I had a phone call yesterday from a free business magazine that I receive in the mail each month. They wanted to know if I was happy with my subscription (?) and whether I wanted any additional copies for our office.
When I told her that we’re only a small company, she offered to send me five more copies each month at no additional cost. I explained that we don’t need five more copies, so she suggested sending ten each month, so that I can also leave copies out in our waiting room.
With my patience wearing out fast, I explained that we’re an online marketing company and have no waiting room. I was about to thank her for her time, but just had time to hear “…so let’s leave it at five additional copies then…” before doing what I should have done two minutes earlier and hanging up on her.
The only reason that I can think of for a magazine to do this is to increase their distribution figures, making the numbers look more appealing for advertisers.
It strikes me as not only a morally questionable strategy, but also a short-sighted one. Even assuming they double their circulation in this way, I suspect their advertisers would see no significant difference.
The magazine in question also has a truly horrible website. It’s almost impossible to navigate, difficult to read, uses an eye-watering colour scheme and has a staggering 11 animated ads on the front page alone.
The content of the magazine itself is actually quite good. So they already have an advantage over many of their rivals.
This magazine needs to invest in their website. The old media is dying, and unless they catch up with the ‘internet thing‘, I very much doubt they’ll be around in a couple of years. No matter how much they increase their readership.
PS: If I receive five additional copies next month I will name the publication with relish!
