Are you familiar with the classic Kevin Costner baseball film ‘A Field of Dreams’? In the film a haunting, albeit soothing, voice emanates from the corn fields that surround Kinsella’s Iowa farmhouse. Each tour that Ray Kinsella (Costner) takes into the acres of prospering land a hollow whisper gently recites ‘If you build it, he will come’. As though he is able to decipher the coded message from the unknown Kinsella opts to build a baseball diamond on his farm as it becomes his belief that the voice is compelling him to do so. Without giving away the entire plot for those who may be intrigued... ‘they do come’. If only marketing were that simple. I guess there wouldn’t be a need for marketing if ‘they came’ every time something ‘was built’. With that said here are some concepts that will ensure that ‘they come’ to the Flip Page edition that ‘you built’.
Print Promotion – Generally speaking, a Flip Page version is derived from a physically printed product. There is no better place to make your target market aware that you offer a digital version of the print medium than... in the print medium. Make that audience aware of the digital or App edition by setting aside some layout space inside the initial pages of your print edition.
Email Campaigns – Email campaigns, with opt-in subscribers, are a very valuable tool for brands to connect with their consumers. An email campaign to existing consumers with details outlining your new digital edition availability can be used to expedite the process from design to distribution. Strong campaign software will also provide valuable data that tracks client engagement.
QR Codes – The tech-savvy way to jump from print to digital is via a QR code. The options for quick response codes are digitally limitless so get creative. As an example, use a QR code to link a reader to a mobile optimized landing page where you provide options to download your publication App from Apple’s App Store, Google Play or Android store, or a direct link to the digital edition.
Website – If you already have traffic arriving at your website make sure that traffic is aware that there is a digital edition available for them to access. There is a good chance that there are readers who enjoy the content but are not able to get it in print format so it is advisable to provide them with an alternative. A simple banner ad will provide enough exposure to your website visitors to make them aware of your digital edition.
B2B – There are incredible opportunities available to savvy marketers who would like to cross promote with other similar businesses. Find a business that shares a similar demographic but offers unrelated content or products and leverage that market. Offer to provide advertising in your mediums (print, web, digital edition) in return for the same.
Online Advertising – Maybe you are not entirely familiar with technologies such as Google Adwords. An Adwords campaign provides you with a cost effective means of reaching your intended demographic via the web. The ad campaign is customizable but is intended to target users who search for products related to yours. A well orchestrated campaign can apply to almost any budget.
Social Media – Social media provides an entirely different means for communicating with your market. Followers and friends are typically more invested in your product and want to be current with what you offer. Post your Flip Page editions to your various social media markets so that your invested readers/viewers can share with others.
Word of Mouth – Sometimes referred to as ‘shameless self promotion’. Any good marketer would argue that the most effective and influential method of promotion begins in a mouth and ends in an ear. Make people in your circle brand ambassadors for what you do. This was how social media was successful... before social media.
‘App’etize – Is not even a word, but it should be, because it offers another cost effective means to get content into uncharted waters. Remember, the focus is to acquire prospective leads and the App store happens to have all kinds of consumers looking for things to consume. App stores are making it even easier to navigate their waters with categorical Apps such as Newsstand which is solely for magazines and newspapers as well as a category strictly for ‘Catalogs’.
Until 2010 the baseball diamond and farmhouse that served as the shot location for the film had been a private residence and the owner (Don Lansing) had curated the landmark for the thousands of visitors that drifted in each year. It has been reported that the field/farmhouse combo had been receiving an average of 65,000 guests per year since the film was released in 1989. Maybe those ‘hollow voices’ in that Iowa cornfield were on to something.