Beverly Bolnick is an experienced sales and marketing professional who specializes in print and digital media. We had a chance to talk with Beverly about the sales and marketing challenges that are common for a trade magazine.
Tell us a little about yourself. How did you come to oversee the sales and marketing for National Mortgage Professional Magazine?
I began at NMP as a marketing assistant immediately following a devastating layoff. I was a middle and high school English teacher at a private school for children with autism and my position was eliminated. Times were tough for educators in New York, so I was not able to find another job in my field. I had experience with e-commerce and some marketing and graphic design from previous jobs, so I began applying for marketing positions. I was hired as a marketing assistant in February of 2012.
A few months later, the vice president of marketing began phasing himself out to pursue other endeavors, and I began taking over the sales for the company. Fast forward almost five years, and I am now the vice president of sales and marketing.
What types of advertisers seek out mortgage professionals as their customers?
We are a B2B publication focusing on the origination aspect of the industry. Our advertisers are mostly wholesale lenders, vendors, service providers, and retail lenders.
What are the primary revenue sources for the online version of the magazine?
The majority of our revenue comes from advertising.
What types of ads or marketing campaigns tend to produce the best results for your magazine’s advertisers?
Right now, digital is hot; but as I tell many of my clients, a good mix of display advertising as well as digital and video marketing pieces help tell the whole story of a brand. Our specialty is a multimedia marketing package that allows maximum exposure for our advertisers.
What are your favorite marketing channels which you use to increase the readership of your magazine?
We use our Reader Acquisition Program, which enables our advertisers to offer their clients and business partners a free subscription to our magazine. All they have to do is fill out a form and let us know which publications they would like to receive.
How important is it for you to have a marketing platform or software program to help manage, track, and nurture potential leads of companies who may want to advertise with you?
It is very important to have a CRM to help me keep track of prospective and current clients.
What types of challenges will you and other national sales managers of online publications have to deal with in the future?
I foresee print slowly being phased out. Since that is our anchor product, it is challenging to get people to realize that we are more than just a print publication. On the other hand, the mortgage industry tends to take a bit longer to adapt to new technology, so it is also a challenge to get some people to see the value in digital advertising as well.
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