WHO SAID THAT only big magazines can build an online subscription business? Yoga Journal, a niche title that appears seven times a year, is now getting 12% of its new subs via the Web. But it didn't happen overnight.
The magazine launched its Web site (www.yogajournal.com) in 2001. But this was accompanied by turf wars over what was going on the home page, according to circulation director Barbara Besser.
“It took me a couple of years to get prime real estate,” Besser says.
The convincer was her own success as a circulator. In the five years ending in 2004, Besser tripled the subscription list from 100,000 to 310,000. And she did that while raising the price $1 to $15.95 for a one-year sub.
But there were other arguments — like a cost comparison between direct mail and the Web. And that logic became even more persuasive when the growth started slowing down.
Since 2004, Yoga Journal has added only 15,000 new subscribers, and is focused on absorbing that earlier bump in circulation. Accordingly, it has cut back on direct mail. It will send 800,000 pieces this year, compared with 1 million in 2004.
But get these metrics: Besser achieved 10% growth on the Web in 2004, 17% in 2005 and 8% as of this June.
Yoga Journal's site draws 500,000 unique visitors a month, an impressive feat since the magazine is “not spending marketing dollars on search,” Besser says.
Once on the site, visitors are given several chances to subscribe. The most successful vehicle is the ad featuring the current magazine cover. Positioned on the left side of the home page (and on as many pages as possible), it accounts for 40% to 50% of the net orders online, according to Besser.
“The pay-up is the highest because it's very promotional,” she says. “People really get a look at the magazine.”
The ad says: “Subscribe Now! 2 Free Trial Issues & New Gifts.” The premiums are two editorial booklets. “Better Posture 101” and “Yoga for Neck and Shoulders.”
Also effective is a bonus offer: two extra issues with immediate payment. The basic price matches the one offered by direct mail.
The home page also has a small text subscription ad on its right side, above both a paid ad and the fold. In addition, there's a text link on the page's navigation bar.
Then there is the embedded form that appears on every page. It produces 15% to 20% of all net Web orders, but the pay-up “isn't as good overall,” Besser says.
That may partly be due to the fact that the offer is soft. “People just fill it in and say ‘Bill me,’” she explains. What's more, the form is not secure. Visitors have to link to a bonus offer to provide credit card information.
Finally, there are pop-up ads that produce 25% to 35% of the net Web orders.
“It took two and a half years of successful sub promotion to be allowed to even try pop-ups,” Besser notes. “It's a very sensitive audience.”
At first, “we cookied it up so that it came up once a month,” she says. “When that went over OK, we tried every two weeks.” And now? Yoga Journal is testing every other day on the second click.
Besser acknowledges that pop-ups attract less committed subscribers.
“You get more credit buyers and somewhat of a lower pay-up,” she says. “But the volume can be really high.”
How does the magazine get around those pesky pop-up blockers? By using DHTML, a new technology also being deployed on some titles by Meredith and IDG, according to Besser.
“We get a complaint once a week about pop-ups, which irritates the hell out of anybody on staff who sees it,” Besser continues. “But in the scheme of things, one complaint a week doesn't worry me.”
One things's for sure: Web subscriptions are profitable. While Besser occasionally has done “an internal transfer of $5 a sub to the Web,” online business generally is seen as “pure revenue with no expense, so it's clearly the cheapest source for us.”
Yet another circ-builder is e-mail newsletters. Yoga Journal has four e-zines — My Yoga Journal, The Daily Insight, Online Extra and My Yoga Mentor — and over 200,000 newsletter subscribers, many of whom do not subscribe to the magazine.
Monthly print subscription offers are sent to roughly 100,000 opt-in names, including e-zine subs and people who have signed up for other types of e-mail. These blasts, which generate about 7,000 print subscriptions per year, usually are done in combination with another publisher.
One recent combo offered Yoga Journal and Utne magazine for $20.
“Start the New Year off right,” the promotion read. “Let Yoga Journal and Utne magazine be your sources for practical wisdom on how to live a more meaningful and enjoyable life.”
That's not the only use of e-mail; another is billing. “We don't have to mail as many bills, and we get a good response,” Besser says.
Does all this mean the magazine is through with snail mail? Hardly. But it's a challenging prospecting medium because few lists contain yoga selects.
For example, outdoor gear marketer REI's mailing list does poorly, although it has successfully used Yoga Journal's file, Besser says.
“[REI] sells yoga clothes and yoga props, but [it doesn't] have yoga as a selection,” she explains.
It's the same with several other lists, so Besser and Michael Heaney, her broker at Millard Group, have to continually troll for new files. “A year ago our set of top performing lists probably was different than it is now,” Besser adds.
On the creative front, Yoga Journal has two controls: a four-color prospecting package and a voucher in a plain white envelope that goes to the house file.
“The voucher is much cheaper to print,” Besser says. “But we've tested it to the outside list, and it hasn't worked.”
Overall, Besser remains high on mail. “Our response rate and acquisition costs are very healthy, compared with what most people are facing right now,” she comments. “But they're still not where we're going to say, ‘Oh, let's up it to 2 million pieces a year.’”
What's next, given this picture?
For starters, new pricing. “We're testing an $18 price in direct mail, and it's looking pretty good,” Besser says. “We're also going to test it on the Web.”
Also in the offing are e-mail renewal efforts which should start in the next couple of months.
The magazine is looking at new ancillary products as well. It's created a program called Yoga Journal Digital through which it will be offering six yoga-related DVDs. These will be sold for $19.95 apiece in stores and online.
“We're working on a broadband store on our Web site where people will be able to download a minute of the DVD before they decide to buy it,” Besser says. If it all works out, this could lead to a TV series based on the DVD content, according to Besser.
And the readership? After a brief fling at appealing to dabblers a few years ago, the magazine has rededicated itself to its core audience, “people who see yoga as part of their lives,” Besser observes. These readers tend to be upscale women in their 30s and 40s — thus the use of cover models in that age group.
“We don't want the image of Shape or Self, which always have a 20-year-old babe,” Besser laughs.
