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Software for Media Publishers

considerations for publishing crm

Written by Zach Gilbert

Published: 11/24/2020

We’ve published many blog posts here on how much MagHub software for publishers, will help you whether you publish print, digital only or both. 

But we’ve never dug into how the software’s different modules and features can really help publishers manage their entire business.

That ends now!

Advertising CRM

MagHub’s CRM is made to help publishers build and strengthen relationships with clients, advertisers, prospects, subscribers, etc. It keeps all contact information secure and helps you find contact information easily, generate custom fields, create/set account activity notices, save and create lists of companies, send emails directly from MagHub (and let you know if the message was opened, deleted, etc.), import and update contacts by bulk, discover if an account’s been inactive for a while, and more.

The benefits? Anyone you assign to the CRM can contact clients/vendors instantly. You’ll know which messages, offers, etc. a client or prospect has opened (and when). If they deleted it. If they replied, and so on.

You’ll therefore be able to send a new prospect introductory offers, a lead that’s asked for a spec sheet a special discount and a customer a renewal notice. No more sending things “too soon” to prospects too high in your sales funnel!

Order Management

How many times have your created proposals that require third-party applications. Or that need printing? How many hours have you wasted waiting for the proposal to return from the printer or you’ve fiddled unsuccessfully with that third-party app before you could send the proposal to a potential client?

MagHub’s order management capabilities mean you can use the module’s order tools that to quickly create proposals, ad orders (which can conform to your rate cards, if desired) and more by using the software’s template.

This means you and your marketers/sales people can create branded pieces that clients can receive…and then approve orders, ad designs, proposals, and more, with a quick digital signature

Additional order management features include the ability to invoice and process payments online, send work requests via MagHub’s integrated ticketing system, customize order and email templates. And, because we think this is HUGE we’re mentioning it again: you can generate interactive client proposals/orders quickly!

Sales Management

If you’ve ever worked as a sales rep, chances are great sales often were lost due to lack of efficiency.  Proposals were delayed. Orders lost. Signatures took forever to acquire.

But MagHub’s sales management module brings über-efficiency to your efforts as it creates a sales pipeline that helps your salespeople keep prospects moving down your funnel towards a sale.

Send an email, get a response – or not – and the sales management tree you’ve set up will automatically know what to do, whether it’s sending another email in two days, a “thank you for downloading our sales specs chart,” sending a half-price offer for prospects who have downloaded a free report, etc.

This means you’ll never need to guess where your prospects/leads are in the sales funnel. You’ll also be able to create accurate and detailed sales forecasts depending on how many ads/subscriptions have been purchased, multiplied by the lengths of the contracts, minus ad and subscription cancellations, etc.

Client and Vendor Portals

Empower your clients and vendors! Rather than asking sales reps and account executives to get a client’s/vendor’s orders, invoices, payments, designs, or artwork information and then bring it back to the office for manual entry (which could allow for mistakes to occur in the handoff), MagHub’s client and vendor portals  allow vendors and clients themselves to view and approve orders/invoices/graphics/editorial, etc.

Providing them access allows them to easily review their order history, make payments/create invoices, provide needed content, send service requests, approve proposals, advertorials,  make payments…you name it!

The time savings becomes considerable, while the instances of mistakes shrink accordingly because everyone who has a stake in a magazine’s publication has access to its back end.

Subscriptions and Distribution

Got subscribers? If not, then you probably don’t have a publication! 

MagHub’s software for publishers helps simplify subscription management. Let subscribers sign up and pay online via a custom-branded subscription module on your website. Send them subscription reminders: no more need to use manual spreadsheets and databases.

If you have a print publication, your distribution managers can set up distribution routes – and even sync them with Google Maps.

Allowing subscribers to manage their own subscriptions means better accuracy, and lots of time saved on your end.

Digital Flatplanning

Let’s say you have your publication pretty much laid out. Then an ad rep comes in with a new, full-page ad.

What do you do (other than pull your hair out)? If you use MagHub’s digital flatplanning tools you can quickly integrate that new sale and ad into your publication with this feature’s drag-and-drop interface. Remember how time consuming laying out a publication is on paper? Such tasks will be just a memory with this module.

Flatplanning in MagHub allows you to sync artwork, lay pages out while coordinating with ads planned for the issue, view run sheets of future ads and content, insert  items with order notes, and more. In addition, MagHub integrates directly with Adobe InDesign CC.

Production and Project Management

Creating a magazine or digital publication is….complicated. So many pages. So many articles, so many ads, photos, artwork, graphics, etc. Did that ad come in on deadline? Where’s the article you assigned to that writer three weeks ago? Is that new version of the client’s ad completed?

MagHub’s production and project management module helps everyone on the production team stay in touch and in sync with everyone else. Tickets are color coded for reference and prioritization. Editorial, ad and design teams know where each other is in the production process via the module’s single workflow system. Content of all types can be sent directly to your layout/production team with work tickets, client artwork and content matched. 

This means mistakes in copy, art, content, etc. are lessened considerably.  Production is efficient and is completed on time.

Financial and Administrative Tools

No one likes to be micro-managed. Sales managers want to make sure sales reps are making the contacts and closes they need without having to hover. Back office ops (accounting/financing) prefer that numbers add up without having to input information from one department into another.

MagHub’s administration module allows administrators to see everything that’s going on, helping them see exactly how the company is doing at any time.

Finance personnel will be able to keep track of invoices, AP/AR easily with MagHub’s easy QuickBooks Online integration.

HR and department managers will be able to see – if desired – how workers are using their time. Wondering how much income is predicted based on ad revenue minus expenses? The administration module can calculate this practically instantly.

Reports

Knowing what’s what in all parts of your company is absolutely critical. How much income compared to outgo is predicated for the next week, six months or year? MagHub’s report capabilities mean you can see admin and finance reports and forecasts right in your dashboard.

If you want to look at income, expenses, distribution, production, etc. every day (even every hour), you can. Along with MagHub’s own data warehouse, as well as the platform’s integration with Metabase, you’ll be to manage information and create an almost infinite variety of reports and functions.

In other words, you’ll never have to “guesstimate” how well your publishing company is doing. You’ll know.

Workflow Automation

Why do something if you don’t have to? No, we’re not advocating that you be a layabout, but repetitive and tedious tasks? Let MagHub do them!

Remember: MagHub was built for publishers. All of our workflows were developed by our clients’ (publishers’) requests. You can help your ad reps follow up with prospects with automatic reminders. Does your layout guru continually wait for any important document from a sales rep or graphic artist? that won’t ever be the case again because you can set up deadline reminders sent to people.

Ecommerce

Got t-shirts and mugs with your logo on them? If not, you’re subscribers and fans probably want them! Even if you sell “only” subscriptions and ads, MagHub’s ecommerce module allows you to set up a storefront for branded items as well as to “merely” collect subscriptions and payments.

MagHub easily integrates with your current storefront, if you already have one set up.

But if you’d like to start one, our ecommerce storefront tool lets you start selling services and products quickly.

The benefit of selling branded good or offering events (post-pandemic), conferences and webinars? Additional revenue!

Event Management

And speaking of event management, MagHub makes it easy to set one up for your company. Many publishers have found that events and conferences become a lucrative arm of their business and our event management module helps you oversee it from announcement to closure, from creating a page regarding the event on your website, collecting payments for and distributing tickets, to checking in attendees. MagHub helps you do it all without a third-party’s scanner/device.

What’s more, you’ll also have all attendee information within the MagHub CRM. Which means you’ll be able to follow up with past attendees for your next one, while also creating drip marketing campaigns using our publishing software’s automation capabilities.

Mobile App

Are you reading this post on your phone? Even if you’re not, chances are that you peruse entire websites only on your phone, even making purchases, making reservations and scheduling appointments.

And your customers definitely are.

The MagHub mobile app allows you and your team members the ability to generate reports, schedule appointments and other activities, add contacts, track orders and service tickets, and even generate forecasts and other reports.

Your designers won’t be able to lay out your publication via mobile, but a great deal of your company’s operations can be performed via our mobile app!

Integrations

MagHub integrates quickly with a lot of the software and programs you already use, such as QuickBooks Online, Adobe InDesign, MediaRadar, Twilio, Metabase, Issuu and Google Ad Manager. So connecting these terrific platforms means MagHub becomes an even more powerful “partner” in helping your publishing enterprise thrive.

We’ve packed a lot of information into this blog post. If you’d like to learn more about how our software for publishers will make your publication more successful (while making your life a lot easier), contact us!

MagHub features an advertising sales CRM, subscription manager, flatplanning system, and so much more.

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