Social Magazines Ditches Digital for Direct Mail to Expand Reach

In a digital-obsessed world, St. Augustine publishers harness the power of offline content and mass market delivery to win

ST. AUGUSTINE, Florida (May 10, 2023) – Residents of St. Johns County enjoy the good life in more ways than one – beautiful beaches, best schools in the state, accelerated economic growth and free access to an offline, locally relevant escape from their devices delivered directly to their mailbox, SOCIAL Magazines.

SOCIAL Magazines are uncommon among their peers. While they maintain a classic community magazine layout with editorial and ads, the editorial is sponsored and every address receives an issue. They’ve paired content marketing, best known in the digital world, with direct mail to share local stories that cater to a resident's genuine curiosity in their town and create a more memorable, immersive interaction with local brands. In hand, the magazine is a tangible embodiment of the community aptly coined “good news for strong community.’ And in-hand is how it’s going to stay.

“Both our revenue and distribution exploded after we moved to all direct mail,” reveals co-owner Andrew Vreeland. “Instead of contributing to an already saturated digital market, where literally billions of websites are competing for traffic, our magazine arrives in the mailbox with just a few other pieces of mail.

The first issue of SOCIAL Magazines published in 2014 with 10,000 copies. It was distributed via subscription, retail sale, and free pickup points around town. Even with their website also attracting 15,000 visitors per month, the two still didn’t offer the reach they were after. So, SOCIAL tested a lighter version of their magazine with fewer pages and a primary focus on sponsored content. Initially, it was directly mailed to over 35,000 households. The concept took off. Distribution has now grown to over 100,000 households per issue, where most businesses pay under $0.03 per household per issue, an unheard of cost per impression, online or offline. And they assert their promise to advertisers with USPS postal receipts every issue.

“We turned off our website, streamlined our print and turned to postal routes to guarantee a more exact reach. If you’re a local business, you need to reach local consumers, not bots, out-of-towners or accidental visits from the internet.” continues Andrew. The Social model eliminates the uncertainty of who their digital ads are reaching. Most people think there is uncertainty in print, but the opposite is true when verified circulation is at play.

We say to our advertisers “What you do is the good news strong communities are made of and we make sure everyone knows it.” In doing so, SOCIAL Magazines has been able to deliver a truly interested audience and create a measurable pipeline to the local customer base every business is looking for.

“The idea for a city magazine came to me at my first job after college,” says Heather Vreeland. “After my media research and sales internships at WJXT, I accepted a role as the marketing manager for a local St. Augustine day spa. In both positions I gained a lot of insight about what a business wanted in an advertising partner. I envisioned a magazine that locals wanted to read, that’s beautiful, informative, and, most importantly, relevant. Get that right and it would naturally lead to dynamic and productive advertising space.”

The Vreelands first cut their teeth in 2008 in the Atlanta market, with Occasions Magazine, a wedding and celebrations publication that grew to cover 11 cities and was sold in all major retailers. The Vreelands eventually sold the magazine to a prominent publisher and returned to St. Augustine.

In an age when people think print is dead, they defy nay-sayers and connect local communities for good, with community-driven content that drives local interest, delivering measurable ROI for advertisers. “What the last 15 years has shown us is people like to be in-the-know without interruptions, time limits, or algorithms controlling the message” says Heather.

SOCIAL Magazines are currently published in two St. Johns County markets, St. Augustine and St. Johns (which encompasses Ponte Vedra, Nocatee, St. Johns and Fruit Cove), together delivering to over 100,000 addresses, every other month, 6 times per year. Plans for growth include increasing the frequency to 10 issues per year and launching magazines in nearby markets.

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