Question

Topic: Advertising/PR

B2b Publication Needs Global Strategy

Posted by Anonymous on 8/29/2010 at 9:38 AM ET 250 Points
We publish two B2B publications for the apparel industry. We aim to increase our paid circulation (fortunately we never gave the magazines for free so we don't have to overcome the 'once free now you have to pay' hurdle). Our target audience is what you might describe as "shallow and wide" since we are targeting a specific industry but which is spread out across many nations.

In a sense, this is similar to selling subscriptions to newsletters or reports - most of which have traditional been subscription revenue business models (in contrast to magazines which tend to have been advertising driven models).

At the moment we have paid subscribers in about 20 countries, but no real 'depth' in most of them. How a recent phone survey lead us to believe that there are opportunities for growth in many of those markets.

So we need to find ways to market/advertise/promote to 1) raise awareness of our 'product' and 2) generate 'sales.'

One thing we can rule out is the "free trial" and also the "bill me later." Definitely a recipe for "how to lose money fast" when working in an international market (based on my first hand experience in these markets).

If anyone has experience with marketing this kind of product and can share what's worked from them, I'd sincerely appreciate it.

I'm sure I don't need to add that we are working on a razor thin budget, do I?

Thank you in advance for your assistance.

Jane
www.insidefashionlive.com

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RESPONSES

  • Posted on 8/29/2010 at 3:41 PM Accepted
    Let me make sure I understand: You want to increase paid circulation so you can make more money, but you are not prepared to make a commensurate investment to do it? You want a free lunch?

    That's not realistic. There is no free lunch.

    Figure out how much it would be worth to increase the paid circulation by a pre-defined amount, and then invest that amount in a real marketing program to achieve your objective. You can even set priorities among the countries you serve, and go after the low-hanging fruit first.

    Trying to grow a business without a meaningful budget is a frustrating waste of time. If the goal is really worthwhile, calculate the value and invest what it takes to achieve it. Don't spend your time and "razor-thin budget" trying to search for a free lunch.

    P.S. If you do figure out a way to get something for nothing, perhaps you can share it with us! We'd all like to grow our businesses without an investment.
  • Posted by matthewmnex on 8/31/2010 at 9:21 PM Accepted
    There is only one way to successfully do this.

    Look for distribution partners in each country that you want to focus on.

    Idealy, people already in teh magazine distribution business who have a broad portfolio of magazines to offer.

    They bring

    local knowledge
    ready distribution channels
    capable sales people
    and and and.

    On you web site, you will need to create a page dedicated to each territory.

    Make the content in the magazine relevant to international audiences (much harder to do than you may think ).

    Run a member get member campaign in the magazine and via email with your current subscribers. (ie - get 50% discount on your next subscription
    when you sign a new subscriber). REFERRAL are always a winner.

    make a little study about who your core busienss readership is, then overlay that on your target countries to calculate how big your target market is.

    Germany 7,000 majot retailers in the fashion industry, Afghanisatn 12. let's not waste time going after Afghanistan :) In otherwords, target country by country and put your efforts there to grow the bsuiness, then move on to the next. Use a sniper rifle not a shotgun, you can't have a generic 'international'strategy; every country is different.

    There are 1,000 + 1 things you can do if you just use common sense and are ready to try some new ideas.

    get on to social networks dedicated to your market sector, publishing, and fashion, manufactiring etc.

    Don't consider anyone as a competitor - they are not EVERYONE and ANYONE can be a potential PARTNER.

    basically my answerr is,

    Stop WHining and get off your ass and get out into the market and do some work :))

    Find ourt where similar pu8blications are distributed, find out who distribuytes it and get them on the phone and ask them to offer yours side by side with the others.

    What is your current print run?
    what is your frequency?
    Are the ads you carry relevant to international markets?
    is it available in other languages than ENglish?
    (If not, forgetr Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailnad, korea, Japan etc. useless in English).

    Good luck.

    Matthew
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