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Careers & trainingA LOOK AT A CAREER IN MAGAZINES: BEHIND THE PRINTED PAGESubscriptions Marketing A subscriptions marketing executive is responsible for managing the subscriptions files on a number of magazines to deliver volume, revenue and profit. This could be on either a consumer or B2B title.
typical responsibilities include
salary and conditions
typical entry requirements and training
typical daily work activities
case study Lucy White, subscriptions marketing executive, Haymarket Consumer Publishing
What do I do on a daily basis? I currently look after 5 titles so every day is different. That’s one of things I love about this job. When I first started out, I thought I was more creative than analytical, and I was a bit dubious about the number crunching aspect of the job. Now I’m 50/50. The one thing I would say is that you have to be highly organised.
Part of my day is spent writing reports for the publishing teams. I monitor my campaigns carefully and report back on the campaign, our current volumes, revenues and yields. I quickly learnt that it is vital to keep all of your reports updated, and to keep your figures at your fingertips. You never know who is going to ask you for an update, or when!
I attend all of the Publisher meetings and hold bi-weekly subs meeting with the Publisher to discuss what I am doing and what our strategy is. I also have monthly meetings with the Ad manager to identify third party opportunities. I am involved in client meetings where relevant and write proposals for third party subs activity. I write an agenda for each Publisher and Third Party meeting and the action points which circulated afterwards.
I brief in new campaigns to our Production and Design department on a daily basis. With 5 titles, there is a constant flow of activity, both in-mag and third party. I spend a portion of my day writing copy and coming up with new creative ideas for our campaigns.
How did I get into subscriptions marketing? I worked for a small Publishing company after university and did a bit of everything. I worked across their B2B and consumer titles, looking after the subscriptions marketing and fulfilment.
My role included marketing our magazines through national press and direct mail, recruiting new registrations and maintaining the old registrations for our controlled circulation titles, supporting the ads teams, and writing media packs.
It was a bit of a mixture and in the end, not much of a challenge. I had no control over budgets and the marketing role was limited. I wanted to specialise in a growing aspect of the publishing industry and subscriptions was the obvious choice.
What do I like about my role? Pretty much everything! Like I said before, every day is different. There are obviously things that I like more than others. I didn’t realise quite how much there was to subscriptions marketing. I am lucky that I work for the company that I do, where subscriptions are recognised as being an important and integral part of the overall company strategy, and they have sent me on the PPA Certificate in Direct Marketing course, as well as a number of copywriting courses.
I like the fact that I get to work with so many different people from different departments. I work with Ads, Publishing, Editorial and Production, as well as closely with the other members of my team. We all sit close together which is brilliant for bouncing ideas off of each other. We have weekly meetings and brainstorm, which is invaluable.
I really like the copywriting aspect of the job. It is very interesting to learn about how people think and how they respond to different offers and creative. Its great when a campaign is successful, but it isn’t a disaster when its not. The most important thing is that you have tested an idea, and you learn something from it.
Courses and events have helped to motivate me. There is so much to direct marketing for subscriptions. You get a real sense of how important subscriptions are to a Publisher, and how quickly the subscriptions industry is growing. There are loads of new initiatives, driving the industry forward, so it is an exciting time to be involved.
Periodical Publishers Association Ltd (PPA)
Direct Marketing Association DMA House
Directory of Publishing Companies Benn's Media Directory, CMP Data & Information Services, Annual (Feb) Where to look for vacancies Campaign, Haymarket Publishing Ltd, Weekly Media Week, Quantum Business Media Weekly (www.mediaweek.co.uk) Weekly
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