We’ve found that organizations seek the help of a custom media partner like ours for lots of different reasons. Some have internal communications departments, but don’t have the editorial, design or production expertise to accomplish their goals. Others recognize the cost savings and predictability of working with a partner rather than keeping the resources necessary to produce media in-house; while others have expertise in one type of media, but look to us for help creating and integrating new media. Our relationships with our clients are all unique, but here are some of the more common reasons we have found for organizations to hire a custom media company:

Last week, Hammock launched a special multimedia e-magazine of MyBusiness for our client, the National Federation of Independent Business. The issue will reach over 1 million small business owners across the country. MyBusiness is a bimonthly magazine for the members of NFIB, the leading and most influential advocacy organization representing small and independent business.
The special e-magazine focuses on the 2008 National Small Business Summit, held in Washington, D.C., in June and organized by NFIB and eBay. The biannual Summit is an event that brings together America’s most politically active entrepreneurs and key congressional, administrative and business leaders.

Although it’s only July, media planners in advertising agencies across the country are gearing up for their 2009 planning efforts. That means that we are in full media kit mode here at Hammock—creating, editing, designing and distributing the 2009 kits for our clients to have the kits in front of buyers when they begin their planning phases. If your magazines are supported by advertising, here are 6 of our media kits tips to keep in mind during your media kit development:

Hammock’s work with the Marine Corps League is featured in the latest issue of the Custom Publishing Council’s magazine Content. The article “Across a Crowded Room, ” focuses on how marketers and custom publishers are finding new ways to target specific audiences with custom content. In the case of our client the Marine Corps League, the association wanted to reposition its magazine for a number of reasons—one of which was to recruit younger Marines.
Read the article from Content here to learn how we redesigned, refocused and repositioned Marine Corps League magazine (newly named Semper Fi) to accomplish the goals of the League. “In the two and a half years since the redesign,” says MCL executive director Mike Blum, “membership in the Marine Corps league has increased 25 percent. Between 15 and 20 percent of that increase can be attributed to the magazine.”

A report recently released by Junta42 and BtoB magazine reveals that business marketers spend on average 29.42 percent of their budgets on custom content. This is slightly higher than that the 2007 studies by the Custom Publishing Council and Publications Management, which found marketers spending 27 percent on average for B2B and B2C. Spending on custom products is on the rise, too. In 2008, 42 percent of business marketers increased their spending on customized content marketing.

Find the full list of custom products used by marketers responding to the study here.

A few weeks ago my two- and a half-year old Motorola Razor’s screen turned white. After troubleshooting ended in failure, I was forced to make a trip to the Verizon store. As soon as I walked in the door, I was bombarded with questions: Was I looking for a phone with email capabilities? “No.” What about MP3 capabilities? “No,” I responded again. The salesperson’s dismay was obvious. “What about the ability to watch TV?” At this point I simply replied, “I just need to be able to call people.”

I consider myself a fairly technologically savvy person, thanks to colleagues Rex and Patrick R. who keep me up-to-date on the latest and greatest tools and products, but when it comes to my cell phone I just want the basics. What I realized after my shopping experience, however, is that these days wanting a cell phone that is just a phone puts me in the minority.

I’ve recently posted about how Rodale and Hearst publishers have taken advantage of the reality that most of us are literally physically attached to our phones. If you’re like me, if I forget my cell phone at home, my day feels off until I’m reunited with it. With this reality in mind, and in an effort to serve the needs of advertisers who are demanding deeper levels of engagement, calls to action, new ideas and measureable ROI, these publishers have rolled out the SnapTell and ShopText technologies to many of their titles. These code-enabled advertisements allow readers to buy items or receive promotions via text.

Today, magazine readers utilize their cell phone’s camera and texting features to take advantage of the promotions offered by these text-enabled ads, but that’s just the beginning. Based on the success of these campaigns to date, I predict there will be more to come—more publishers offering more technology and more advertisers buying in. If my cell-phone-buying experience is any indication, developers are already building the next advancement that will connect readers to the magazine print ad via cell phone, elevating the interactiveness of the magazine print ad and signaling the ad campaigns of the future.

Email marketing continues to be a powerful part of most companies’ strategies, but many factors can contribute to the success of an email program (text vs. email, time of day, day of the week, etc). It can be overwhelming at times to pinpoint the ideal email for your organization, and testing different combinations is often necessary.
The good news is that the London company Alchemy Worx has solved one piece of the email puzzle for us—subject line length. According to their research, response rates are highest when the subject lines are in the 50-character range or 80-character range, but they fall in the middle when the length is 60 or 70 characters. To increase open rates, keep these magic numbers in mind next time before you click send.

Staying organized in life, let alone at work is a constant struggle for most of us. With each day feeling increasingly busier than the one before it, how do you manage to stay organized and control the flow of email, deadlines and projects? As a custom media company, deadlines, whether for editorial, production, or marketing projects are an integral and necessary part of our daily routines at Hammock. So how do we keep everything organized and on track?
When I asked other people at Hammock for the secret to their organizational approaches, here is what I heard:

Back in December I wrote about my issue with the way The New York Times presented its “53 Places to Go in 2008” cover article for its Travel section. I explained how the digital version of the same article was far superior because of its clear and logical organization, not only in the presentation of the information but also the design.

Imagine my dismay therefore, yesterday morning, to flip to the Travel section to the “31 Places to Go this Summer” cover article to see a repeat violation. The headline grabbed my attention, but the design is another disappointment. It’s visually entertaining, creative and playful, but it doesn’t serve my need for access to the information in a concise way. I am not engaged. I quickly remembered that not all was lost as I quickly clicked on my nytimes.com bookmark. Sweet relief yet again. While the Times fails in print, it succeeds to surpass my needs with the online version of the article. The design copies that from the December article: All 31 places are presented with a small thumbnail image. Now, where will I go this summer?

Soliciting feedback from readers is an important part of a magazine’s research efforts. With a reader panel, a magazine has continual access to a group of readers who they can survey on various topics including past issues, future content and general opinions about the magazine. In addition to these editorial benefits, reader panels also provide an opportunity for advertisers to pose questions to your group of readers. Here are a few tips to help you manage your reader panel:
1. Keep it Short
Don’t be greedy with your panelists’ time. Limit each survey to 10 or fewer questions that can be answered in five minutes or less. Do not send a survey more than once a month or you risk panelist burnout. Remember these are volunteer readers so if you respect their time you are more likely to return a higher response rate.
2. Offer Incentives
Reward participation by giving readers something in exchange for their participation. Select incentives that are appropriate for your audience. Gift cards are a practical option for most groups.

3. Experiment with A/B Test
Segment your panel into two groups and try different subject lines, day of the week, time of day and personalization. Analyze the results to determine the optimal combination for the most successful survey.