Improve Magazine Metrics, Master Email Blasts, And More

The school year is just starting to ramp up for many of us, and the slower pace of summer is all but done. I know you’re busy! So let’s get straight to it.

school bus speeding down race track throwing sparks

Here’s what my team and I have been up to:

Want to find out how my team and I work with clients? Email me anytime.

Now, on to a few more useful things for you.

How do you measure your magazine’s engagement? One of the challenges of print magazines is measuring engagement. How do you really know whether people are reading your stories and appreciating what your magazine brings to their lives? One way: tons of emails and letters to the editor after an issue comes out. Find out the exact techniques one editor uses to all but guarantee significant feedback after every issue. Want to know more about print magazine metrics? Email me and let me know what you’d like to learn more about.

Humanize your class notes. In previous newsletter, Harvard’s Bill Weber talked about the Business School’s novel-length class notes section. Even if you can’t devote 450 pages to your class notes (!!), you can make that section a must-read. Check out the “Club Notes” section of Runner’s World magazine. The tagline says it all — and might be a motto you could adapt: “Catching up on the mostly relatable triumphs of Runner’s World+ members.” I love it.

Is it time to make your magazine email blast better? Your magazine may be your flagship publication for your alumni and friends, but you probably also have other media working in tandem to support your print publication. For example, you might send out email blasts to promote content in your magazine. Want to do that better? A great resource is Not a Newsletter, which was developed by former New Yorker director of newsletters Dan Oshinsky. It is a firehose of information, but worth digging through to find the gems.