Two publications that bring customers to your door

Corpus Christi Living magazine and direct mailer recently celebrated three years as an effective and successful marketing tool for area businesses. Along with sister publication Corpus Christi Business News, which is halfway through its fourth year, the Living magazine delivers advertising messages directly to target audiences. So in which one should you advertise?
“Anybody that has a product to sell or a service to provide will find these two publications are effective ways to reach their audience,” said Bob Hotchkin, sales manager for Texas Publishing Co.
TPC produces the two monthly publications along with the Corpus Christi Area-Wide Telephone and Internet Directory, 101corpuschristi.com, 101 Fun Things to Do In Corpus Christi and a number of subject-specific guides.
The rate of return on money spent advertising is significant, Hotchkin said. Corpus Christi Living costs advertisers only 1.3 cents per piece — including printing, postage and all — to reach 300,000 of the city’s highest-income homes each year.
Corpus Christi Business News is mailed free of charge to 10,000 business owners monthly, with another 2,000 available to the public on racks across the city.
“Anything else with the same reach will cost 18 to 30 cents per item,” he said.
While the two publications have two different audiences, there is a lot of crossover.
“A lot of business owners live in those high-income addresses,” Hotchkin said. “Advertise in either one or both of these publications, and you’ll get a good response and a great return on your advertising investment.”
Hotchkin can pull out success stories without a second thought. When asked, he talked of a local credit union that signed a long-term contract to help with its name change and rebranding. The company is happy with the results and still advertising, Hotchkin said.
An insurance company that recently bought into the Business News said its ad is generating solid leads, and the agent plans to continue advertising. The list goes on, including one local painter who has to stop every once in awhile because he can’t handle all the business he gets from his ads.
Why advertising in Corpus Christi Living and Corpus Christi Business News works is no mystery to Hotchkin.
“People still like to hold something in their hands,” he said. “And they keep them around to read. The articles are interesting. People enjoy them.”
Corpus Christi Living is especially effective as a mailer because of its high-interest editorial content, including an events calendar with a strong online presence. Readers who find something interesting in the calendar can go online and download any event directly to their personal digital calendar, email it to family or friends or even start a list of events they want to attend.
“Corpus Christi Living is unique to the Coastal Bend market,” Hotchkin said. “It’s the only piece mailed specifically to higher-income households. It includes well-written content that people want to read, meaning they tend to keep it around longer than a group of mailers that is just a compilation of ads.”
The publication benefits both readers and advertisers.
“What advertisers get is a steady stream of customers who see their offers and who will either pick up the phone or drive to their place of business,” he said. “That’s what it’s all about. Customers.”
Texas Publishing, the Corpus Christ Area-wide Telephone and Internet Directory, Corpus Christi Business News and other publications are located at 4455 South Padre Island Drive, #4, (361) 991-1306.