What’s the right frequency for an association magazine?

Here’s a guide to the factors that you can take into consideration.

What’s the norm?

A survey of 181 associations by Mahlab Media in conjunction with Associations Forum last year revealed that the most popular frequency for member magazines was quarterly. The research found that 45% of professional association magazines were quarterly, 24% bi-monthly and 24% monthly. For industry/trade associations, 41% were quarterly, 32% bi-monthly and 18% monthly. How happy are your members? If your association is hoping to improve member satisfaction, increasing the frequency of your magazine will give you a greater opportunity to remind members about benefits of belong to your association.

For many members, the only touch points they have with their association are the magazine, enewsletter, annual conference and perhaps a phone call to the helpline. Of all these, the magazine is the one thing they can hold in their hands (be it in print or on their tablet device). It’s a visual representation of their association and can feel highly personal to them.

Increasing the frequency from bi-annual to quarterly, or from quarterly to bi-monthly, increases those touch points with your members.

However it’s important to remember that quality is more important than quantity: sending out more editions of a poor quality magazine irritates members and feels like a waste of their member fees (which it probably is).

On the other hand, if your members are happy but you are facing cost issues, perhaps decreasing the frequency from monthly to bi-monthly or quarter could help reduce costs.

I know of one association that faced severe financial pressures. It considered reducing the frequency of its monthly magazine to save money, however the annual member survey ranked the magazine as the number one member benefit, with 94% member satisfaction. So it maintained the monthly frequency to keep members happy while it restructured and sought other initiatives to improve its financial position.

How much advertising could you attract?
This depends largely on the nature of your profession, industry or special interest area and the amount of competition that you have. As a guide, a small to medium-sized magazine of 32-52 pages can have up to 30% advertising without looking ad-heavy.

Advertisers want highly targeted campaigns that reach their potential consumers on a consistent basis. They also want to do so at the cheapest price possible. If you have a very niche audience and advertisers are prepared to pay to reach that audience 6-12 times a year, then a bi-monthly or monthly magazine can be a good option. However you might find that advertisers simply won’t pay that much that often over a year for your particular audience, especially if they have other, less expensive options.

On the other hand, you may have a quarterly title that is a more attractive proposition to advertisers if it reached your members more frequently.

For example, DOGS NSW publishes a monthly 52-page title that includes information advice on caring for your dog, spotlights on different breeds and a lift-out about the upcoming dog shows, and is well-supported by advertising.

On the other hand, Alzheimers Australia, a charity organisation that provides support for family and friends of people with Alzheimers, publishes a quarterly 20-page magazine with only a small amount of advertising.

How much do you have to say?
Your members are already subject to information overload due to the nature of modern society. Are you adding to that overload or are you providing a way to cut through the noise with news and advice specific to them?

A lot of news and information can more easily be provided electronically via emails or an enewsletter, instead of being padded out as page fillers.

But beware of cramming everything into enewsletters just because it’s cheaper – an enewsletter is a quick scan-and-read.

A member magazine gives you the chance to reach your members in a way that is highly visual and personal, often for half an hour or more as they sit on the train or take their lunch break. A high quality, regular magazine that achieves this will give you a fighting chance to better engage your members – and encourage them to renew their fees.

What is the frequency of your association magazine?
If you have you ever changed it, what was the reaction from your members?
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