Magazine week: How to promote magazines outside your newsagency

Each day this week I will post about magazines from an overall business perspective in newsagencies. I am doing this because some suppliers think my submission to the ACCC of the proposed trial of new magazine supply rules I made on behalf of newsXpress reflects a move against magazines. Nothing could be further from the truth. I am fighting for fairness because of believe in magazines for the long term.

How to promote magazines outside your newsagency.

For too long magazine marketing and promotion by newsagents has consisted of putting up posters and doing aisle end displays as requested by major publishers. Some newsagents have merchandisers who visit to do this. My view is this traditional approach is a waste of time. The sales numbers suggest as much.

If you want to make the most of magazines and break free from what is traditional in your business in terms of sales you need to break free from traditional marketing. Here are my suggestions:

1. Talk about content. Step away from mastheads and promote stories, especially those in titles unique to your business.
2. Use social media. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest lend themselves to our of store magazine marketing.
3. Have conversations.  In store and online with your customers about topics in magazines. Engage with them.
4. Leverage unique value. If you have a value proposition which is unique to your business, leverage it, promote it.
5. Focus on unique product. Consider window and other displays and promotions for the titles not available in nearby supermarkets.
6. New this week. Setup a display somewhere i-store to display issues of unique titles new this week.
7. Did you miss this. When you have returned a title check for any particularly interesting articles in titles outside those sole in supermarkets and put these on a noticeboard – promoting what your shoppers ay have missed.
8. Create a flyer. Every couple of months create a flyer listing titles you sell in several segments which are not sold in supermarkets. This promotes your depth of range and reinforces your position as the magazine specialist.
9. Staff picks. Get them to choose a title every week or fortnight and place a card with this explaining why they choose it as their favourite magazine.

Sure some of these ideas require additional effort. That’s the point – to act beyond what is usual or average, to uncover sales you do not currently achieve. I am confident we can grow magazines sales. While I think we ought to make more, I think we have to put revenue ahead of that argument for now as our suppliers appear immovable on the topic.

For too long newsagents have been treated by magazine publishers and distributors in a paternalistic way. Just because we ask for fair and equitable supply so we can compete with others selling magazines does not mean we want to turn our back on the category. It means the opposite. We see a bright future for magazines if we can achieve fair supply.

Footnote: I am calling this magazine week for no reason other than to label the series of posts.