In publishing, using a premium to make your offer stand out has become standard operating procedure. Not all premiums work equally well. Here is a close look at what works now.
Print Items
Most premiums are print items. The standard one is the free special report.
A super premium like the free special report gives most or all of the secrets the mailing promises. Push the fact that it is free throughout the package, especially in the text of the letter. Here is an example of a campaign that offers a super premium. It is Weiss’s Safe Money Report. The mailing is a magalog, 24 pages long. In this case, the offer is restated about every other page.
An owner’s manual shows how to use the service to get the most from it. If it is an options trading course, for example, the owner’s manual should explain puts versus calls and the kinds of trades the service makes, such as straddles.
A vertical premium is a report which drills down into one particular sub-section of the main subject. For an IT newsletter, the premium could be a report on enterprise resource planning systems or supply chain management, rather than just a broad overview.
A resource guide is a small directory of suppliers, vendors and trade groups. List address, phone, email, and URL.
Prospects are also very interested in what subscribers of yours think and do. For example, Hospital Admitting Monthly offered a salary survey premium. Response to the control rose 50%.
’Best-of’ collections are good premiums, such as the dozen best columns you have written. Regulatory and legal newsletters have collected their monthly ‘You Be the Judge’ case summaries.
A special word about books. Offering the editor’s book as the bonus for a publication is a bit risky. After all, if it is a great best-seller, the prospect may already have it. Also, a newsletter with a high price needs a premium that seems to be worth more than just a hard cover book.
Online Services
Repackage online services you already offer as bonuses. Make them sound like additions to the print newsletter.
Don’t overlook email in the bonus list. If you email subscribers a weekly update between print issues, promote it as a free bonus e-zine.
Some editors offer unscheduled email ‘alerts,’ which they email to subscribers when they have particularly urgent news or advice. If you already do this, promote it as a premium.
As one more subscriber perk, give them exclusive, password-protected access to the publication’s web site and archives. Subscribers really want archives of your publication. Offer searchable archives as a bonus.
Another subscriber perk to consider: an online networking forum where subscribers can post questions, comments and best practices. It’s a nice extra, and a look at the posts gives your marketing and editorial staff insight into what interests your audience.
Premiums Have Had Mixed Results
Other premiums have had mixed results.
Phone hotlines: Many monthly newsletters offer a hotline with news and advice, usually updated weekly.
Invite prospects to conferences, workshops and seminars you put on. Give subscribers early registration, and mention any discounts you offer subscribers.
Transcripts of events, speeches and the editor’s TV or radio appearances can make attractive premiums.
Consider recording special talks by your editor and others on your staff. You can offer these as audio or video premiums. Video has higher perceived value, but personally I like audio better. Some prospects don’t have time to read at the office, but can listen to tapes or CD’s while driving.
Include CD-ROM’s as bonuses if the information you are giving away is better presented in a multi-media format.
Here is another premium to consider: software. Prospects perceive it as extremely valuable. Why not offer a simple spreadsheet on disk, such as a cost calculator?
If the newsletter is an information product that subscribers will use for reference again and again, consider giving them a bonus binder. This type of premium fits mostly how-to newsletters with longer-term information, rather than those that are focused on the immediate market.
Merchandise is a common premium for magazines, but rare for newsletters. An exception is Release 1.0, a technology newsletter for senior executives, which gives a branded cap to subscribers who prepay.
About Delancey Street
Delancey Street is a premier, and award winning, business debt settlement company that helps business owners nationwide. Our goal is simple: help you escape debt in a safe and legal manner. Based out of New York, we can help in 49 of 50 states. We tell you how it is; because your business and future is on the line.
