New Media Marketing Strategy

With homage to and help from Seth Godin’s Music Industry: Aspen Report, I assembled this strategy.

Last summer I suggested to a publisher of a national newsmagazine the possibility of creating downloadable (PDF) versions of his publication. With micro payment purchases ($0.50), he could add revenue to the Web side the company. I withdrew that position recently after reading up on the concept of permission marketing.

Here’s two reasons why I think newsmagazine Web content should be free:

One, the Web audience contains individuals that will copy/paste, reference or hyperlink to the newsmagazine’s Web site. It’s a personal positioning statement (here are my friends’ links and my trusted news source link). The newsmagazine does not pay them and they spread news content more efficiently than the USPS. These individuals trust this newsmagazine as a reliable source and in turn share it with people who trust them. It’s the best and cheapest public relations effort.

Two, the newsmagazine’s Web site could potentially provide an enormous email list for potential paid subscribers. In order to read the newsmagazine content, a reader must click on “This week’s issue.” With one click, the newsmagazine can ask a reader to submit their email address. That’s all. Simple and free. The “email request” window could offer a monthly “newsletter direct to your email box” message or something along that line. This would offer newsmagazine’s marketing department an avenue to target online marketing and deliver value to already loyal, influential readers.

How is this newsmagazine supposed to the bills with that kind of strategy? Simple. It’s the same basic principle as direct mailing.

OLD STRATEGY: On a small direct mail campaign of 500,000 names, the newsmagazine might acquire 5000 new subscribers. Of those new subscribers, the newsmagazine may lose as much as 1500 due to unpaid subscribers. Direct mail campaigns cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to acquire 3500 new paid subscribers.

NEW STRATEGY: What if the newsmagazine received 20,000 new email addresses monthly? If we apply the same numbers, then the newsmagazine could benefit from 100 to 200 new paid subscribers. Though the newsmagazine may want to offer something other than subscriptions (gift subscriptions may work) in email campaigns. Possible product suggestions would include company branded day-timers, coffee mugs or other existing branded product. Each one of these branded product ideas would help maintain loyal online readers and support their personal positioning as well as promote the newsmagazine beyond our current subscriber base.

Any thoughts on this strategy are welcomed.