This Week in: [in]Effective Marketing
This managed its way into my inbox today. Exactly how desperate for subscribers are the magazines these days?
I honestly have no recollection of ever ordering Money magazine in the first place. It has been showing up at my house monthly for almost a year now, but I honestly have no idea when I ordered it. If I did, it was probably some dirt-cheap sub-$5 fee for a year’s subscription. $10 to re-subscribe isn’t bad, but I see no reason. Each issue is the same. Talk about the economy, solve someone’s money management problems, and talk about hot new investments. It gets old.
The fun part is their enticing marketing copy! If I renew now, I am actually helping the environment because they won’t send me any more enticing re-subscription offers! That puts me in the position of power, now doesn’t it? Of course they couldn’t save the trees by just continuing to barrage my email inbox. What’s more, they could save a tree or two by taking a hint. I haven’t responded to their last ten re-subscription requests, nor will I be responding to subsequent ones.
Just for the sake of snark, let’s look at this just a tiny bit deeper. If I continue to let my subscription lapse, they will continue to “harm” the environment by sending me paper correspondence via mail. I think I am willing to make that sacrifice considering the natural resources used to print a year’s worth of magazines for me would be far greater than those used to produce a one page letter in an envelope.
I have enjoyed Money for as long as I have been getting it. I don’t want it anymore, and a half-baked eco-friendly marketing play isn’t quite enough to keep me on their subscription register.
Feel free to take this opportunity to submit your nice pics/screen shots of your favorite pit of [in]effective marketing this week. Stay excellent, friends.
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