What's bugging the subscriptions marketers?
The marketers I speak to always complain of the same two things:
1. No money for researching readers / markets
2. Marketing revenue is not channeled back into marketing
As these two factors are central to running an effective publishing company, the marketing directors involved probably find it impossible to help their company grow.
Historically, the publishing focus has mainly been on editorial and advertising income:
- Editorial was measured by readership
- Advertising was measured by revenue
Everyone agrees that has changed – advertising no longer makes the money it did.
Now, revenue is measured by marketing success. So editors and marketing directors now have similar responsibilities: to reach and monetize prospects on whatever platform works best.
Editors must also be marketers and a marketers job is to maximize revenue. But marketers of all kinds are being held back!
What’s this to do with the price of fish?
Marketers in publishing are usually restricted by fixed budgets, low-level staffing and seniority, and their work and motivation are stifled by the kind of old-school financial models that existed pre-Internet.
For many, ‘marketing’ means sending out a promotion, when it should mean ‘building and monetizing an audience in the most cost-effective way possible.’
Now to the fish question:
If you are selling fish you would catch the fish yourself to cut out the middle man. You would rent a low-cost retail outlet and run a seafood restaurant next door. Your customers could choose their fish, see it cooked, then enjoy their meal. In a couple of moves you have doubled your audience to include both retail shoppers and people who enjoy a meal out. Your investment in the boat has reduced costs, and the restaurant outlet has increased your audience and brought in high-end revenue.
Marketers cannot maximize company revenue unless they are autonomous and their budgets are open-ended: if you are catching fish, then you should be able to keep fishing. If your tests uncover a new, profitable audience, then you should be free to go after it.
Previous: Subscription marketing: renewals
Next: Subscription marketing response figures