I regularly receive more that a dozen magazines. Although I am intentional about reading each one, it is never right away. Generally I have a few in queue waiting for their turn – expect for over the Christmas holidays. As magazine publishers have migrated away from producing an issue each month, many seemingly have strategically avoided the holidays. The result of this is that my magazine queue shrinks and eventually I am caught up.
As the pile of waiting magazines decreases, I find that I begin reading more articles in each one, read them more slowly, and read them more thoroughly. This is good news for those who do send me a holiday-time issue – their message is more likely to be seen. The same goes for the advertisers in those magazines.
(As an aside, I wonder if the holidays might be a good time for a direct mail piece to gain more attention. There would certainly be less competition in the recipient’s mailbox.)
Before you categorize me as an anomaly, doing an abnormal amount of reading over the holidays, which is not the practice of “normal” people, let me share some anecdotal support.
Many of my websites – all of which would be classified as “informational,” not e-commerce – enjoy a spike in page views during holidays. This is not just for the Christmas/New Year season, but also Memorial Day weekend, Fourth of July, Labor Day weekend, and Thanksgiving weekend. I sometimes see a similar blip on my blog traffic as well.
Lastly, I usually see a spike in subscription requests over each of these holidays as well.
So even if “we” spend time with family over the holidays, a good many also find time to spend reading and surfing the net.
If you’re in publishing, taking a break for each holiday, while seemingly sage, may be a missed opportunity.