Filed under: ad sales
Creating valuable, relevant access to membership is one of the key ways to foster a healthy supplier community, as well as a healthy non-dues revenue stream. Often the easy answer is to combine several different options across multiple platforms (web, print, events) to create a comprehensive sponsorship “package.” This can work, but there are a few things to keep in mind.
First, don’t think about packaging as a way to offer a discount. Yes, price is an important factor in media and event buys, now more than ever. But companies will still spend top dollar if they feel that they are being given unique access to a high-level, niche market. Rather than thinking of the package as a discount, think of it as a way to build consistent visibility on a yearlong basis.
As companies look harder at ROI, the perception that they are an important part of the community and not “just a vendor” is vital. A successful media and event package should make the supplier feel that they have a presence–and a voice–at all of the places that your members connect and look for information: online communities, listservs, events, the list can go on.
Use feedback from some of your most active suppliers to identify the golden goose: that one element of member access that is most sought after. It could be an exclusive education opportunity, the ability to host a private VIP event, or the ability to co-promote an association product to members. Building your package around that item, so that all exposure supports and relates back to it, is crucial. Remember to determine an actual value (hard costs + perceived value of member access) for each line item when developing the total package cost. If the package includes the right member access, it should be priced accordingly.
–Shannon Reid, Vice President, Sales, Network Media Partners, Inc.
May 6, 2010
Association Media & Publishing’s EXCEL Award goes to the recently reinvented quarterly publication from AAMVA
When the AAMVA/Network team began work in the summer of 2009 to reinvent MOVE magazine, we sought to redesign it with the reader in mind. This member-minded focus made editorial and design stronger and provided new opportunities for engagement between readers and advertisers. With the launch of the Fall 2009 issue, MOVE now includes a digital edition (powered by NxtBook) that focuses intently on using multi-media to engage readers and provide additional information and content. With every issue of this quarterly magazine, the team ups the ante, including digital-only features, video and audio clips.
MOVE magazine was awarded the silver EXCEL Award for Online Publishing Innovation from Association Media & Publishing. The category is a new addition to the awards, covering “online media that push the envelope of association media in some way, whether through video, social media, multimedia presentations, or any other new media technology. This category recognizes the game changers—associations that are connecting with their audiences in new and innovative ways online.”
“We listened to our audience and they told us they wanted something that had fewer features, shorter stories and something that was online, interactive and searchable,” said Jason D. King, ABC, director, Communications and Public Relations, AAMVA.
“We gave our members what they wanted with the new online MOVE and that is why we are thrilled these strategic efforts were recognized not just by our members with positive feedback on the product, but also by our peers at AM&P with this year’s EXCEL Silver Award for Online Innovation. Actually, thrilled is an understatement,” King said.
“It is very exciting to have a client willing to push the envelop with media,” said Chip Boyce, President, Network Media Partners, Inc. “This was a tremendous opportunity for the Network team to help remake AAMVA’s flagship communication property. Because this reworked and multimedia piece was demanded by members, our sales team has been able to build confidence among both historic and new advertisers in the performance of the new digital magazine. That AAMVA goes beyond just re-purposing the print edition and they both invest in digital only content and use multimedia content sets the standard for other publishers.”
The team will tell the story of MOVE at Association Media & Publishing’s annual conference in “From Good to Great: Reinvent your magazine for the digital age.”
Can’t get enough? Read about the redesign of MOVE.
April 29, 2010
Digital editions are quickly becoming an integral part of a supplier’s advertising plan within an association marketplace.
“Advertisers are most excited about making their solution come to life through the digital technology,” said Ben Ledyard, VP, Sales.
We’ve seen an uptick of advertisers who are specifically requesting a digital publication, Ledyard said, because they are coming to the realization that this medium offers a more engaged audience than
previously thought.
And they have good reason to be present in those publications in an interactive way: 26.4 percent of readers play an ad with digital extras to see if they “may become interested in an ad,” according to a recent study conducted by Smarter Media Sales and sponsored by NxtBook and Zinio.
There’s more for advertisers and editors to like about a digital publication. A study in 2007 showed that 72 percent of digital subscribers visited an advertiser’s web site, and that 53 percent e-mailed an article to a friend.
Another study, done in 2008, found that 44 percent find digital advertisements more appealing. Thirty-seven percent of readers are more likely to ‘engage digitally.’
–Ben Ledyard, VP, Sales, Network Media Partners.
December 18, 2009
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