Get creative with your offers

Slight changes in the way you present your subscription offer can make a big difference. Test some of these and determine what works best for you.

• Rebates. This offer is underutilized by newspapers. A rebate allows you to maintain higher prices for people who are willing to pay full price, while offering a rebated discount to people seeking greater value. A rebate program protects your standard price from erosion better than a straight discount.

• Group discount. Consider offering a special discount exclusive to participating clubs, churches, and civic associations, as well as business groups like attorneys. This type of affinity marketing really only works well if the group will provide good access to its membership, along with a hearty endorsement.

• Custom offers. You allow your prospect to decide the terms. With a subscription, you might offer a weekly price, and let the prospect fill in the number of weeks he or she wants. Test it and see whether people select a term that is longer than your standard minimum term.

• Free sample. This may be the best offer ever devised. People can sample your paper for free and without obligation for a week or two or more. This offer removes risk for the prospect and overcomes inertia, while generating leads for telemarketing follow-up.

• Money-back guarantee. A customer pays upfront, but if dissatisfied can return the item for a full refund. Like the free trial, this offer removes risk but allows you to use customer inertia because only a small percentage of people will take the trouble to claim the guarantee.

• Premium items. When you offer a freebie that your customer wants, your offer will often outperform discount offers of similar value. That's because a gift is a more tangible benefit. The underlying reason premiums work well is that the use of premiums requires that you target your market with greater care. You wouldn't offer a set of golf balls as a gift unless you had data to suggest the audience was interested in golf, for example. The better targeting contributes to the success rate.

• Limited time. An offer with a time limit gets more response than an offer without one, especially when you give a specific deadline. This forces a decision, and the faster you can force a decision, the more likely it will be in your favor.

• Double-your-money-back guarantee. Because most people never make a claim, this is a simple way to dramatize both your offer and your guarantee. Try it in a small scale first and see how well it works.