Junta42 blog

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:

• 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:

• Google Alerts
• Twitter
• Twitter Search
• Tweetdeck - Twitter Management Tool

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.

• Altair uses its customer magazine to form relationships with key decision-makers.
• SFPE uses its association magazine to maintain/grow its membership.

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

The Art of the Free Sample - Content Survival Tips

Every month our investment club meets to review our portfolio, make stock purchase decisions and, hopefully, learn a little. This month our meeting was held at Whole Foods on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio. Previously, this was a Wild Oats, and it was the first time I'd visited the store since it was renamed and re-branded as a Whole Foods.

The difference was notable as soon as we walked in.  I have two words for you - Free Samples.  There was a worker at the door giving out samples of organic peaches and mango. There was another stand set up next to our meeting room area that was giving away complimentary organic coffee. It made quite an impression.  I plan on stopping back and picking up some more of those mango.

Giving away free samples to consumers has been an age-old marketing practice. The idea is to let prospects try it. If they like it, they'll come back for more. From Crest toothpaste to the new Frosted Flakes Gold, consumer marketers with smaller-ticket items use free samples to drive their businesses.

Business-to-business marketers and high-ticket consumer marketers have a bit more difficulty giving away free samples.  "Yes sir, please try out our new forklift, no questions asked." "Yes maam, we'll send over your new Pontiac Vibe today.  Keep it as long as you like." Just doesn't work.

So what to do?

Your content is your free sample. Give your customers and prospects a taste of your brand by delivering great information to them on a consistent basis. Instead of giving them that forklift, how about a video series on green shipping practices? Instead of delivering the Pontiac, how about a custom magazine showing Pontiac owners how they can get the most out of their car and their lifestyle?

This is not rocket science, it's survival. Interruption marketing is near-death. Consumers are tuning out more and more marketing messages. To survive, you have to be relevant. You have to provide constant value in order for your customers to pay attention...even just a bit.

There is no social media strategy without content

I was talking with a marketing consultant today, and we chatted about simplifying the idea of social media. Look at it this way. You are having a one-on-one conversation with your customer. If you are only talking about how wonderful your products and services are, how long do you think they will pay attention to you?

Social media works the same way.  You won't be allowed into the conversation without coming to the party with something of value. This is the golden rule on social media sites, as well as your own website. How long do you think your customers will stay on your site that includes only information about your products? What would you do if you were in their shoes? Would you stay more than five seconds?

Get to know your customers informational needs. Then, provide content that solves those needs. It's that simple. This strategy is not just something nice to do, it's communication survival 101. Go out and create great content.

What's your free sample?

Subscribe  -  Junta42  -  Find Content Vendors  -  Get the Book

Custom Magazines - More Pages, More Frequency, More Response

Here are some interesting findings from a UK Royal Mail research study on custom magazine effectiveness (study produced with the APA and Millward Brown). Here is a link to the entire article (subscription needed).

• Average number of pages in a custom magazine is 36. When pagination is higher than average, consumers read more than half 15% more than those with less than average page counts.
• Average frequency is quarterly. When companies send custom magazines out at least five times, readership rates almost double.

Print is not dead, and probably never will be, as long as companies continue to deliver valuable, relevant and compelling content to customers that need that information. From the research above, it looks like the more good content you deliver, the more customers will engage in that content. Seems obvious, but it's good to see some numbers that back this up.

RSS Feed  -   Subscribe  -  Junta42  -  Junta42 Match  -  Get the Book