Giving away the first chapter of a book is obvious and smart marketing. Allen & Unwin are doing this with ICE by Louis Nowra and The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas. Magazine publishers could use this approach in newsagencies. With around 50% of all newsagency customers not buying a magazine, we ought to promote the category through giving away samples.
Sampler marketing could work well for crosswords, fashion, food, travel, cars, health, craft and special interest categories. I have pitched the idea to several publishers without success. Budget is the main issue – production, diostribution and the expectation that newsagents would want a fee for in-store management of the giveaway.
I would give this a crack for free, to see if the promotion works – as long as the trial product offers genuine value. For example, take Good Food from ACP Magazines. An A6 size eight-page sampler of some excellent recipes and an article by Gordon Ramsay could result in greater interest in the magazine. Newsagencies are the only outlets where such a promotion could be run. We can track how many samplers were given away, when and what was in each basket included with the sampler. This data could be used to track uptake and better target promotion of the magazine.
Magazine publishers could learn from the approach taken by Allen & Unwin. Putting a sample of a product into the hand of a prospect is, in my mind, more valuable than a billboard, TV ad or some other more traditional form of advertising.
We have almost sold out of the latest issue of Delicious since we placed it at the counter position last week. Based on sales history for this title, I’d put the counter location being worth at least a four-fold increase in sales for the week. I am testing the value of the position this weekend with the placement of Weight Watchers magazine there today. Even though the latest issue has been on sale for three weeks, I am hopeful that we can sell another three or four copies of Weight Watchers over the weekend. If we do, it reinforces the value of promoting good value magazines here. The latest issue of Weight Watchers magazine has a free diet pad included with the title.
