I liked this offer from TIME magazine. First, it’s simple. No crazy bells and whistles, things I need to check or fold or tweak or poke or circle or tear. Okay, the reply portion is the bottom third of the letter and needs to be torn off, but that barely counts.
The letter starts simply. It tells me this is a “Guaranteed Savings Offer” and immediately follows by telling me what the cover price would be, what I’m saving, and what I need to pay for this offer–and a year’s subscription to TIME for $20.00 puts this at about the same price range as a newspaper. A very tempting offer.
The middle section spells out details like the rate and some of the special features that come with a subscription, like the TIME Person of the year issue, and what TIME magazine offers. (“Latest developments in health and medicine.” “Comprehensive coverage of world news and politics.”)
Let’s not forget the special premium offer–a laser level, free with my paid order. It’s a good premium, I suppose. Everybody has pictures to hang now and again, though I don’t quite see what it has to do with TIME.
The reply portion is simple to read, easy to figure out. It offers a check-box where I can request my special laser level premium. It also spells out in bold–in case I missed it earlier–that if I pay up front, I can save another $5 and get the year’s subscription for only $15. I have to admit, that’s an impressive price for 56 issues of just about anything.
There’s a website I can use to subcribe, too, which is something else I appreciate. Not everybody likes snail mail.
All in all? I liked this mailing. It didn’t try to “sell” me on anything. It just laid out the facts, it kept it simple, and it had a tempting offer.
In fact, I took them up on this one. Come to think of it though, it’s been over a month, and I haven’t received that level yet…