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7 Reasons for using customer magazines
The customer publishing industry has experienced incredible growth in the past few years and now has an estimated worth of £904 million in the UK alone. This is set to continue, with APA research commissioned through Mintel predicting that this will grow to £1.2 billion by 2012. This faith in the medium comes as more and more brands realise the power of customer magazines in engaging consumers, something which is especially important in the current economic climate.
There are various reasons why brands use customer magazines. The most notable being:
Tangibility
Customer publishers know what works and what doesn't. As such they have developed a platform through which brands can truly engage with consumers- the customer magazine.
For consumers, the tangibility of the magazine is highly appealing as most enjoy reading material which they can in fact hold in their hand. Additionally, the physical nature of the medium allows customers to put a title down and pick it up again and again as and when they wish. As readers are in control of how much or how little of the content they consume, they are therefore free to absorb the brand messaging within their own time, and engage with the communication in a relaxed frame of mind, ready to be entertained and informed.
For example many food retailers will include recipes in their customer publications, which consumers may well keep and refer to time and time again. Subsequently, due to the high quality of customer magazines in terms of their visual and content appeal, they therefore become far more highly regarded than just a magazine. As such, those brands that do decide to produce a customer publication are far more likely to deliver a greater sense of value to their customers.
Ability to engage
Customer magazines engage with consumers through a non-invasive 'soft sell' approach that builds a long-term affinity between consumer and brand. The way a customer magazine is engaged with also makes it a particularly effective medium in gaining trust, in contrast to many other forms of direct marketing where the primary concern is to raise awareness.
The APA's Advantage study investigated how long the average consumer reads a magazine regardless of how they receive it, picked up in store, or delivered through the post. The research reflected how effective the customer publishing medium is in engaging the consumer for longer and more deeply than television, billboards and other advertising outlets. The results showed that as a magazine is taken into the consumer's home, unlike many other forms of marketing, it is consumed over a period of time with readers typically spending an average of 25 minutes with a customer title, the equivalent of 50 30-second TV ads.
Furthermore, the customer magazine format has proven to be hugely effective in building a rapport with customers, and encouraging them to integrate the brand into their own lifestyle. Editorialisation of brand means that, while the customer recognises the offering is a brand communication, the editorial style and fact that they can control how much or how little they engage with the content means they do not necessarily feel they are being 'sold to'. Essentially, the brand is putting time and effort into the customer relationship by creating something that will entertain and benefit the customer specifically. In the long run, this will often have a dramatic impact on customer loyalty.
Targeted nature
Customer publishers are experts in the editorialisation of a brand. Encapsulating values to a targeted audience, they work in conjunction with a brand, formulating the design and content of the magazine.
As one of the most targeted forms of marketing, customer publishers have the ability to tailor the content of magazines to fit the specific consumer based on what they know about them, be it affected by where they live, what they have purchased or what they respond to.
In 2008, Royal Mail's Advantage Study showed that almost a quarter of all customer titles are segmented to suit differing reader demographics, meaning that a 24 year old professional might receive the same magazine as his 73-year old grandmother, but the editorial within will have been customised according to their interests, lifestyle and life stage. With Royal Mail delivering to 99.9% of the UK, no one is out of reach and therefore content can be targeted to different demographics and segmented accordingly. It is this door-to-door approach that also adds a personal touch to the communication platform between the brand and consumer, adding a sense of value to the conversation.
Measurability
Response from print is highly measurable and in this day and age, measurement is crucial. Customer publishing does guarantee measurability as one of the most effective marketing tools when looking at the level of ROI. As one of the most targeted forms of communication, the medium offers the chance to see exactly who the magazine has gone to and therefore which consumers have engaged and responded positively to the content that they have been targeted with.
The latest ABC results have shown customer magazines account for the top seven consecutive positions by circulation, with the medium still representing a third of the magazines in the top 100. These latest results are a true representation of the buoyancy of this medium. Brands are continuing to invest in editorialised branded content as it delivers valuable engagement which in turn bolsters loyalty and boosts sales. Additionally, the figures would also appear to put paid to the long-debated issues of the death of print and that free media is undervalued by readers.
Provision of information
Mintel research commissioned by the APA (Association of Publishing Agencies) shows that customer publishers deliver on a range of marketing objectives in one fell swoop. Encouraging loyalty is the most cited reason for producing customer magazines, with providing information to customers coming a close second, followed by ensuring the content entertains its audience. The key to this versatility lies in the control the parent brand has over editorial content. Because it is produced with the interests of its target audiences firmly in mind, customer publications can cover a range of issues and answer varied communication objectives. Therefore a brand is fully encapsulated in a title, allowing for a concentrated communication with the customer. Royal Mail research also found that recipients of both physical print combined with online brand communications can spend up to 25 per cent more with a brand due to its ability to open up dialogue with potential and current customers.
Entertainment value
While it may only be one piece of the marketing puzzle, even when used in isolation the customer magazine has been found to significantly engender customer faith in a brand. The soft-sell method afforded through customer publishing, whether online or offline, can prove incredibly valuable and work towards rebuilding any customer relationships which may be strained due to recent business developments. Instead of straightforward advertising, customer magazines are designed to build more of a rapport with readers by leveraging on the power of the magazine – utilising themed, branded content to educate and entertain recipients, creating and building brand image.
By providing consumers with magazines that not only include product information but interviews, recipes and imagery for instance, brands are instantly providing a method of entertainment that can be enjoyed and revisited. As the medium evolves, brands are now becoming more brave in their approach and as such we are seeing them role out titles that are equally, if not more advanced and pleasurable to read than their consumer counterpart.
Communication of complex brand messages
Customer publications allow brands to communicate a range of underlying, often complex messages. Customer publishers aid brands in devising complex messages that can be effectively communicated to consumers and essentially understood by them. A brand's messaging is what consumer communication is built on, so if this is not well-executed it could have an ill affect on the brand. However, producers of editorialised branded content are highly experienced in working with brands to decipher its messaging and translate this across content.
