WDFM Hits Front Page of iMarketing News http://www.wh5.com/ncmi/c.cfm?I=10072 The article at the above URL is about WDFM's journey into the land of list management and rental. Ken Magill's reportage forks over lots of revealing numbers on subs, unsubs and price reductions on ads here in this publication. Even if I wasn't in the article, I would have read it three or four times anyway; it's that meaty. Price Rationalizing: Last year the top ebanners in this publication fetched $100 cpm. I quickly cut those rates this year to less than $50 cpm in order to be responsive to a very soft ad market. These ad prices are now within reach of any company (large or small) wanting to reach this audience, and that's not even taking into account the current special ad deal mentioned in the last paragraph of this Publisher's Note. At the end of the day, the advertiser has to feel he/she's received some measurable return on advertising dollars. If they can spend less to advertise to the target audience, it results in a faster ROI. Publishers really do need to think like this now. With lower overhead than larger publishers, I can offer lower ad rates and throw together quickie deals. Still, to make up for lower ad revenues, I introduced "FYI from Web Digest For Marketers" a couple months ago. FYI is a stand-alone email, typically sponsored by one advertiser. I thought thousands of WDFM'ers would unsub upon its debut; little more than 150 actually did. Even more unpredictable is that some of the FYI's have served as an acquisition tool! Thus far, three FYI's have seen more people subscribe to WDFM than unsubscribe on the day it was sent. I never would have predicted that in a million years, but it'll make for great ad copy :). Furthermore, some people have written in asking for old FYI's. The only reason I can think of to explain why FYI's sometime create more subs than unsubs is that some people may be passing them along to other people that they believe might be interested in the free webinar, ebook, CRM white paper, or what have you. I also believe the quality of the offer has much to do with how an FYI is handled and regarded. Here is the crux of why I think this model will prevail: an offer sent as an "FYI from Web Digest For Marketers" has been through the WDFM filter, so people are more apt to open it as they trust that filter to work. An offer coming from a domain name that doesn't have an editorial history may not be so readily opened in this super-saturated email world in which we live. The email addresses that many firms rent are taken from many different sources. In the traditional DM world that would be known as a compiled list, which is generally understood to perform less well than a single-source list, like a magazine, newsletter or catalogue. I think this is because with a compiled list you're then talking to multiple audiences with different sensibilities, as they came from different places. Naturally, the offer has to be a good one, even if it isn't needed at that time by the reader, or else that trust begins to break down, good will evaporates, and he or she may unsubscribe. As Mac Ross (The DM Fox) says, "When an offer is really good, it ceases to be an ad and becomes a really good deal in the mind of the reader." Really good deals are in the best interest of the reader, the publisher and ultimately the advertiser, since the response rates will be better and their ROI goals more likely to be achieved. Less Is More "FYI from Web Digest For Marketers" only comes out once a week, if that. Why? Because I think more than that would be overkill. I find myself valuing something more if it comes less often. Also, frankly, there aren't always good offers to put out there. In those weeks, it's better to put out nothing than to offer up something not up to snuff. WDFM is now 6.5 years old. The secret is to keep it simple and practical. We've made few changes in all those years. We went from fortnightly to weekly. Once we'd gone weekly I instituted periodic vertical issues whereby a single issue concentrates on a single topic such as direct marketing, search engine optimization, PR, copywriting and so forth. "FYI from Web Digest For Marketers" was our latest innovation, and it has already proven to be very successful from all points of view. It's a winner :). The advertiser or mailer gives us the message and we send it out for them. At $275 cpm, we sought to price the service below what others typically charge for a similar audience. Why? Because I want that advertiser/mailer to get his/her money's worth so they come back again and again; indeed, that has already happened. Just to make sure they get their money's worth, they also get a free ad in WDFM when they rent the entire list. If you want to put your message in front of the WDFM audience in a stand-alone email, http://wdfm.com/contactlarry.php for the data card for "FYI from Web Digest For Marketers." As mentioned earlier, running ads within the WDFM editorial is probably the least expensive way to reach this audience. If you wish to take advantage of the current 2-for-1 ad deal, http://wdfm.com/advertisingraterequest.php. PS - A number of people were quite helpful to me during my trek into the list management and brokerage world. It began with list owner Marie Nelsen (http://industryscoop.com), who called me early one Friday morning and demanded to know why I wasn't actively engaged in pursuing this opportunity. That lit a fire under me. Thereafter, Ruth Stevens, a DM acquisition and retention expert (http://ruthstevens.com), Bob Castle, (a venerated list guru who writes for Direct Magazine), Mac Ross, (http://rossandco.com) and Lisa Moore, (http://ibehaviour.com) have all helped me tremendously in understanding the in's and out's of list management. Thank you, guys :). |
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