from inside your organization. Don’t do a content audit.
The future of a custom magazine is about developing a content strategy that makes sense so you can actually “be the publisher”.
Commandment #9
Let the Customer Figure Out the Action Step
If you don’t have a call-to-action (some additional piece of content or valuable information) on almost every page, you’ll start to have problems. Custom magazines are about creating or maintaining a behavior change, but you have to have an understanding of what you actually want your customer to do.
Commandment #10
Disregard the LEGO Principle
If you want your custom magazine to fail, don’t pay any attention to LEGO magazine. Starting out as your basic custom magazine in the 80s, this top-tier magazine has spread into an email newsletter, branded music, in-person events, a social network, variable versions (LEGO Club Jr., Brickmaster), spin-offs (Bionicle magazine), and even an on-demand TV Channel.
To ensure that your magazine will not be successful, don’t pay attention to what LEGO is doing.
What did we miss?
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10 Commandments for Custom Magazine Failure
This topic was created for two reasons.
First, I’ll be giving this presentation in Helsinki, Finland next week for their 2009 Customer Magazines Symposium.
Second, I was inspired by the book, The Ten Commandments for Business Failure, written by former Coca-Cola CEO Donald Keough (good book by the way). After reading, I thought it would be interesting to look at custom magazines in this way.
So here’s the quick overview. To be sure, if you follow any of these commandments, your custom magazine will be an utter failure.
The Ten Commandments for Custom Magazine Failure
Commandment #1
Keep Thinking Like a Marketer
Some custom magazines are often positioned as glorified sales brochures – lots of company news, case studies that tell how great the company is, and advertorial type informational pieces. For a custom magazine to work, brands need to remove the “sales speak” and start to think like a publisher – with the #1 goal of providing valuable and relevant content to the reader.
David Tokheim from Six Apart put this nice roundup together about thinking like a publisher, including:
If you cannot take your sales hat off and communicate like a publisher would, your custom magazine is bound for failure.
Commandment #2
Talk about Yourself A Lot! – Sell, Sell, Sell
If you mention your company or brands more than a few times on each printed page, you’re in trouble. In one test of a recent corporate magazine, we found up to 19 mentions of the company’s brand and products on just ONE PAGE. How valuable could that be?
One of the cores of content marketing is that you can actually sell more in the long run by selling less (best case, not at all) in your content. Custom magazines are no different.
Commandment #3
Keep Doing the Same Thing
The majority of custom magazines still use this formula:
A custom magazine today cannot just be a custom magazine. Here is what the custom magazine of the present and the future looks like.
Commandment #4
Wait for Better Timing to Expand
There has never been a better time for marketers to leverage publishing tools than right now. The rules of the game have changed.
Commandment #5
Don’t Leverage Free Online Tools
If you want your custom magazine to fail, don’t use:
Usage – Finding new stories, new distribution channels, listening to customers prospects, speaking one-on-one with customers, becoming a part of the conversation in your marketplace, developing real relationships with customers and prospects.
Commandment #6
Create Multiple Marketing Objectives
Many marketers want to accomplish the following with their custom magazine:
That’s a recipe for failure. Too many goals = lack of focus. To succeed, focus on one key goal.
Commandment #7
Ignore Traditional Media in Your Market
Five out of every 10 magazines and newspapers will go out of business, scale down their frequency or move entirely to the Web,” predicts Andy Cohn, vice president and group publisher, Fader Media.
The opportunity? Do what camera manufacturer Adorama did with JPG magazine and invest in traditional media outlets. Brilliant move.
Any struggling media properties in your market? Buy them.
Commandment #8
You Don’t Need a Content Audit
If you want your custom magazine to fail, don’t develop processes to extract the best content from inside your organization. Don’t do a content audit.
The future of a custom magazine is about developing a content strategy that makes sense so you can actually “be the publisher”.
Commandment #9
Let the Customer Figure Out the Action Step
If you don’t have a call-to-action (some additional piece of content or valuable information) on almost every page, you’ll start to have problems. Custom magazines are about creating or maintaining a behavior change, but you have to have an understanding of what you actually want your customer to do.
Commandment #10
Disregard the LEGO Principle
If you want your custom magazine to fail, don’t pay any attention to LEGO magazine. Starting out as your basic custom magazine in the 80s, this top-tier magazine has spread into an email newsletter, branded music, in-person events, a social network, variable versions (LEGO Club Jr., Brickmaster), spin-offs (Bionicle magazine), and even an on-demand TV Channel.
To ensure that your magazine will not be successful, don’t pay attention to what LEGO is doing.
What did we miss?
Subscribe - Junta42 - Find Content Vendors - Get the Book