Marketing strategies are the key aspects to pretty much every business out there, and hence should be assessed as such. That being said, though, standing out in this oversaturated market of today can indeed prove to be quite a challenge, especially to newer businesses. What can you do to create an effective marketing strategy that will enable you to stand out and attract an audience for your magazine?

Well, in this article, we are going to show you how to achieve exactly that, in five simple steps. 
 

Understanding your Magazines’ Purpose

The very first thing that you need to do when assessing an appropriate marketing strategy is to try and pinpoint, as concisely and yet descriptive as possible, what your magazine is about.  As experts on this topic explain, if you have already formed a magazine business, the probability is high that you already have a good grasp of the general idea, but deconstructing it to its core variables will enable you to market it for those values. That being said, core values and marketing them leads us to our next step – targeting the audience.
 

Defining your Target Audience

After you have pinpointed your magazine’s core values that you find unique and attractive to a reader and yet relatable, so, your niche, it’s time to define your target audience accordingly. Doing so is crucial because if you happen to market your magazine to just about everyone, the probability is high that you will end up losing money rather than getting a return on your marketing investments.

The way that you want to approach this is by developing a simple profile of your potential customer. You can do this by analyzing your demographics, by assessing what you personally think your customer is, but it would be best to utilize both. The profile should be comprised of age, sex, family state, earnings, and location. All of this should be taken into consideration, no matter what strategy you ultimately opt for.
 

Assessing Strategies 

A good marketing strategy is the one that is able to reach your prospects at all stages of the sales cycle. When it comes to cold prospects (the people least likely to find you intentionally), marketing tactics like different forms of advertising, public relations, and direct marketing are the best way to go.

On the other hand, those who have already been exposed to your marketing and perhaps even seen your magazine somewhere (warm prospects) should be reached with permission-based email updates as well as with different loyalty programs and customer appreciation events. Lastly, the hottest prospects are those that have been exposed to your sales and marketing messages and are on the verge of closing a sale. Ideally, these prospects should be targeted with interpersonal sales contact, be it by phone, email, or in person.
 

Polish your Website

No matter what your target audience is or what strategy you have chosen, the one thing stays the same – your website quality needs to be as high as possible. This is pretty much because if someone stumbles upon your magazine, they will most likely end up on your website. So, you want to make it as user-friendly and informative as possible!
 

Utilize your Social Media

Last but definitely not least, because pretty much everyone uses social media nowadays, not utilizing it is not only an oversight but a big mistake. That being said, make sure that you make the most of all the platforms out there!
 

To Wrap Things Up

In the end, it all boils down to understanding both your business and your audience as well. No business is entirely the same, and hence no marketing strategy should be! That being said, there definitely are some dos and don’ts, and after reading this article, you are all caught up with them. All that’s left is to sit down, assess all the crucial factors that we have talked about, and act on them.