As advertisers grapple with shrinking marketing budgets against ever-increasing sales and customer acquisition targets, there is greater pressure on marketing dollars to work harder than ever before. When you add continuous innovation to marketing and media platforms, advertisers have more communication vehicles than ever before to romance their target audience – and consumers have more communication vehicles than ever before to listen to (or ignore) these messages. We continue our series in investigating the roles certain marketing channels play in driving business growth for advertisers. We explore which communication vehicles are known to be more effective in driving sales and customer acquisition, and which marketing channels typically achieve higher return-on-investment. In studying the roles various marketing channels play in driving key performance targets across a number of verticals in Australia, it is possible to draw some overall conclusions. Previous issues have explored TV, Radio and Newspapers. This issue puts the spotlight on Magazines.
Magazines are currently an under-utilised communications vehicle for most advertisers due to their perceived lower reach compared to other traditional advertising media and perceived greater cost than more innovative (albeit riskier) advertising platforms. However magazines can be quite an effective platform for advertisers to build awareness, increase customer engagement, and drive sales and customer acquisition.
When consuming TV and Radio consumers merely turn on the technology. Various research studies have shown that this easy and immediate access to TV and Radio content without an overt action of purchase prior to consumption gives consumers the impression that watching TV and listening to the Radio is ‘free.’ However since Magazines need to be purchased either by individual issue or through a paid subscription, consumers often read Magazines cover-to-cover to ‘get their money’s worth.’ If you include magazines in your multi-media advertising campaign, you can be assured that consumers who have purchased that magazine title in your media plan have been exposed to your message – sometimes numerous times due to repeat consumption.
Magazines can also achieve wide reach when you consider the audience who has purchased the magazine along with consumers who read the magazine in waiting rooms and homes of friends and family. People often share their magazines once they’ve read them.
It is a great medium to target specific population segments due to the plethora of specialist magazines in the market. If your product or service targets a particular niche segment, Magazines can be most cost-effective in reaching your target market compared to other media.
To maximise the effectiveness of Magazine advertising I’ve found campaigns that place the advertised product in an environment which tells a story or allows the consumer to imagine how this product integrates into their lifestyle increases consumer engagement with the brand as well as interest, consideration and purchase. I have also found that Magazines are most effective in driving awareness, consideration and purchase of big-ticket items or luxury goods due to its ability to create stories of the brand and product within its pages.
Hopefully these observations about the role Magazines can play in your marketing strategy has been valuable. Please watch out for the next issue which puts the spotlight on the medium of Cinema.
For further information about media effectiveness or how you can optimise your marketing strategy, please feel free to contact Clare by emailing ClareF@thriveplus.com.au