An Irresistible Offer From National Geographic, Or Is It...

[David Hunter]

Monday through Friday I get daily emails from TargetMarketingMag.com with great articles on marketing and copywriting.

Today, Denny Hatch, author of Million Dollar Mailings and his newest book Write Everything Right, wrote a great article on an irresistible offer he received in the mail from National Geographic. Well, it was irresistible until he followed their link online to the order form...

Read all about it by CLICKING HERE (http://www.targetmarketingmag.com/article/an-irresistible-offer-from-national-geographic/) or following the link:

An Irresistible Offer From National Geographic : Target Marketing (http://www.targetmarketingmag.com/article/an-irresistible-offer-from-national-geographic/)

Be sure to reply below and let me know your thoughts.

Oh, and be sure to implement what you learn!

[M.Ehrmantraut]

I had a subscription to National Geographic for years as a kid and a younger adult, be interesting to see what their sales are like in this day and age. Magazine companies are in desperate need of subscribers and it can be good for people like myself who still enjoy to read physical copies instead of just using Kindles or their computer, I get Guitar World and a few others for a ridiculously cheap price by subscribing. Funny thing is, they nearly had him purchasing a subscription to a magazine he wouldn't have subscribed to without seeing that ad and offer but lost the sale just as quickly.

[David Hunter]

Funny thing is, they nearly had him purchasing a subscription to a magazine he wouldn't have subscribed to without seeing that ad and offer but lost the sale just as quickly.

Yeah!! They did all that work, spent all that money, got them to where they wanted him and lost the sale.

That's why it's so important for everyone to know that every piece of the puzzle is just as important as the next. First the envelope. If it doesn't get opened then the sales letter never gets read. Once the envelope gets open there's a headline. If the headline doesn't grab your attention your sales letter doesn't get read. Once your headline grabs attention, your sales letter needs to hold that attention. If it doesn't, then your CTA is worthless. Then, whatever your CTA is (phone call, email, website, etc.) needs to hold attention and keep the same promises in your sales letter. And then, if they physical talk to someone, that employee needs to know how to keep the sale alive without screwing up.

So many variables we have to look at.

I'm still one who loves readying physical copies of anything. I remember back in mid-2000s, you could get cheap magazine subscriptions on eBay. I got five years of Maxim, Stuff, and Entrepreneur for $6. Yes... $6 TOTAL for three magazine subscriptions for 5 years. You don't see that anymore.

[M.Ehrmantraut]

Man, that is an awesome deal - $6 for three subscriptions for 5 years...! I love books and magazines, also - I've never had the desire to own a reader as it just can't come close to owning and holding an actual physical copy of a book or magazine but I take it we're becoming the minority on this from what I've seen lately.

[krymson]

Man, that is an awesome deal - $6 for three subscriptions for 5 years...! I love books and magazines, also - I've never had the desire to own a reader as it just can't come close to owning and holding an actual physical copy of a book or magazine but I take it we're becoming the minority on this from what I've seen lately.

The reason why people are moving to e-readers, as I'm sure you know, is it's easier to take 1 device with 100 books or magazines loaded on it, than trying to carry around 100 individual books or magazines and have it take up space. I agree the experience of holding the magazine and being able to see the print better and everything is better, but sometimes people care about convenience over an experience. That's the unfortunate truth.

[David Hunter]

It was definitely a deal! Almost too good to be true... though, they don't have deals like that any more. Sigh

Yep, we're definitely the minority. I think some day it'll all come back. As the saying goes, "History repeats itself."

krymson, I hear you on the convenience. When I went out of town last week I only brought two books with me. It's all I need on the flight and when I was just relaxing. I'm no speed reader, so it works. Plus, if I an e-reader, it may be too many options for me and then I'd never know what to read and not read any.