“Marketing in the post-advertising age” – the new battle for consumer attention

Marketing has changed. Reaching audiences with your message has become increasingly difficult. Marketing now needs to be about value for the audience, and engaging in two-way conversations. With consumers controlling in how and when they consume media, only the most relevant and compelling messages are assimilated.

This has a major impact on the planning and implementation of marketing programmes, with return on investment (ROI) now a key driver in budget allocation. Consequently, customer magazines, with their high circulations and innovative content, have become the fastest-growing marketing medium in the UK after the internet. Independent research has validated their positive impact on the bottom line.

What is customer publishing and how can it reach your target audience?

Customer publishing is producing magazines, newsletters, brochures, catalogues and other marketing materials to be read by the customers, staff, shareholders, members, suppliers and any relevant stakeholders. They are a sophisticated and effective form of marketing communication as readers respond positively to the targeted editorial and marketing messages.

Customer publishing programmes can meet many objectives – building brand awareness, increasing sales, boosting customer loyalty and helping with recruitment. They can be segmented by region, country, demography, life stage and so on, thus ensuring the content is relevant and appealing to each target market. This means that one customer communication programme can be adapted to fulfil all marketing objectives.

Customer magazines and ROI

Measurement and evaluation are key components of Story Worldwide’s success with customer publishing. Extensive research and quantification ensure our customer communications programmes are properly tracked so that targets can be reached or exceeded. As a member of the Association of Publishing Agencies (APA) we can enter any programme into their Advantage Study, which provides further measurement and evidence of financial impact.

All customer publishing programmes can be integrated with other marketing activity, in any language, in any country and for any media.