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Volume Two
Issue Two
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Welcome to the February issue of Patron Technology's Monthly Update. This month's Client Feature focuses on another un-conventional PatronMail client: Time Out New York. Marisa Fariņa, Associate Publisher of Marketing for TONY, explains how e-marketing fits into the magazine's overall marketing mix. Read on...
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Client Feature: Marisa Fariņa and 'Time Out New York'
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Marisa Fariņa has been with "Time Out New York" since its launch in September, 1995 when she was hired as a Marketing Executive. Within two years she became the Marketing Director and in October of 2000 was named Associate Publisher of Marketing.
In this role, Marisa oversees the marketing and publicity of the weekly magazine, its ancillary products and the marketing of its 40-plus guidebook series in North America.
In the Q & A that follows, Marisa discusses the dynamics of using e-marketing for "Time Out New York," a primarily print publication.
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Q & A with Marisa Fariņa
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Recent TONY newsletter
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GIVEN THAT "TIME OUT NEW YORK" IS PRIMARILY A PRINT PUBLICATION, HOW DOES E-MAIL FIT IN? WHAT ARE YOUR E-MARKETING STRATEGIES AND OBJECTIVES?
"Time Out New York's" primary means of communicating with its customers are through its print products, including a weekly magazine, annual E&D guide, Nightlife guide and Student guide, and the newest addition to the family, a quarterly Kids magazine with weekly online editions.
We first launched an e-marketing campaign with Patron in September of 2002 in an effort to speak to our customers more than once a week. As with any product or institution, we compete for the attention of consumers that are inundated with marketing messages every minute of the day. The more times you can appropriately interact with your customer and convey a message of relevance, the more opportunities you have to build brand loyalty.
We continue to use our e-marketing to speak to our subscribers outside of the pages of the magazine. It gives us the opportunity to enter their homes through a different medium, offer them timely promotions and relay information that we may not have been able to relay through the pages of the magazine.
HOW HAS IT BEEN WORKING? WHAT RESPONSE RATES AND FEEDBACK HAVE YOU BEEN GETTING?
"Time Out New York's" weekly e-newsletter is exclusive for subscribers. Unlike most magazine e-newsletters, we decided to create our program exclusively for those that have chosen to commit to the brand on a weekly basis. It was our way of creating a more desirable package -- weekly magazine plus weekly e-newsletter.
Since the launch of our campaign, we have cultivated a subscriber list of close to 8,000. The most important factor is that each of these subscribers has gone out of his/her way to sign up for the service. It is integral that the recipients of our alerts are interested in what we have to say and have not ended up on our mailing list because they forgot to opt-out when signing up for something totally unrelated to our brand.
We continue to receive feedback from current subscribers letting us know that they are thrilled to receive the special offers and, more importantly, take advantage of them. We're not looking to create an exclusive club but rather expose our subscribers to cultural activities that are highlighted in the magazine every week. It's all about complementing our overall mission of providing socially active consumers with information they can act on.
HAVE YOU BEEN ABLE TO CORRELATE THE USE OF E-MAIL WITH THE RENEWAL SUCCESS RATES? WHAT HAVE YOU FOUND?
We have not put a specific system in place to make the connection between our e-mail services and renewals but we do receive calls asking how to subscribe to our e-newsletter as if it were a separate publication worthy of its one subscription price. That's enough proof of effectiveness for me.
PLEASE EXPLAIN THE ROLE OF LIMITED SPECIAL OFFERS. HOW AND WHY DO THEY WORK?
Our weekly e-newsletter is used for "Time Out New York" announcements and special offers from our advertisers. With the capability of reaching close to 8,000 subscribers a week, our advertisers have the opportunity to complement their print advertising with special offers sent to a smaller group of individuals.
Many advertisers prefer to keep their print ads free of special offers as to not look as if they're giving away the store. Our e-marketing initiatives are an opportunity for them to fill last-minute seats and alert key consumers of special offers without having to muddy the message in their print campaign.
The special offers have been extremely successful. In some cases, we promote free events and for those we can receive anywhere up to 1,000 RSVPs in one day. For the paid offers with a special discount, we have helped institutions sell in excess of 300 tickets for a specific performance that wasn't selling well at the box office.
WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR DEVELOPING YOUR E-MAIL MARKETING AND COMMUNICATION FURTHER?
At the moment, our e-marketing efforts for the weekly magazine will remain the same although -- due to the success of our current campaign -- we will launch the same style of e-marketing for our new publication, "Time Out New York Kids." This publication will be printed quarterly with weekly online editions so the e-newsletter will take on a new role of driving traffic to the Kids' website, which will provide fresh content every week. This service will be automatic with the purchase of a subscription as opposed to customers having to sign up for it separately.
With a quarterly print product it will be crucial to have the opportunity to speak with our customers through e-mail every week.
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Visit www.timeoutny.com
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PatronMail Helps You Comply With Anti-Spam Law
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The CAN-SPAM law which went into effect on January 1st is the first federal law to regulate e-mail marketing, and not-for-profit managers are required to abide by it. As a PatronMail client, many of the requirements are already built into PatronMail, allowing you to ensure you're in compliance.
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Read more about the CAN-SPAM law here
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Learn about PatronMail -- Request a Demonstration
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If you're thinking about joining the nearly 200 arts clients that use PatronMail -- give us 15 minutes and we'll allow you to "test-drive" a PatonMail account. During the demonstration, we'll talk about how the regulations of the anti-spam law are built into PatronMail.
The 20-minute demonstration can be scheduled at your convenience.
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Click here to request a demonstration
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Please watch for our next Monthly Update, coming March 24, 2004.
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