Mom was right -- always say 'Thank you'

The Goal

The objective of the Honolulu Advertiser, located in Hawaii (145,943; 166,585) was to thank customers for subscribing while at the same time encouraging renewal of their subscription. The program was entitled Reader Rewards.

The Story

Reader Rewards is a no-cost premium provided to The Honolulu Advertiser in exchange for the program promotion. The program provided renewing subscribers with an unexpected and unconditional gift in the form of a coupon printed directly on their first renewal invoice. The premiums ranged from restaurants to family entertainment values.

Approximately 25,000 subscribers received a Reader Reward each month. Each quarter, The Honolulu Advertiser partnered with a different local business that had broad appeal to attract the maximum amount of subscribers.

“Tracking redemption of the Reader Reward coupons has been an obstacle for us,” said Vice-President of Circulation, Michael Cusato.  “Although we encouraged all partners to develop tracking methods in order to measure results, many partners were not able to accomplish that. As a result, we have not been able to fully review the average coupon redemption rate,” said Cusato.

The success of this promotion was determined by comparing the average monthly response to first renewal notices.

Before Readers Rewards, the average response rate to first renewal notices was 66.6 percent. After Reader Rewards, the response rate increased to 78.6 percent. This resulted in a decrease of second notices being sent out, which is an approximate annual mailing savings of $15,000.

The Moral of the Story

By thanking customers before their renewal is due, you increase customer retention and save on mailing costs.

Saying Thank You the EZ Pay Way

The Goal

The objective of The Tennessean, located in Nashville, Tenn. (181,343; 250,575) was to touch on the front end of the subscription process and convert the new customer to EZ Pay.

The Story

A thank you letter offering a $10 grocery gift card was sent within seven-10 days of a new subscription start. The letter emphasized features and benefits of both the product and the advantages of EZ Pay automatic payments. The letter had a perforated coupon and a postage paid response envelope enclosed to ease the reply process. A coupon for a free classified ad was also in the packet and could be used with no obligation.

“One challenge that we found was that systems programming was required to isolate new customers not signing up for EZ Pay at the start of their subscription. Due to some systems limitations, a database analyst reviews and learns from the list before it is sent to an outside direct mail house. Due to the volume of letters, it was determined to send the job to an outside vendor to do the mailing. The company warehouses the letters and we also receive lower postal costs by using the vendor’s pre-sort mailing privileges. The postal savings offset the increased cost of outside production,” said Circulation Sales and Marketing Manager Tim Baumgartner.

In-home quantity versus response count was used to measure the success of the promotion.

As of July of 2004, the response rate was 1.45 percent. There were a total of 663 customers who made conversions to EZ Pay. 

The Moral of the Story

Say 'Thank You" and convert to EZ Pay all at once!