How to Get Customers to Spend More Money (and be loyal)
Germany’s Apotheken Umschau magazine demonstrates how print can be a powerful tool for customer retention.
A staple of eight out of 10 of the country’s pharmacies, the magazine has a paid circulation of more than 8m, a readership of almost 19m and plus-90% brand awareness. No surprise that it’s the top customer retention tool for pharmacies across Germany.
The magazine is sold on an annual subscription basis direct to partners – around 80 per cent of the country’s 20,000-plus pharmacies – who then distribute it to customers free of charge.
Gudrun Kreutner is head of corporate communications at publisher Wort & Bild Verlag. She sees one of the advantages of the print magazine as being its ability to drive an already committed audience to associated digital channels.
We mobilise our readers to also engage with our other content channels, and on those platforms we focus on engagement and retention.
Bringing together general articles, health advice and information, the Apotheken Umschau online portal attracts more than 17m visits a month and has proved a valuable resource during the coronavirus pandemic.
“We developed news-driven content this year,” says Kreutner. “Which was obviously essential to us all during the pandemic – as the situation changed dramatically, sometimes on an hourly basis.”
Pharmacies can also choose to supplement copies with a range of print ‘add-ons’ – such as TV listings pages and puzzle packages – which help boost revenues and customer retention.
And the bottom line for all this multichannel strategic effort and activity?
Apotheken Umschau readers spend over 20€ more per month than non-readers at their local pharmacy.
