Tracking the elusive reader: In this landscape of layoffs and shakeups, a job-hopping audience can be tough to trail. Here's how b-to-b publishers are validating reader information

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, Jan, 2002 by Susan Thea Posnock

And, says Levy, this type of polling can create real leverage with advertisers. For instance, if a reader says he plans to purchase a certain kind of software, the next question becomes, "Whom are you considering for the purchase?" he says. "Then we can go to advertisers who sell the software and say, 'Based on this survey of people planning to purchase software, you rank eighth on the list.' Knowing how you stack up is very valuable." In some instances, publishers will custom design the questions for specific advertisers. At Bill Communications, telemarketing efforts include "Teleleads" a value-added program for advertisers, says Joanne Wheatley, vice president of circulation.

If a resort hotel is advertising in Successful Meetings, she explains, tele-marketers are asked to gather information on certain subscribers to find out who plans meetings, what time of year they like to hold them, and the types of facilities they want to use. "It matches the advertiser's need with what our subscriber is going to purchase," she says.

The program is bundled as part of a total ad package. "For Successful Meetings, it's been a unique selling proposition. It sets us apart from our competitors," Wheatley says. In fact, she credits the program with helping the title maintain over 50 percent marketshare in a crowded field.

Sometimes these questions are timed to events and circumstances in the market, says Levy. If major changes are occurring in the business world, for example, readers are asked about those market shifts. "Right now the conventional wisdom is that nobody is buying anything, so we're asking if budgets have changed because of the current economic environment," he says.

"To keep your magazines vibrant, you really have to have your hand on the pulse of your audience," says Levy. So he often adds editorial-based questions. But even those can be used to benefit an advertiser. Levy offers this example: "Let's say we wrote an article on customer relationship marketing and [the article] determined that it is tough to implement." During telemarketing, vendors in the customer relationship business could potentially ask Darwin readers a follow-up question based on the article. The query might be, "What do your readers think would be the best way to implement customer relationship marketing?" Asking an additional marketing question or two can up the cost of the telemarketing by about $2,000, says Levy. But this type of value-add "has helped us to improve and solidify the relationship with the client."

The intensified effort to track readers via telemarketing is a sign of the times, say publishers, because, in general, it's become much more difficult to reach people. "Often there are lots of things competing for one moment of your attention," says Levy. "You have to be much more aggressive than in the past, simply because the noise level is greater."

Susan Thea Posnock is senior editor of FOLIO:.

RELATED ARTICLE: FIVE BENEFITS OF LIST VERIFICATION

1. Helps find readers who are moving from job to job, ensuring that the magazine and direct mail offers don't end up "undeliverable."