DCP Dialogue

Consumers Still Prefer Print Magazines

Take a look at this very interesting whitepaper, Leveraging Loyalty to Transform Publishing, produced by the CMO Council and InfoPrint Solutions. It addresses “The Impact of Relevance in Publishing and Advertising.”

I recommend downloading this 12-page whitepaper that includes the detailed findings about what people want from their magazines. It confirms what we all believe is most essential—relevance.

Here's some info pulled from the first page of the whitepaper.

“To get a clear picture of what opportunities might exist for publications transformation, the CMO Council asked consumers what they wanted from their magazine experience.

The audit revealed that consumers do not want to give up their cherished print publications, and further that their experiences within these preferred pages has shaped and molded their buying decisions.

In a world where the internet threatens to change the face of loyalty—offering new and exciting real-time connections—magazines seem to be the one constant that consumers are not ready to relinquish. According to our survey:

92 percent plan to stick to print when it comes to their magazine consumption

Only 24 percent intend to eventually switch over to some form of e-reader device

The real message consumers want to send to publishers is keep the content relevant, be it editorial, advertorial, or advertising. But, well placed, content rich and even personalized advertising will lead to new opportunities (and even renewed opportunities) for profitable customer engagements."

Click here to download the whitepaper and read the detailed findings of the online consumer survey.

Omniture Survey Says…Online ROI Measurement is Important, But Hard to Implement

According to the results of the 2010 Omniture Online Analytics Benchmark Survey, the majority of marketers value the importance of measuring ROI from online marketing activities but 55% can’t effectively measure it. The survey results also reveal that only 14% of respondents currently use all three emerging channels (mobile, social media, video) in their marketing efforts.

I was surprised by these numbers! I expected that more marketers would be using emerging channels and would have systems in place for measuring results. Take a look at the highlights below or click here for more survey results. What's your reaction to this?

ROI
80% of respondents believe ROI from online marketing activities is important to measure, but only 31% of marketers can effectively measure it.

Social Media
69% of respondents are using social media in their marketing efforts however, 41% lack a mechanism to measure social media conversion.

Mobile
23% of respondents are currently using mobile in their marketing efforts. Of these people:

• 73% can measure if website visitors are coming from a mobile device
• 30% are able to measure their mobile app conversions

Video
43% of respondents are using online video in their marketing efforts. Of these people:

• 59% feel that post-video conversion is one of the most important video metrics, yet 70% are unable to measure post-video conversion.
• 40% are using online video lack a mechanism to measure video starts.

Conversion
86% of respondents think conversion rate from online marketing activities is important to measure, but 25% cannot effectively measure it.

Results of the survey included here are as of May 7, 2010.

Content Marketing Rises to $47 Billion in 2009

According to a new survey from the Custom Content Council (CCC), U.S. corporations spent a record $47.2 billion on branded content last year. The 10th annual industry “Characteristics Study: A Look at the Volume and Type of Content Marketing in America for 2010” includes the study of electronic and other forms of content marketing for the first time—which explains the significant increase in spending from 2008.

This year’s study reveals that 32% of the overall marketing, advertising and communications budget were dedicated to content marketing. This is the greatest-ever proportion of funds dedicated to content marketing in the 10-year history of this study.

What does this mean?

Marketing organizations recognize the need to communicate regularly with their audience and provide them with meaningful content. Marketing today is not as much about flashy marketing campaigns as it is about constant interaction and sharing of relevant information with a targeted audience. Since today’s consumers make highly educated decisions, marketing organizations need to play a key role in the transfer of knowledge and participate in their consumers’ decision-making process. The more valuable content an organization provides, the more likely they will build and grow a loyal customer base.

How are companies communicating with their audience today?

Custom Magazines/Newsletters Still Strong:

• In 2009, average circulation per issue increased to an all-time high of 48,162 copies per issue.
• The number of unique printed custom publication titles decreased from 1.9 in 2008 to 1.7 in 2009. That said, those titles published increased in both page count and circulation.

Other Forms of Branded Content:

• The most common other forms being used are website updates of articles, blog post and e-newsletters.
• The least common are mobile and e-zines such as flipbooks and interactive PDFs.

What marketing vehicles are companies expecting to add in the future?
While mobile content is not yet widely used, it does rank as the medium that most marketers believe they are likely to invest in next year. Beyond that, marketers plan to invest in video and audio.

Custom Content Council Executive Director Lori Rosen said, “As more and more companies explore custom content solutions across print and digital platforms, we will continue to see an increased financial investment. Things are changing rapidly—the data shows just how much change the industry has undergone in 12 months-and we haven’t even touched social media surface. Next year we will be measuring Twitter, Facebook and more. It’s an exciting time to be involved in content marketing in all its forms.”

Enhance your targeting with smart Twitter searches

Since one of the biggest benefits of Twitter for business marketing is tracking what people are saying about your organization and your industry, honing your Twitter search skills is essential. Plus, smart Twitter searches can uncover prospective customers.

That’s why you should read this article “7 insanely useful ways to search Twitter”, written by John Jantsch. You’ll learn how to get the most out of Twitter’s advanced search functionality and how to combine Google and Twitter to find out not just what’s being said but sometimes more importantly, the characteristics of who is saying it.

These seven tips provide an effective way to stay current on who is talking about your business or industry and what they’re saying. You’ll also learn creative ways to search for Twitter users who could be prospective customers. I highly recommend it!

Ready For Some Upbeat Marketing News, For A Change?

Are you tired of all the negative business reports from 2009? “Marketing budgets are slashed.” “Print is dead.” I’m sure you’ve heard them all.

Read these two brief articles for some very encouraging news regarding the record growth in the custom media business.

• Minonline: Custom Content Has Best Year Ever
• Publishing Executive: Custom Media Spend Rises to an All-time High

The bottom line is marketers invested more money in branded content in 2009 than ever before (two times as much as in 2008) and 51 percent of that money was used to create print publications, according to a recent survey.

So let’s celebrate the good news and look forward to a prosperous 2010.

Custom Media Market Reflects Consumers’ Positive Response

A few weeks ago, Jim Offel reported on the encouraging findings from a recent study by Roper Public Affairs of consumer attitudes to custom media and the organizations that provide them. One of the study’s most interesting conclusions was that 68% of consumers who read custom publications say it helps them make better purchasing decisions. Then last week, Dennis Cook blogged on how this study revealed that custom publications influence consumers’ perceptions of hospitals in a very positive way.

Now you may wonder…do corporate and hospital marketing investments mirror this upbeat consumer response? According to another recent study from the Custom Publishing Council (CPC), in cooperation with ContentWise —“Characteristics Study: A Look at the Volume and Type of Custom Publications in America,” the answer is definitely yes.

This study finds that the custom publishing industry remains strong, amid the economic downturn and the challenges facing consumer media. The results reveal that circulation has skyrocketed, pages per issue have increased, and issue frequency has held steady.

Some of the key findings:

Circulation: The average circulation per issue increased from 30,044 in 2007 to 37,340 in 2008. The average circulation per title increased from 270,000 in 2007 to 336,060 in 2008. The total number of custom publication copies distributed increased 7.4 percent from 2007 to 2008.

Pages Per Issue: The average pages per issue for custom publications increased from 22.2 to 23.2. Since 1999, the number of pages per issue has grown 68.1%.

Frequency: The average annual frequency of custom publications remained steady at 9 times per year.

Online:  The use of online publications increased from 18 to 22 percent between 2007 and 2008.

Email us at info@dcpubs.com if you want to learn more about the findings of these studies and what they mean for your organization.

Roper Study Addresses Effectiveness of Hospital Publications

Consumer newsletters continue to be very popular among hospitals in their campaigns to boost awareness of brand and service-line specialties. Like everybody else, hospital marketing directors have to justify the ROI of their campaigns. Fortunately, in this current environment when spending on all forms of advertising is down, newsletter marketing programs remain viable. How do we know that?

 

A recent study by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media suggests some of the answers. This study was conducted during February and March 2009, and represents an update of the group’s original survey conducted in 2005. Both studies looked at consumer recognition and opinion about custom magazines and newsletters from sponsors in several industries – healthcare and hospitals among them.

 

Some of the more interesting findings for hospitals include:
 

·        62% of recipients report looking at the hospital custom publication they receive often, with more than one quarter looking at it every time it arrives (27%) and one-third (35%) looking at it most of the time.

 

·        56% of respondents who receive hospital publications indicate they are very satisfied with hospital quality of care, while only 36% of respondents who don’t receive hospital publications indicate they are very satisfied.

 

·        58% of respondents who receive hospital publications indicate they are very likely to recommend hospital to others (an increase of 8% from 2005) while only 36% of those who do not receive hospital publications indicate they are very likely to recommend a hospital.

 

What does this mean? Publication marketing programs work. They deliver meaningful and useful information that consumers find valuable. And they influence consumers’ perception of the hospital in a very positive way. That’s why newsletters continue to be popular for hospitals.

Of course, the pressure to do more with less has never been higher. For hospital marketing directors who see the value in custom publishing programs but have to reduce overall budgets, the key is in carefully profiling and pinpointing the most receptive audience. Strategic targeting allows you to keep labor, manufacturing, and postage costs down. At the same time, focusing on service lines with the highest margin and driving traffic to those programs first is key. Custom publications can help you do that.

New Roper Study on Consumers Attitudes Towards Custom Publications

While hand-wringing amongst those of us in the marketing business tends to intensify during down economic cycles, some recent studies suggest that marketers would be well-advised to think carefully before reducing or eliminating their custom media programs.

A recent study by Roper Public Affairs (Americans’ Relationship with Custom Publications and the Companies that Provide Them) that follows up a 2005 study of consumer attitudes has consumers maintaining or improving on measures of positive reaction to custom media and the organizations that provide them.  (Articles citing the new study can be found at Folio Magazine, Media Post, and DMNews).

Among the findings:

•  More than two-thirds of consumers surveyed (68%) say that companies that provide information about their products in these publication help them make better purchase decisions – a six-point increase since the 2005 study.

•  Nearly eight in ten consumers say that custom publications demonstrate that companies are interested in building good relationship with consumers, and more than six in ten say that they feel better about the company when they’re reading the publications the company has provided.

•  Seventy-four per cent of consumers said they would rather get information about a company from a custom publication than from advertising.

While there’s no question that many marketers have scaled back their advertising and marketing budgets, consumers remain interested in and responsive to the use of branded content and organizations taking the “long view” might want to take this into consideration when planning for 2010.

Email Newsletter Tracking—More Revealing Than You’d Think

Email newsletters are an excellent way to communicate with your audience frequently and cost effectively but one of the most exciting aspects of sending out an e-newsletter is tracking the results. Do you know how insightful and enlightening the data can be?

Our clients are often surprised by how much we see about their email readers’ behavior. We can tell:

• Who (by name and email address) opened the email
• How many times and when each person opened the email
• Who clicked on a link
• Which precise links they clicked on
• How many times each person clicked on a link
• Who forwarded the email to someone else
• Who unsubscribed to the email
• Which email addresses bounced
• Etc., etc., etc.

From scouring this data, I learn a lot about the type of information readers are interested in. I can track trends from one email to the next and measure whether I’m keeping their interest, growing it, or losing it. By sifting through the open and click lists, I discover who specifically responds to and who ignores my emails. I can even find out that someone has likely changed or lost their job (repeated bounces).

I have warned many of my co-workers and clients, “Don’t tell me that you opened my e-newsletter if you didn’t. I know when you’re lying.” What I don’t tell them is that they can avert my eye and go under the radar if they read my email in their Outlook preview pane without actually opening the email. But let’s keep that quiet.

If you haven’t found the motivation yet to send out an e-newsletter, the benefits you get from the tracking data might be a good reason to get started. It’s the easiest and cheapest way to find out how your audience reacts to your message.

Email Newsletter Report Card—How do you stack up?

It’s always exciting to track the statistics after an email newsletter goes out. How many people opened it? Who opened it? How many times did they click on links? Which links? It’s easy to follow trends in your own email broadcasts but how do you know how your email program ranks compared to others?

A recent DemandGen Report article, New DMA Response Rate Study Shows Email Still Strong For Conversion Rates, provides some answers.