A reader service card or

bingo card Bingo or B-I-N-G-O may refer to: Arts and entertainment Gaming * Bingo, a game using a printed card of numbers ** Bingo (British version), a game using a printed card of 15 numbers on three lines; most commonly played in the UK and Ireland ** Bi ...

is a reply card inserted in a

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

to be used by readers to request free

product sample A product sample is a sample of a consumer product that is given to the consumer free of cost so that they may try a product before committing to a purchase. Free samples A free sample or "freebie" is a portion of food or other product (for examp ...

s and

hard copy ''Hard Copy'' is an American tabloid television show that ran in syndication from 1989 to 1999. ''Hard Copy'' was aggressive in its use of questionable material on television, including gratuitous violence. The original hosts of ''Hard Copy'' ...

marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...

literature from businesses who advertised in that particular magazine issue. The alternative name "bingo card" comes from the fact these cards include a pre-filled grid of sequential numbers and bear a slight resemblance to cards used to play the game of

bingo Bingo or B-I-N-G-O may refer to: Arts and entertainment Gaming * Bingo, a game using a printed card of numbers ** Bingo (British version), a game using a printed card of 15 numbers on three lines; most commonly played in the UK and Ireland ** Bi ...

. Readers fill in their name, address, and telephone number, circle numbers corresponding to advertisers they are interested in, and mail back the card to the

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

, who in turn forwards readers' contact information to the selected advertisers. Advertisements in such magazines include a footer telling readers the appropriate number to circle on the reader service card, and such magazines also include a directory of advertisers to remind readers which numbers correspond to which advertisers. Some magazines used to include so-called "catalog collections", a two- or four-page spread which included up to 12 catalog promotions (all of whom had corresponding numbers on the included bingo card). From the advertisers' perspective, readers expressing interest are sales leads, which implies that reader service cards are a method of

lead generation In marketing, lead generation () is the initiation of consumer interest or enquiry into products or services of a business. A lead is the contact information and, in some cases, demographic information of a customer who is interested in a spec ...

. Before the

World Wide Web The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet. Documents and downloadable media are made available to the network through web se ...

was invented, reader service cards relieved consumers (as well as business executives with

purchasing Purchasing is the process a business or organization uses to acquire goods or services to accomplish its goals. Although there are several organizations that attempt to set standards in the purchasing process, processes can vary greatly betwee ...

authority) of the inconvenience of having to separately contact each advertiser in a particular magazine by mail, fax, telex or telephone to express interest. Instead, they would just mail a reader service card back to the publisher. The postage for the reader service card was often prepaid (where allowed). Over the next few weeks, fat envelopes containing brochures, pamphlets, catalogs, and product samples would arrive in the mail from the selected advertisers. This was a common method for gathering an up-to-date collection of

mail order Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as: * Sending an order form in the mail * Placing a telephone call * Placing a ...

product catalogs and product literature in preparation for a

purchasing decision The buying decision process is the decision-making process used by consumers regarding the market transactions before, during, and after the purchase of a good or service. It can be seen as a particular form of a cost–benefit analysis in the ...

before web sites became the primary delivery vehicle for such information.

References

Further reading