Marketing Model Turns Brands Into Magazine Subscribers

Sept. 6, 2012 - PRLog -- BOSTON - Subscribers used to have a face. Now they have a logo.

Her Campus Media, the parent company of HerCampus.com (http://www.hercampus.com), the #1 online magazine for college women with over 3,000 student ambassadors and chapters at 200+ colleges across the country, has launched an innovative Marketing Subscription Service designed to connect corporate clients to the site’s coveted audience of 18-24-year-old women.

Unlike traditional magazines whose subscribers pay for content on a regular basis, all of Her Campus’s content is completely free to readers. Instead of charging readers for content, the Boston-based company has turned the subscription model on its head by creating a service in which advertisers are the ones who “subscribe.” This service allows a client list that includes Bing, Intel, Victoria’s Secret PINK, LOFT and Contiki, to sign up for weeks, months, even years at a time, allowing their messaging to be delivered to Her Campus’s readers on a consistent basis and taking advantage of a bevy of integrated marketing opportunities that range from sponsored content, email blasts and social media posts, to website takeovers and on-campus activations.

“Our marketing subscribers aren’t paying for dry, traditional advertising on a case-by-case basis. They are paying for the opportunity to activate an audience of educated, socially savvy young women with messaging delivered across an array of platforms on a consistent basis,” said Her Campus Co-Founder, President & Publisher Windsor Hanger. “Our marketing subscription service allows us to seamlessly integrate a brand’s messaging on a recurring schedule in ways that are fresh and engaging for our community.”

This practice keeps content free of charge for a mass audience of over 1 million readers who eagerly devour Her Campus’s content on all-things college - from dorm life, to relationships, Greek Life, career-building and more, as readers look to Her Campus as the authority on college life. Companies like Contiki, a leading travel company for 18-35-year-olds and Her Campus’s official travel content sponsor, have utilized the Marketing Subscription Service to establish themselves as a go-to brand for college students (in Contiki’s case, for travel). Pharmaceutical client Merck used its marketing subscription with Her Campus to launch a ‘Plan It Forward’ campaign, encouraging young women to create a road map of goals and accomplishments for school, career and life while considering strategic birth control options.

“The ability to work with a client to integrate their goals into our advertising model is what sets us apart from more traditional forms of media buying,” said Her Campus Co-Founder, CEO and Editor-in-Chief Stephanie Kaplan. “This subscription platform offers the best in customization and flexibility for clients, depending on what they want to focus on with their messaging and when.”

The Marketing Subscription Service model is one of many reasons why Her Campus, a three-year-old startup, has been able to turn a profit without accepting money from outside investors. The company’s co-founders Hanger, Kaplan and CPO & Creative Director Annie Wang have all received top entrepreneurial honors as a result, including being named to BusinessWeek’s 25 Under 25 Best Young Entrepreneurs and Inc. Magazine 30 Under 30 Coolest Young Entrepreneurs lists.