6 Profitable Advance Renewal Approaches
by
Robert W. Bly
Advance renewals, also called
blanket renewals, often generate the highest response rates and profits of any
direct-mail piece a newsletter publisher can mail, yet many publishers don't
use them effectively or at all.
They are called “advance” because
the goal is to renew the subscriber early, before the regular renewal cycle
begins.
However, “blanket” is a more
accurate term, since these renewals are sent to all subscribers at the same
time, regardless of where that individual subscriber is in his subscription.
Therefore, some of the renewals may
not be reaching all subscribers in advance of the regular renewal letter
series. Some may arrive during that series.
Those who do not use blanket renewals
object to the idea as follows: “Why send these extra renewal efforts at all
that extra expense? They will just get us renewals we would have gotten later
down the road with our regular renewal series.”
My answer is that those future
renewals orders are a “maybe.” Maybe you will get the numbers your renewal plan
projects. Maybe you won’t.
But every renewal order that comes
in through a blanket renewal is money in the bank now, not “later.”
Blanket
renewal formats
An advance renewal is sent either as
a separate mailing in an envelope or enclosed as an insert with the
subscriber’s regular issue.
When you are sending your blanket
renewal as a stand-alone package, make the word “renewal” prominent on the
outer envelope, the first page of the letter, and the order form. “Renewal”
gets the attention of existing subscribers.
Blanket renewals sent as solo
mailings are similar in style, tone, length, and format to regular renewal
efforts: outer envelope, 1-2 page letter, reply form, business reply envelope. Sometimes
there is a lift note or (to highlight a premium) a buck slip.
Blanket renewals designed as inserts
typically range from 4 pages in length and occasionally 8 pages. Depending on
how you mail your newsletter, some of the pages of the renewal insert may have
to be dedicated to pure editorial to satisfy postal requirements. When in
doubt, ask your postmaster.
6
response-boosting ideas
What themes can you effectively
build your blanket renewal efforts around? Here are 6 techniques proven to work
for a variety of different newsletter publishers:
1. Avoid future price increases.
When there is no other news or
angle, you can make the primary reason to renew now instead of later the
ability to lock in the current price and avoid future price increases.
This can work all the time, since
publication prices go up frequently and almost never get cheaper. So it is
believable.
When you can give a concrete reason
why the newsletter price may go up soon, this approach is even more effective.
2.
Sell the offer.
When you have a special blanket
renewal offer, stress the offer, not the publication. The more attractive the
offer, the more it should be highlighted in the promo.
Offers that work best include:
• Discount
for early renewal.
• Extended
subscription for early renewal (two extra issues).
• Special
premium for early renewal .
• Value-added
service free with early renewal (telephone hotline or Web-site access).
Does that mean you don’t talk about
the newsletter at all, and focus only on the offer?
No. You do need to resell the newsletter, and that’s a good tactic to take
in the lead when there is no special offer. But if you have an enticing offer, lead
with that first.
3.
Correct the defects.
Savvy publishing companies adjust
their product and offer based on subscriber feedback. A blanket renewal is an
excellent forum for talking about those fixes.
After all, you are asking the reader
to continue subscribing. He is more likely to do that if you have corrected the
defects in your product that were bothering him.
For instance, a subscriber survey
for an investment letter showed that readers were unhappy with the lack of
mutual fund coverage.
To correct the defect, the editor
produced a special videotape in which he discussed mutual funds. The videotape
became the premium for a very successful advance renewal mailing.
4.
Explain the discount with unconventional reasoning.
KCI Communications has had great
success with Utility Forecas advance
renewals that feature arguments between the editor and publisher (Roger Conrad
and Walter Pearce) where they "fight" over the price (and the editor,
who wants to hold prices down, wins).
For example, when Utility Forecaster increased its page
count from 8 to 12 pages per issue (increasing the length 50%), they sent a
blanket renewal insert with this headline, attributed as a quote to the editor.
It worked extremely well:
“Making these improvements to Utility Forecaster raised my publisher’s
cost 50% per issue…but I told them YOU shouldn’t pay even a nickel more!”
5.
Look for and exploit a "twist."
One investment letter did a reader
survey that showed subscribers made surprisingly few and infrequent trades. A
successful advance renewal took the subscriber to task for not taking advantage
of opportunities -- and offered extra issues for early renewal to provide
readers with a chance to get in on stocks they may have missed earlier:
“If you missed out on making 186%,
410%, or even 725% on these winning recommendations from Personal Finance, I’ll extend your subscription for FREE while
there’s still time to get in on these top profit-making recommendations.”
6. Be
straightforward -- but quirky.
Make the offer clear and sell it
hard, but add a story or other element of intrigue to boost reader interest.
Example: Growth Stock Winners offered as a renewal premium a bonus report
listing of stocks of greater than usual profit potential and risk -- so
aggressive that the publisher would not "allow" the editor to present
them in regular issues!
About the author:
Bob Bly is a freelance
copywriter whose clients include Kiplinger, Forbes, McGraw-Hill, Phillips,
Agora, Harvard Business School Publishing, and KCI. He is the author of more
than 50 books including The Complete
Idiot’s Guide to Direct Marketing (Alpha Books). Bob can be reached at
201-385-1220 or at rwbly@bly.com.
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