# Reader service card

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A **reader service card** or **[bingo card](/source/Bingo_card)** is a reply card inserted in a [magazine](/source/Magazine) to be used by readers to request free [product samples](/source/Product_sample) and [hard copy](/source/Hard_copy) [marketing](/source/Marketing) literature from businesses who advertised in that particular magazine issue.[1][2] 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](/source/Bingo_(American_version)). 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](/source/Publisher), who in turn forwards readers' contact information to the selected advertisers.[3] 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).[3] From the advertisers' perspective, readers expressing interest are sales leads, which implies that reader service cards are a method of [lead generation](/source/Lead_generation).

Before the [World Wide Web](/source/World_Wide_Web) was invented, reader service cards relieved consumers (as well as business executives with [purchasing](/source/Purchasing) 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).[2] 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](/source/Mail_order) product catalogs and product literature in preparation for a [purchasing decision](/source/Buyer_decision_process) before web sites became the primary delivery vehicle for such information.

## References

1. Roberts, Mary Lou & Berger, Paul D. (1999). [*Direct Marketing Management*](https://books.google.com/books?id=5_kmIMDKKGQC&pg=PA14). 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. p. 14. ISBN 9780130804341. Retrieved 26 November 2020.

1. Stephenson, James & Thurman, Courtney (2007). [*Ultimate Small Business Marketing Guide: 1500 Great Marketing Tricks That Will Drive Your Business Through the Roof*](https://books.google.com/books?id=fq5zU5CsrsYC&pg=PA124). 2nd ed. Irvine, CA: Entrepreneur Press. p. 124. ISBN 9781613080436. Retrieved 26 November 2020.

1. Roberts, Mary Lou & Berger, Paul D. (1999). [*Direct Marketing Management*](https://books.google.com/books?id=5_kmIMDKKGQC&pg=PA314). 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. p. 314. ISBN 9780130804341. Retrieved 26 November 2020.

## Further reading

- Crissy, W.J.E. and Gary A. Maple, ["What about Reader Service Cards?"](https://www.jstor.org/stable/1248583). *Journal of Marketing*, Vol. 27, No. 1. (Jan., 1963), pp. 56–60.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Reader service card](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reader_service_card) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reader_service_card?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.