• by Dana Blankenhorn , April 2, 2003

Magazine ads work best when they have a multi-media call to action, according to a new Meredith Corp. study.

"A coupon, a URL, an 800 number. You have to provide every option," said Patty Follo, director of direct response marketing for Meredith, which is based in Des Moines, Iowa.

Magazine ads are still a powerful medium, she added, with 70% of 2,500 women surveyed saying they got key buying information from print, against 46% for the Internet. (Friends still came in first, at 77%.) The study was conducted by Beta Research Corp., of Syosset, NY.

While only about one-third of ads had a direct "call to action" a decade ago, Follo said, nearly all of them do now. The most effective ads use telephone, mail, and Internet "calls to action."

A recent washing machine purchase by this reporter is a great example, Follo said. From a magazine item, the shopper went to a direct query of a website's inventory. But the deal wasn't closed until a phone call was made to verify a point on which the website seemed unclear.

This is typical, Follo said. "It very often happens that even when people buy online, you can close with the phone. People want to know, even if they're not using it at that time, that they can pick up the phone and talk to a live person."

Overall, "Print is helping women. They see a magazine ad, they want to get the information, and they might jump online. They want to get information and get out." In the case of the washing machine, the man was driving the Internet transaction, and it was the woman who called the store to check directions.

In the Meredith study, 76% of women said they had taken an action - either by phone or online - as a result of reading an article or seeing an ad in a magazine. Some 46% said they had requested a catalog promoted in a magazine, and 30% said they had ordered a mail order item from the back of a magazine.

Why does it work? Follo has a theory.

"One reason is magazines are a conscious decision. It's a conscious decision to pick it up and read it. And when you read it, you're in the mindset, hungry for that targeted advertising information. And when the advertiser is there, there is synergy. It's conducive to response, people being hungry for information."

But the chance of closing a sale is best when multiple response media are offered. "There are people who prefer phones, even people who prefer mail. You need to cater to all of them."

It's all about convenience. That's what most respondents said about every medium that they chose, Follo said. Convenience is one of the Internet's strengths, backed by the finding that 43% said they are doing more online shopping than 12 months ago.