CUTTING COSTS AND BOOSTING RESPONSE IDEAS
from Bridget Higgins, Intertec Publishing

Become your own direct mail vendor! Examine what you're mailing.
Eliminate unusual sizes and paper stocks. Mass print shells, carriers and returns in standard sizes-- #10's, #9's and 8" x 11" or 14" stock will meet every need for controlled efforts. Stock can be warehoused at your lettershop/mailhouse and shells custom imprinted during the personalization process. Extra stock can be saved until the next year. The keeps all direct mail efforts (regardless of pub size) to a standard cost. It can easily be done for up to one year in advance.

If you do more than one per year, negotiate a yearly rate with your lettershop/mailhouse on double postcards. This will keep your per cost the same across all efforts.

If you traditionally mail only tip-ons, switch to a wrap to capture cheap pass-along names.

Only print in two-color. Increasing color increases cost, not response. Even in cases where response does go up, it almost never outweighs the extra money spent. Test one-color - it can look good and It's cheap!

Don't waste $ printing colors on the back of the returns. Print wraps 2/1 - one color on the back! Don't print on the back of your letter/qual form (unless your qual form is so long you cant avoid it.) Don't put color on return envelopes - how is a four- color logo on a return card/letter going to boost response? It's not!

Keep it simple. Don't junk up the promotion with anything that detracts from the central theme - you want a RENEWAL or a NEW SUBSCRIPTION. Providing a comprehensive editorial outline will do neither of these things.

It's a waste - a d frequently depresses response - to include a long letter with a controlled package. Do a combo letter/qual form. The letter should be short and to the point, with directional copy explaining exactly how to renew/subscribe.

Testing on controlled efforts is EASILY inclusive. Why? Test panels that are too small, testing too many factors. Test one thing only.

Don't do color tests - the same design in purple and the same design in red will almost ALWAYS tie.

Don't do copy tests - that is, testing the body of the letter. Subscribers could care less; your tests tie and you're not further ahead. Test the design, the envelope, BRE vs. CRE - focus on "big picture" items ONLY.

Don't be afraid to use a color besides RED. Great results can be had from packages using purple/yellow, lime green/blue, orange, even BROWN.

Designs for one type of effort Don't always work well on another. A great direct mail design doesn't necessarily translate to a great wrap.

When in doubt, use TIME TO RENEW on your wrap! If that doesn't work, try "HOW MANY TIMES DO I NEED TO FILL THIS OUT?" (Copy reads, "Just once, if you return this now, you won't have to renew for one full year!")

Make the goal of the package the boldest part - if It's TIME TO RENEW make that the prominent thing on the page!

Keep the logo on your envelopes! It DOES make a difference.

Keep the form reader friendly - boxes and lines big enough to write in, pleasing to the eye, simple, clean and a readable font.

Don't threaten to cut off a subscription UNTIL YOU MEAN IT.

Leave out the "junk" from your direct mail packages - buckslips and brochures look great, but they won't boost your response.

Test the use of cover shots on your direct mail package - It can make a big difference. Even a black and white cover shot will work - four color is absolutely not necessary.

You're not stupid and neither are your subscribers. Treat them with respect on your mailings. " Fake Check" packages and obvious Fed Ex dupes are passe and result in lots of customer service calls/complaints - and a low response

COST SAVING & RESPONSE BOOSTING TIPS
from Cary Zel, ProCirc Inc.

1. Combo -
If you can't print various versions of a component, at least try to combo those that are on the same paper and print the same colors. i.e. letters and liftnotes; insert cards...

2. Use of Color -
Instead of using four-color process, get creative with halftones and duotones. Using various shades of a few colors can give the illusion of more colors. Also try pricing these jobs on colored stock to give the effect of an additional color.

3. Create "expensive paper" effects with ink
For example, instead of using speckled paper, print the speckles. Sometimes printing the Kraft color on envelopes is less expensive than the Kraft stock would be.

4. Use standard sizes
It's always more cost-effective to use pre-manufactured envelopes or a label size that there's already a die for.

5. Haggle
Go back to your next-to-lowest bid and ask them to beat the lowest price.

6. Ask printers for advice
Chances are they've done something similar in the past and can advise you on how to do it cheaper, or at least on how to do it better so you don't have to change it the second time around.

7. Negotiate annual volume deals with vendors
Even if you print your inserts a few issues at a time, commit to one vendor for the year in order to negotiate volume discounts. You can do this with renewal, bill and direct mail printing as well as merge purge and lettershop. Just give your vendors estimates quantities and the approximate timing and they can bid on the entire year's volume. Even smaller magazines can gain some volume advantages by bidding out a year's business at one time.

8. Scrutinize your fulfillment needs
There are lots of charges on every fulfillment invoice besides the label rate, customer service calls and lettershop charges. Make sure you are using any of the services that you are paying for like special reporting, online access, etc. or cancel those services. Often the bills may get shuffled through and approved just because the charges had always been there.

9. Test stickers
These have been tried and true for years. They are a relatively inexpensive involvement devise. If you have a soft offer use a sticker that simply says, "FREE". You can also use stickers to promote premiums.

10. Test glitter or hologram foil stickers
Conde Nast has used these on a lot on double postcards recently. These are only marginally more that regular stickers and stand out more than a plain sticker.

11. Use a "freemium"
This is a gift that is included directly in the DM package. We've had great successes using bookmarks, small reference guides or tip sheets, and stickers.

12. Mail expires
Test mailing to the expires of your best lists. Often they will respond better than some other marginal lists. Hint: When mailing expires, be sure to run the lists through NCOA.

13. Test 2 telemarketing efforts to renewals
Most publishers use one telemarketing effort as a last ditch attempt to retain subscribers. Add an extra effort right at expire as a last chance to guarantee continuous service. It may reduce profitability slightly when compared to cheaper mailed efforts, but if should increase your overall renewal rate.

14. Use a "last issue" cover wrap or polybag insert
This will almost always pay for itself since it is so cheap to produce and mail. Whether you use a polybag insert, wrapper or tip-on might depend on the equipment that your printer has. All methods should work.

15. Steal smart
Monitor your competitors' and other industry leaders' direct mail. If you see trends or techniques appearing frequently, then test them.

16. Network
Most circulation professionals are pretty open and enjoy recommending copywriters, designers, and vendors who are good and who have helped them in successful promotions. If you see a DM package that you like, call the magazine's circulation staff and find out who the copywriter and designer are.

IDEAS FOR SMALL MAGAZINES
from Dan Breau, Response Advertising

Develop a testing, questing attitude about everything you do to get new subscribers, renew current subscribers, and recapture expires. Another way to say this is, "If it ain't broke, fix it immediately! Every effort that's working now will eventually tire out, so you need to have two or three already developed ideas on the launching pad. For example, you should test new headlines on envelopes or postcards every time you mail, because one of your most critical challenges is to get your mail opened and read. But when your current control headline wears out, you'll have another proven one ready to go.

Test the big three every chance you get: Test lists. Test offers. Test headlines. Scoring a breakthrough with lists, offers, or headlines will produce the biggest, most profitable results. After you've exhausted testing these three, you can move on to testing copy approaches, premiums, lift letters, and so on.

If you have a winning offer and a winning headline on your control package, try one of the least expensive tests possible: change the color of the envelope each time you mail. This helps keep your control package fresh. Self magazine extended the life of its control package for years using this technique.

Don't take anything for granted. When I worked on The New York Times account in another life, the circulation director asked me if there was any way to boost response from the blow-in cards they ran week after week. For years, the Times had used an 8" x 6" double postcard folded in half to 4" x 6". My solution was, Don't fold it. That way, you'll have more design freedom, and the blow-in will attract more attention. Response jumped by 30%, and the Times still uses my format. P.S. - they save a few pennies by not folding the card.

Put blow-in or bind-in cards in every issue of your magazine. If you Don't, you're missing out on potential subscribers who pick up a copy of your magazine in a friend's home. I've even seen people browsing through magazines in airport newsstands. They didn't buy the magazine, but they swiped the blow-in card so they could mail it in later.

Transform a blow-in card to a blow-in envelope - a bangtail envelope. This way, you can ask for payment with order (either check or credit card) and save the expense of billing. You'll increase pay-up at virtually no added cost.

If you're not already doing it, start the move toward continuous service - the "'til forbid" subscription. Every newspaper that provides home delivery does this. And European magazines have been doing it for years. A segment of your subscribers will opt for continuous service - annual automatic renewal with credit card billing - because It's convenient, and they'll never miss an issue. Sell it to your subscribers as a benefit. You'll lower the cost of renewals for years to come.

Order forms or reply cards - they're one of the most important parts of a direct mail effort - and they probably receive the least amount of strategic thinking and creative effort. Try this for your next direct mail effort: Create the order form first. Pretend that your prospect or customer will see only this, and ask yourself three questions: "Does the order form restate the entire selling proposition and main benefit?" "Does it ask for the order?" "If someone found only the order form lying in the street, could he or she understand what your magazine is all about and send for it?"

Here's an idea for copy: Ask for the order - early and often. You should ask for the order very early in the copy. It's like the "early trial close" in a telemarketing script. If you can close the sale in the first or second paragraph, do it - drive the prospect to the order form. You can't expect people to read all the copy. Takes too long. In addition, you should ask for the order in some way on every page or panel of your direct mail package. You can't control where people will start reading, or where they will stop.

Here's a way that design helps your copy to sell: Use color. Use highlight yellow to call attention to key benefit points in copy. Use blue underscoring when you ask for the order, especially when you have to explain the one, two, or three steps needed to place an order.

Know your subscribers. Find out everything you can about them. Read the other magazines they read, listen to the music they like, watch the TV and movies they see. Go shopping where they shop and watch carefully what they buy. Good designers and copywriters do this instinctively. But you and every person in your company who is responsible for subscription sales in some way should be required to "get to know your subscribers better." This knowledge is an endless source of great selling ideas.

Here's a "steal smart" idea: book and record clubs use "member-get-a-member" promotions. Ask your subscriber to get a friend to subscribe - and provide an incentive, a gift, to make this happen.

If you use freemiums or premiums, only give quality. Your gift says a lot about the quality and image of your magazine. Here's where understanding your subscribers and the life they live can pay off. Find the gift that fits your subscriber's needs and interests - it can be inexpensive and still make a good impression.

The low-cost way to test premiums is with a separate buckslip. The copy in your letter, brochure, and order form can simply refer to it as the "free gift." This way, you Don't print separate versions of letters, brochures, and order forms to mention the gift. Just be sure to code the order forms so you know which premium is being responded to.

Another way to get your subscribers to help you get more subscribers is to promote gift subscriptions. And not just at holiday time but all year long.

If your magazine is issue-oriented - environmental, social action, political, health, and so on, you have a natural opportunity to send a pro bono publico ("for the public good") mailing - a free information or action bulletin. This puts you on the side of the angels with your subscribers, enhances your image, and provides a lift at renewal time.

If you Don't have a web site, what are you waiting for? A web site is another way for potential subscribers to find you. And It's a way for you to build and sustain a better customer relationship with your active subscribers. Done properly, your web site can add value to your magazine and vice versa. For a good example, take a look at the Rodale web site, especially for Prevention and Men's Health magazines.

Ethnic markets. Most magazines, especially the smaller titles, publish only in English. A look through American Demographics magazine reveals that there are huge ethnic markets in the US that prefer (and trust) publications in their own language -- Spanish, Greek, Polish, etc. Publishers and circ managers ought to consider publishing an ethnic, foreign-language edition of their magazines. They would have to pay for translation, but some pubs might discover they have a big untapped market. And on the advertiser side, there are many companies that want to reach ethnic markets.

RESPONSE BOOSTING / COST SAVING IDEAS
from Vince Dema, Smart Circ Solutions

Reduce dependency on "outside names" by utilizing more "house names".

Reduce your mailing cost by "exchanging" names instead of "renting" names.

Utilize a "fast 50" offer in direct mail.

Mail twice to your best names and multi - buyers instead of mailing once to marginal lists.

Replace "mail" renewal efforts with "e-mail" efforts.

Offer extra issues free in exchange for payment with order.

Only mail during the best mailing seasons.

Utilize "laser printed" renewal and billing series instead of "offset printed" series.

Utilize a "respond by" date in your promotions.

Include a "renewal at birth" offer in your first two invoice mailings

Set up an " exchange space" advertising program.

Maintain a "swipe file" to keep up to date on what other mailers are doing.

Test "full money - back" guarantee instead of refund for unmailed copies only.

Utilize onserts and wraps to selling gift subscriptions, as well as ancillary products and services.

Utilize premiums to induce prospects to subscribe for 2 or 3 years.

Utilize a "Yes/No" offer.

Remail "No" names mentioned above.