East West Goes Postal
East West Magazine will make its subscription-building direct mail debut at the end of this month, offering two free issues as an enticement for the annual sub price of $17.50.
The bimonthly lifestyle magazine, which caters to women of Asian and Middle Eastern descent, decided to go the mail route partly because it always hoped to do so and also because it’s facing growing competition from similar magazines like Audrey, says Anita Malik, editor in chief of the Scottsdale, AZ-based publication. “We want to show everybody who we are and [promote] the fact that we’ve been around for three years,” she adds.
The magazine will send postcards pushing the free issues to about 3,000 names on its e-mail database. Malik is quick to point out that these people simply registered at Eastwestmagazine.com and aren’t subscribers.
Malik originally considered mailing magazines for the promotion but decided on postcards given the significant cost difference between the two.
East West plans to send at least one more mailing later this year for the holiday season; that one likely will offer gift subscriptions. Malik notes that the current mailing will target outside lists of Asian Americans between age 30 and 50 who earn at least $60,000 a year.
East West launched in 2003 as an online publication and became a glossy bimonthly a year later. It still maintains an online edition, but runs separate features in each. The print magazine is also sold at newsstands and bookstores.
