Textile Services Study Shows Value of Monthly Mag
Textile Services staff recently received findings from the latest AdStudy® survey of TRSA’s monthly magazine. The results provided the publication and its advertisers with useful insights.
“We’re grateful to all the operator subscribers who completed the survey,” said Senior Editor Jack Morgan. “Your input to this survey is extremely helpful as we and our advertisers seek to help operators improve their laundry operations in a myriad of ways – from garment tracking to wash aisle innovations, recruitment/retention and more.”
A critical source of value for advertisers is the 1.5-2 pages (on average) of “verbatim” comments that readers provide in terms of feedback on ads. The comments answer questions such as:
- Does their ad make sense?
- Is it too wordy?
- Are the graphics effective?
- Is the product likely to help an operator improve throughput, efficiency, save labor and natural resources?
What the survey also confirms, is that the 125 total respondents to the survey represent the right people in the right jobs that the magazine must reach in order to satisfy laundry supplier partners’ need to get their message out to buyers.
Roughly 20% of the respondents said they were “Owner/President/CEO/COO.” Another 20% reported that they are “Vice President/General Manager.” Roughly 15% described themselves as “Plant Manager/Production Manager/Director of Operations.” The respondents represented a broad spectrum of the linen, uniform and facility services industry as well. One segment, 33%, represented healthcare laundries. Another 25% represented industrial operators and 22% described their companies as primarily food-and-beverage (F&B) operators.
In another question, the survey conducted by Signet Research Inc., Englewood, NJ, asked respondents to describe their buying responsibilities for their companies. A total of 92% said they were involved in one or more activities, such as initiating, recommending, specifying or approving the purchase of a wide range of products available from TRSA supplier partner members. Among the products that most respondents said they’re involved in buying are carts (63%), linens/textiles (59%), material-handling equipment (48%) and finishing equipment (42%).
As a resource for helping operators navigate the laundry supply landscape, respondents said Textile Services plays an important role in their decision making. Thirty-six percent said they’d bought products or services advertised in the magazine. Another 33% said they’d recommended or specified products they’d seen advertised in its pages. Fifty-two percent said they’d discussed an article with someone else in their company, while 44% had visited an advertiser’s website in response to an ad or article that they’d seen in Textile Services. In all, 86% of the respondents said they’d taken one or more actions of the kind described above in response to articles and/or ads that they’d seen in Textile Services. Nearly half (47%) of the respondents said they value the advertising they see in the magazine as much as the articles. Seventy-two percent said that advertising was an important part of the publication, and 43% (multiple responses were permitted) said that companies that advertise build trust and are seen as a reliable source.
In terms of their attitudes toward Textile Services, the respondents spoke in highly positive terms. One reader said Textile Services is a “Valuable industry publication (that) stays at the forefront of technology. Need to keep an eye on where the industry is trending and what is coming next. Helps tremendously in that aspect.”
Last but not least, the top-scoring ads in this survey of July’s issue, based on the “AdStudy Score,” a combined percentage of respondents who “recall seeing” and “recall reading” an ad, include:
- Pellerin Milnor Corp., 157
- A. Braun Inc., 149
- ARCO/Murray, 146
- Positek RFID, 144
- Brim Laundry Machinery Co. Inc., 141
Now in its 105th year, Textile Services continues to punch above its weight as a trade publication for the linen, uniform and facility services industry. To read more about the survey and its results, keep an eye out for the October issue of Textile Services magazine.
.