Community Newspapers News & Notes

Forget the web: Mobile is the new disruptor

2010-05-21T15:20:00.001-05:00

Sleeping fitfully, thinking the web is disrupting your business? You're not alone. And I'm not thinking of radio or television, whose challenges are as great as newspapers. A lot of those web folks are joining you, as they watch mobile grow faster than any medium or technology that's come before.

Google has become the go-to place for information. And sometimes, it's your information. Yahoo and AOL are scrambling to figure out how to make money off "content" (some of it news).

While all three (and several others) make significant money from advertising, many in the digital world are coming to a new realization: advertising may not sustain many or most web entrepreneurs. (Conversely, continuing research indicates that newspaper advertising remains perhaps the best advertising medium available: see Page One of the upcoming June Publishers' Auxiliary.)

Ning, a platform of servers and software to help people or organizations set up and manage web sites and networks, was created by Internet pioneer Marc Andreessen and $120 million. It recently dropped its free model in favor of the 5 percent of its business that was producing 80 percent of its revenue: a monthly fee service for premium services.

Or, as the Wall Street Journal emphasized in a pull quote: "The decision is the latest sign of disenchantment among some Web entrepreneurs with ads as a foundation for their businesses."

The stress among the digital folks is becoming more pronounced as mobile, as a platform, is growing faster than the adoption of radio, television or personal computing. According to Borrell Associates, mobile mainly threatens the Web, but also peels off significant dollars away from direct mail and yellow pages.

And mobile is attracting expenditures beyond advertising: design, consulting, delivery, technology -- or even forgoing money to deliver discounts to reach potential customers.

Borrell says mobile will reach dominant penetration levels faster than any medium before it, given that 80 percent of the population already has cell phones ... and 31 percent have smartphones (able to surf the net and receive email). Compare that to just 8 percent of households that had a "connected" computer when the Internet emerged as a commercial medium in the mid 90s.

Borrell suggests, and I agree, that coupons is the category to watch, initially. Newspapers have historically been a major player here, yet cell phones can deliver coupons via mobile web, email and via text messaging (for non smartphones). Virtually everyone with a cell phone (and that's just about everyone from junior high school and up) carries one all the time.

According to Borrell, redemption rates for mobile coupons are ten times that of mail- or newspaper-distributed coupons. They cite an example: a restaurant in Texas pays $37 to send out 500 text messages for a "buy one/get-one-free burger" offer and gets 60 people to walk in the door, for incremental revenue of $1,000 per day.

Are we paying attention?

Or will we allow someone else come to town to siphon off a piece of our market?

Mobile notes and nuggets

2010-04-24T16:12:00.000-05:00

There are 286 million mobile subscriptions in the U.S. That's about 91 percent of the entire U.S. population.

Smartphones are fueling mobile growth. In the last quarter of 2009 some 21% of all U.S. residents owned a smartphone. The penetration approaches 50% in younger, affluent demographics. Nielsen/Marist project 50% smartphone penetration by 2011.

Mobile Internet is outpacing desktop Internet. It's not just a youth phenomenon: the majority of mobile Internet users are age 25-54.

Texting (text messages) is now more popular than calling on mobile phones in the U.S. The average number of texts per subscriber outpaced the number of calls beginning in the second quarter of 2008, according to Nielsen.

More and more mobile subscribers are searching for local mobile content, including online directories, maps and restaurants.

iPhone users spend an hour a day on the device, less than half of it making calls.

Mobile apps are loyalty builders. More people return to "news" via an app than by bookmarks or using their browser.

There are five keys to mobile success:
1. Content, immediacy, functionality, relevance
2. Integration (with your other products and services)
3. Distribution (don't forget the non smartphones, which account for more than 60 percent of mobile users)
4. Marketing
5. Monetization (advertising, sponsorships)

Hot on the web: politics.

Hot on mobile: sports

Make your print come alive by using bar codes (QR codes). The cell phone camera can capture the bar code and launch the mobile browser to take the reader to video, audio or other content.

These were some of the nuggets supplied during the April "Going Mobile: How Newspapers Can Meet the Cell Phone Challenge" at the Reynolds Journalism Institute at the Missouri School of Journalism. Look for a more in-depth report in an upcoming issue of Publishers' Auxiliary.

Outlook for 2010

2010-03-24T17:11:00.000-05:00

In case you missed it, Kubas Consultants polled 500 daily newspaper executives and managers on their expectations for ad revenues and strategic initiatives for 2010. While these daily executives may see the world slightly differently than community newspaper executives, it's instructive to note what they may be thinking.

The top strategic initiatives for 2010 are all online, including improvements for both website visitors and advertisers, plus web-based self-serve ad sales.

Improving ad pricing structures and upgrading sales technology are next in line.

One in four have plans to start a specialty, niche or lifestyle product.

Not on the radar: outsourcing ad sales, upgrading presses, or reducing publishing days.

While retail and preprint ad revenues are expected to decline less than one percent, online advertising is expected to grow 15%, the only area/category expected to grow.

About 70% said they planned to improve programs and options for online advertisers.

More than 60% plan to improve their website for online visitors.

Nearly 50% expect to continue to control or reduce non-staff costs.

More than 40% are considering charging website visitors for online content.

More than 30% are considering upgrading ad sales technology and systems, and starting or upgrading online self-serve ad sales.

Read more here

Misery loves ... no, no, a challenge loves company

2010-02-25T17:59:00.000-06:00

Free, micropayments or subscription? The iTunes model is successful at micropayments. The cable TV model is very successful at subscriptions. Yet iTunes will sell you a single song, or an album. And cable and satellite TV will sell you pay-per-view on top of their base-to-premium subscriptions.

If you're looking for a steady income stream, around which to build a business and a staff, we may need to look hard at the subscription model, and augment it with a per-story or per-view option as we can develop workable solutions.

The TV industry is wrestling with these issues with every bit as much fervor as the newspaper industry. And what they're noodling around with might be informative as we wrestle with developing options for our businesses.

A good overview can be found at CNN Money.

The stick in the eye however, comes near the end of their report:

"Experts say commoditized programming like news, cooking programs and how-to shows will stay free, because there will always be another site offering the same content for free. But your favorite shows that can't be duplicated and cost millions of dollars to produce are something you will have to pay for." (Community news may not always be found on another site for free, if we find a way to manage it properly.)

Will consumers pay for online news?

2010-02-17T17:15:00.001-06:00

The hot question, no doubt. Nielsen asked more than 27,000 consumers across 52 countries, and the answer shouldn't surprise you: "maybe."

Some 85% prefer that free content remain free. Well, DUH. I'm surprised it wasn't higher. Can you think of anything you'd prefer to pay for ... that you now get free?

I found it interesting to note that more than 40% said they either had paid for newspaper content online or had considered paying for it. That was impressive until I looked for the North American numbers. Only 6% had paid for newspaper content online, and only 27% had considered doing so: that's just 32% mostly "maybe."

The surprising finding:

"[T]he younger the consumers the more apt they

are to have already paid, or be willing to pay, for various types of

content. This may seem counterintuitive considering that many

so-called “digital natives” know how to end-run pay sites and

have done so in the past. But it reflects a realization that they are

now in a world where the value of content is platform-agnostic;

and video consumed online may be no less valuable than

watched on television."

Some notable findings in the research:

"Consumers are least likely to pay for content that is essentially homegrown online, often by other consumers at fairly low cost. These include social communities, podcasts, consumer-generated videos and blogs." (This holds open the "maybe" they'll pay for quality, trustworthy content they can't find elsewhere).

"Better than three out of every four survey participants (78%) believe if they already subscribe to a newspaper, magazine, radio or television service they should be able to use its online content for free." (This is one we should pay attention to. It'll be hard enough to charge them once, charging twice -- for print and online, or for multiple platforms -- is a likely no-win scenario. The only smart way to charge for both is to provide unique and highly valuable content for each platform).

"At the same time, 71% of global consumers say online content of any kind will have to be considerably better than what is currently free before they will pay for it. ... (and) Nearly eight out of every ten (79%) would no longer use a web site that charges them, presuming they can find the same information at no cost." (The opportunity here is that community newspapers are often the only real source for community news and advertising. That content is not easily found online for free -- unless you post it on your web site for free).

Here's the challenge:

"But they are far more united (62%) in their conviction that once they purchase content, it should be theirs to copy or share with whomever they want." (If they can copy it and share it via Facebook and Twitter, well, then, yes, others would be able to find it for free and subvert the online payment opportunity.)

Read more here.

You can download the report here.

Computers are sooo yesterday. Mobile on the rise

2010-02-05T23:47:00.003-06:00

Mobile advertising isn't a big business now, but it's not likely to remain that way for very long.

According to MarketingVox.com, "Consumers on-the-go lifestyles is having a transformative effect on the media and advertising market, as both traditional and digital media adapt to an increasingly mobile audience that consumes media on a progressively broad range of portable, personal devices such as laptops, smartphones, kindles, gaming devices, netbooks, and so forth."

For MarketingVox's "Five Signs of Mobile Advertising's Coming Dominance," click here.

Their viewpoint: audience trumps channels; audience trumps devices ... it's all about the audience. Channels and devices are just tools to build and reach an audience. But to build valuable audiences, you need multiple channels and multiple devices.

What's the next business model?

2010-02-04T22:43:00.001-06:00

Nobody seems to know. Newspapers, broadcasting, film, music, publishing and gaming are all facing uncertainty. Accenture has asked 102 content-industry leaders to pick their biggest hurdle. They overwhelmingly pointed to the hunt for a viable business model.

Pay for play, or iTunes like micro payments, is on the decline with these industry leaders. When asked in 2007, 23% thought micro payments would be the next top business model. That dropped to 11% in 2008, and further to 8% in 2009.

It now appears that the hybrid model is gaining steam -- a combination of advertising and subscription.

About 65 % of respondents said new platforms or method of delivery is where they’ll find business growth next year, compared to 25 % by creating new content, and 10 % by expanding to new geographic areas. Those are all roughly similar to previous years.

Read more here.

So expect to see the continued spread of video from broadcast to cable to the web to your cell phone; more magazines and newspapers to the web to tablets to smartphones.

Several magazines have released iPad-like demos of their work and dozens of newspapers now have iPhone apps. The challenge is harnessing technology so that each of these platforms don't require additional or separate devices, software or purchases. Buy the content once and watch it on your laptop, your iPhone, on your spouse's Blackberry, on your iPad or Sony eReader. If you require the reader to buy and download a separate or different version for each platform, you'll lose those readers as they go somewhere more convenient.

Vendors are beginning to wrestle with this. Pressmart just released an upgrade to their suite of digital offerings that takes your pdf files and automatically converts them to computers, iPhones, Blackberries and Palms. Zinio announced similar capabilities at the recent Consumer Electronics Show.

The takeaway: multiple channels of content delivery is expected to top new content development and expanding geographic coverage for growing business 2010 ... and technology that morphs content into any and all of those channels quickly and easily will be key to that success.

A question for community publishers: can or will vendors develop these tools and services that are affordable and accessible for community publishers?

Digital use continues growth among young

2010-01-21T10:04:00.002-06:00

Back in the good old days -- 2005 -- Kaiser Foundation researchers figured young people had maxed out on their use of digital media. Back then they found that young people in grades 3-12 spent almost five hours using a smart phone, computer, television or other electronic device.

Figuring time to go to school, eat, sleep, etc., the researchers figured that was about all that would fit in a 24 hour day.

WRONG!

The latest research on those ages 8 to 18 found they now spend 7.5 hours a day using these devices ... and if you factor in multi-tasking (such as texting while listening to music, or emailing or talking on the phone while watching video) they actually spend nearly 11 hours utilizing digital media.

This raises cautionary issues such as health, diet, grades ... not the least of which is the false hope that young people will somehow migrate to print newspapers and magazines as they grow older. Newspapers won't go away in our lifetime, but news organizations will have to branch out into alternate delivery, expanding the channels they use to deliver news and analysis.

Read more here.

An example of burying the lead?

2010-01-13T17:05:00.000-06:00

At first blush, I thought an All Things Digital headline was just another dose of digital doom and gloom: "Are Web Ads Only for Oldsters? Yahoo's Disturbing Study."

The item focuses on a statistic that says display ads online only seem to work for those of us over 40 years old ... that 0% of younger folks notice display ads and instead just view text search results. Good news for Google or Yahoo, perhaps, but not what the rest of us want to hear.

But the real news, to me, is the last two paragraphs:

"Clicks versus non-Clicks: Though clicks are a standard measure of performance in online-advertising, we find that online advertising has substantial effects on those who merely view but do not click the ads.

"We find that 78% of the effect in sales comes from those who view ads but do not click them, while only 22% can be attributed to those who click."

How many times have we been asked to show click-through counts or rates, as if that alone proves the effectiveness of online advertising? Here's research that says those ads have as much or more impact on sales than those that click through. Good news for most of us, if we can convince the advertisers.

The next media baron

2010-01-12T16:41:00.000-06:00

"Instead of owning 50 newspapers, the next media baron will own 150 news websites, and that's what we intend to be," says Neil Senturia, chief executive of U.S. Local News Network. "That's the goal."

Senturia is partnering with The Los Angeles Times Media Group in Orange County to provide news and advertising coverage via two web sites and three Times-owned local newspapers. Those of us who have participated in or watched the Times' repeated attempts and several failures of a suburban strategy shouldn't automatically dismiss this as yet another ill-fated attempt.

While it may or may not work, Senturia has already set up similar partnerships in San Diego and Riverside. He's developing a track record, something that has been elusive for the Times.

Read the pre-launch story here.

The myth of online targeted advertising

2010-01-11T16:05:00.002-06:00

You've heard it before. Newspapers are dead or dying. What they're really saying is that mass media is fragmenting. It's not just newspapers, the same could and is being said about television and general interest magazines.

So we assume that (news) readers are leaving print and rushing to online. That's not necessarily true. Recent research found that "news" ranked #17 as a reason citizens went online. And advertisers, especially national and large regional advertisers, taking their dollars out of print and moving them online or into other digital opportunities. By "opportunities" we mean cheap and unproven.

Sour grapes? Not really. Think about other media in your market. Many of you have 80% to 90% penetration in your markets. An advertiser would have to buy four, maybe six radio stations to get similar exposure (if folks were listening around the clock, even at 3 am). Then think about the Web. How many web sites would an advertiser have to buy to reach the majority of your market? Would all the local web sites combined reach a majority of your market? Not likely.

A young media buyer might argue that advertisers no longer desire a mass audience, that they want to reach a targeted audience. The right smaller audience might be as valuable as the larger mass audience ... and it might be cheaper online. Maybe. But will it be profitable?

MarketingVox took a look at a new MIT study that tends do debunk online ad advantages. "Online advertising can be much better at targeting certain demographics ... but as more competition enters the space, these advantages do not automatically translate into greater profits." ...

"The same ... technology that enabled advertisers to target particular audiences is also creating greater online competition for the same audience, thus reducing the profitability of advertising on any targeted web site."

"The bottom line? As technology keeps improving, more and more web sites will be able to sell narrow products to very specialized audiences, diluting the profits ... Instead of competing for one large pool, one big market, you will have a price war in each targeted segment as the slice gets more and more narrow."

MIT Sloan Assistant Professor Alessandro Bonatti concluded: "The paradoxical result is that the better the technology, the lower the profits for advertisers. You can make a lot of money through super-powerful targeting if you are a monopolist, but not in a competitive market."

Read more here.

Print ads twice as effective as TV ads

2010-01-08T17:45:00.002-06:00

Here you go, news you've been waiting to hear.

Print advertising is more than twice as effective as television advertising for large retailers, according to new data seen by The Times of London.

Every $1.60 US spent on print advertisements yields $8 US in revenue, compared with $3.46 US for television and $5.50 US for online advertising, a study of 26 leading UK retailers found.

The study was conducted by Microsoft Advertising and included large glothing stores, big grocery retailers, fashion retailers and department stores.

Newspapers still relevant

2010-01-07T17:35:00.004-06:00

I'm not one to usually tout a (very) long story or posting, nor one that ostensibly talks about the press in another country or continent. But I'll make an exception here. It touches on the current debate about government "support" or "subsidy" for journalism, about blogging, about Wall Street ownership of (some) journalism, about paywalls for news. Like I said, it's long and covers a lot of ground. But here's a glimpse to whet your appetite:

"Newspapers in the United States went to the stock market and, in return for their efforts, were brought to the brink of financial ruin. Their value became dependent not on their readers, but on their shareholders. Newspapers were expected everywhere and at all times to improve their value on the stock market. … No one needs to point out that fund managers have no interest in the business of producing a newspaper."

Click here for more.

Convenience redux

2010-01-06T17:03:00.001-06:00

In "Misdiagnosed: Why Newspapers will Build Bad Business Models," a Ball State assistant professor, Brad King, posits that newspapers may be missing the real problem, and thus missing potential solutions. He uses the music industry as an example. It boils down to this:

"What the industry failed to realize was that its business problem was actually a customer problem, which looked something like this: The Web trained people to access information quickly, which they couldn't legally do when they wanted to hear a song.

"The solution: do a quick Napster search, find it, download and listen to it anywhere. The fact that it was free was incidental (In study after study, people reported they continued to buy music) ...

"The actual problem, the one that the record company executives missed, was that they weren't giving consumers the opportunity to purchase music in the most convenient way. Since they got the problem wrong, their solution only made matters worse."

Substitute the word "news" for "song" or "music" and you can see where he's going with this. You may not agree with him, but his implied theory is that people will pay for convenience, but they may "steal" it for free if we don't give them any other choice.

Worth pondering. Check out his essay here.

Content and utility?

2010-01-05T16:54:00.003-06:00

"Thanks to the Internet, social media, smart phones and an app for everything in life, today an idea needs to be about utility. Shareability. Adaptability. It needs to help you do something, buy something, learn something or accomplish something. It needs to be big enough to inspire the masses, yet flexible enough to let every individual take it and run with it, or share it, or rate it, or trash it. And you can't do that with just words and pictures."

That's Jim Lansbury writing for AdWeek recently. While he's talking about changes in advertising, it's actually a pretty good thought starter for any communication, including newspapers. We're all searching for new ideas. Jim's take is to move beyond teams of copywriters/reporters and art directors, and evolve to teams of idea architects and idea engineers. The "architect" is the storyteller; the idea engineer is the "geek who builds it."

Read more here.

E-mail (still) works

2010-01-02T17:30:00.001-06:00

Continuing a trend I reported here back in July, Epsilon reports that email open and click rates experienced year-over-year increases in Q3 09 vs. Q3 08.

The takeaway from this is that email works as a communication tool, and there's a very real opportunity or possibility to create new revenue streams by delivering news and advertising via email in between your print publication cycle. Such a service can be tools to drive readers to your print product.

Email is a lot like a newspaper in that it's a "push" product. Readers don't have to SEARCH for it, don't have to hunt for it, it comes to them, it's delivered to their in box just as the newspaper is delivered to their mailbox, driveway or porch.

This is a piece of the puzzle we often overlook: convenience.

And convenience is often what people pay for.

Mobile to eclipse computers

2009-12-27T16:20:00.003-06:00

According to Jeff Bertolucci in PC World, "The mobile Internet is growing faster than its desktop counterpart ever did, and more users may go online via mobile devices than desktop PCs within five years." That's according to a Morgan Stanley study.

That suggests that we may need to leapfrog over desktop technology, and aggressively consider what our mobile strategies should be for local news and advertising. For some of us, we may have missed the desktop wave and can play catch up at best. Perhaps we can catch the mobile wave before it's too late.

Click here to read a Financial Times report on how the Daily Mail is moving into mobile apps.

Gartner says mobile to eclipse desktops in three years.

For a longer examination of a mobile-first strategy, read Steve Buttry's E-Media Tidbits at PoynterOnline.

Texting surpasses cell phone calls

2009-12-24T12:56:00.002-06:00

The Associated Press' Hope Yen started her story: "R u kidding me? Americans punched out more than 110 billion text messages in December 2008, double the number in the last month of 2007, as the shorthand communication becomes a popular alternative to cell phone calls."

Another news report this month says that the major cell phone companies are looking at creating tiered rate data plans because their data networks are clogging up, making it more difficult to put through those cell phone calls.

Why should we be interested? Because if folks are sending out 110 BILLION messages a year, there's a likelihood that folks are READING 100 billion text messages a year. And since this is a very popular communication method, the dominant communication method, for young Americans, might you imagine that America's retailers will take notice, and look to text messaging as a way to reach an audience with disposable income?

The question: will we provide that service to our advertisers as one of the many ways we help local businesses grow and thrive? Or will we let some other outfit provide that service to our customers?

Read more here.

Mobile coupons heating up

2009-12-16T16:13:00.000-06:00

With the economy in the tank, the use of coupons has regained some of its lost popularity. Many newspapers are enjoying renewed interest in a service that suits mass marketing.

However, the world's digital darlings are taking heed. A number of new developments are coming down the pike. It's no longer a text coupon that you show the checkout clerk, who taps a corresponding key on the register. We're looking at barcodes that can be displayed or read off SmartPhones, and even Bluetooth or other wireless data transfer. Even a device that allows you to make payments via the SmartPhone.

Read an overview update here.

Blogging seniors just one-tenth point behind teens

2009-12-16T12:39:00.002-06:00

Yep, you read that right. According to NielsenWire Online, 8.2% of all social network and blog visitors are over 65, just 0.1 percentage points less than the number of teenagers who frequent these sites.

Overall, the number of unique visitors who are 65 or older on social networking sites has increased 53% in the last two years. In overall Internet use, seniors have increased more than 55% in the past five years, to 17.5 million as of November, 2009.

We'd be fooling ourselves to think that "seniors" will always be print-centric media consumers. Over the decades seniors learned to listen to radio and turn on televisions ... there's little reason to suspect that today's boomers (who are already net savvy) won't retain those skills as they enter "senior" status.

More details here.

Strengthening our niche and our service

2009-12-15T12:27:00.003-06:00

We all know or have read how Wal-Mart came to Main Street America and killed off locally-owned independent businesses. Many newspaper publishers figure that kind of thing would never happen to them, that those national or international Internet sites just couldn’t reach down into our communities.

We might want to revisit that assumption.

According to paidContent.org, the local space is heating up, with the number of hyperlocal news startups growing by the month and the big-three portals also doubling down. Given their big traffic numbers and financial might, it’s with the big portals that things could get interesting. AOL, MSN and Yahoo have all talked loudly about wanting to attract a bigger share of local online advertising dollars—a market that is expected to grow 12 percent this year alone. Click here to read paidContent’s take on how the major players are looking at our markets.

For years we’ve advised local businesses that they can compete with Wal-Mart. The Big Box stores by their nature have to have merchandise that appeals to a very broad audience … to make bulk buying (and selling) work in their favor. Local retailers can find those niches the Big Boxes can’t fill, and build a decent business that way. Local retailers can also provide personalized service and build customer loyalty in ways the Big Boxes cannot. But what the local retailers need to do is match the convenience and service … they cannot close at 5 pm before their customers get off work, they need to open Saturdays, if not Sundays. Local retailers need to be available when their customers are ready to shop.

Are community newspapers available when their customers want to use them, have the time to use them? Do community newspapers provide access to their content and services when, where and how the readers want or need them? Are we open for business when our customers (readers and advertisers) have the time and interest to use us? Do we make it easy for them to access our content, place an ad, or provide options to grow their business?

The best community newspapers are moving in that direction and will continue to provide valuable services to their readers and advertisers. Others may find a challenge coming their way sooner than they might have imagined.

Newspaper advertising works

2009-12-12T15:57:00.001-06:00

Recent research for the National Newspaper Association revealed that 79% of adults would rather read ads in a newspaper that watch them on TV. Some 70% said they would rather read newspaper ads than view ads on the Internet. Nearly half said there are days when they pick up a newspaper as much for the ads as for the news.

Aside from the upcoming SuperBowl broadcast, can you think of anyone who has mentioned to you that they turn on their TV to watch ads? That they switch on the radio to listen to ads. That they boot up the computer to view ads (I recognize that Woot might be an exception, but it's just one item and it's not from a local retailer).

NNA isn't the only outfit that notices. A recent Synovate survey found that two out of three consumers decried the high number of TV ads; 39 percent complained about the high number of Internet ads. The report went on to note that 87 percent actively avoided TV and radio ads, wither by turning off the medium, changing the channel, or using DVRs to fast forward past the commercials.

Read more here.

Thinking about the FTC inquiry

2009-12-01T19:47:00.000-06:00

Rick Edmonds in his Biz Blog for PoynterOnline says:

I don't get the logic of throwing under the bus traditional media and the work of the professional journalists they still employ, effectively enabling and cheering on their potential demise. I think even those frustrated futurists may find themselves missing some of that old-school journalism as more and more of it disappears.

Read his column here

Day 1: FTC studies the future of journalism

2009-12-01T18:25:00.002-06:00

There were a lot of speakers today, but perhaps one of the most cogent statements was blogged by Danny Sullivan of Search Engine Land:

"Robert Picard, Hamrin Professor of Media Economics and Director of the Media Management and Transformation Centre, Jonkoping University, Sweden — Problem isn’t the internet. Change was already happening. Situation not as dire for news as might seem. Short term economic downturn mixing up the long term view. Last year, US newspaper industry was $55 billion industry with profits of 12% in the midst of recession. Sure situation not as good as 1990 but the industry is nowhere near at death’s door. Better now than in 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and early 90s. Strategic situation needs improvement, though."

Although the FTC hearings are being streamed live (continues tomorrow), "work" and a busted computer kept me from watching. The FTC says the streams will be archived for later viewing on its web site.

In the meantime, you can check out Sullivan's blog

Content, convenience, community ... or all three?

2009-12-01T12:16:00.000-06:00

There's a lot of talk out there about the value of content ... we're all looking for a justification to charge readers for the content we share online.

Yet I wonder if readers pay for printed content ... or if they've been paying for convenience and community.

Craigslist has no different content than newspaper classifieds (unless you count the escort listings that most community papers refuse to publish). And those Craigslist pages aren't beautiful HTML pages, either. What they have, besides FREE, are convenience and community. You can SEARCH them without having to scan column after column of 6-point type in narrow hard to read columns. And you can share notes with others in the "community" who have purchased from sellers on the site. You can even blow up the type so it's easier to read. They've made it easy for buyers and sellers to connect, to exchange information, not just products or services for cash.

That's just classifieds. What about retailers? Ask.com has launched Ask Deals: An Easier Way to Find the Best Deals on the Web. The announcement touts "more than 1 million high-quality coupons and discounts refreshed daily." It's a national play right now, but it's not a stretch to consider that it will trickle down to local "deal sites." Will those local deals be part of your strategy? Or will we see our local retailers move toward these daily, searchable deals.

Read more at MediaRoom, or scroll down to the Oct. 6 entry in this blog.

What they are selling:

"The Web's best deals - in one place"
"Easy-to-find deals, front and center"
"Money-saving related searches"
"Easy sharing"
"Deal of the Day"

Most of the pitch is about convenience, more than content. And when you think about what we do:
* We go to and report on public meetings that anyone can go to, but we do it so our readers can have dinner with the family, stay home and help the kids with homework and tuck them in at night (instead of sitting through those endless meetings that somehow go on until midnight ... even though there are only three uninteresting items on the agenda).
* We collect and distribute information about real estate sales and transfers, tax issues and other data that most citizens can get for free by going down to the courthouse themselves.
* We collect the best community information all in one place (we're the original aggregator) and put it all in one convenient package ... a portable, foldable package you can take with you anywhere, and the "batteries" never run out.
* And we deliver to your mailbox, driveway or your door ... you don't have to go hunting for it.

My guess is that readers pay for the convenience as much as they pay for the content. We should not lose sight of that.

How convenient are our papers for our readers? Is the type large enough for easy reading, or have we shrunk the text size, crammed the letterspacing and reduced the leading/line spacing to get the same amount of news in fewer pages (pages that may now be harder to read, negating the "benefit" of fitting all the news into fewer pages)? How readable are those classifieds or public notices?

How convenient are our papers for our advertisers? Is the rate card easy to read and understand, or deadly dull full of ratios and formulas and grids that only your sales reps can read and interpret? Is it simple and easy for a reader to place a classified ad, when they think of it, whether it's during business hours or in the evening after their work shift and they have time to think about selling off something in the garage or basement?

While we agonize over our content and how to charge for it, let's not forget a simple marketing maxim: a great way to differentiate your product or service from the next one is to make it easy on the customer. If two providers offer a similar product or service, they'll pick the one that's easiest to use.

You disagree? You think they'll pick either the cheapest/free one, or the "better" product? Consider that the superior Sony Betamax lost to VHS. Consider that you can obtain any number of "free" cell phones that make perfectly adequate phone calls. You can buy any of a dozen smartphones for a lot less than Apple's iPhone. But which one is the hot seller?

Look at all those iPhone applications. Some pretty cool stuff. I have several. Yet I can do just about everything that those applications do, without buying a single application. You can accomplish much the same thing using the web browser that comes free with the iPhone. But it will take you several more clicks and typing. The iPhone apps give you one-click accessibility to essentially free content and material. We're paying for convenience. And seemingly happy to do so.

Content is king, but I'd suggest we already know how to do content. We've got 200 years of experience with it. We can tweak it, and I'm sure we will. I'm more concerned that we've taken our eye off what had been a key differentiator: convenience. Newspapers are no longer the only portable media device. No longer the only aggregator of content and advertising. No longer the only media connecting advertisers with an audience. No longer the only media connecting our communities.

We can do it. We need to choose to do it. We need to devote as much energy and creativity to convenience as we do to our other areas of operation. In today's busy, bustling, hectic society, convenience takes on additional importance. Think gas stations with mini grocery stores ... the stuff on the shelves is pretty much the same as in the supermarkets, probably in smaller bags or packages, and almost always at higher prices. Yet we buy there. Why? There's a reason they call them "convenience" stores.

Digital experience grows customers

2009-11-30T19:22:00.002-06:00

Excerpts from Razorfish’s Dave Friedman (with a few of my parenthetical comments):

When you hear the term "connected consumer," what comes to mind? If you're like me, you see a teenager with an iPhone surfing the Internet, or listening to Pandora.

Yet a recent consumer study by Razorfish indicated a "connected consumer":

• Has access to broadband
• Has spent $150 or more online in the past six months (e.g. travel sites, Netflix, Amazon, etc.)
• Has visited a community site such as YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, Yelp, et al.
• Has consumed or created some form of digital media like photos, videos, music, or news

Forrester's 2009 North American Technographics Benchmark Survey reports that if you are 45 years or younger, you spent significantly more time using the Internet than watching television this past year.

What ChiefMarketer.com found interesting about this finding is the causal effect that this uptick in online engagement is having on consumers. According to the FEED report (http://feed.razorfish.com), the overwhelming majority of consumers who actively engage with a brand online evolve from passive reactors to brand advocates almost instantaneously. And how these engagements are translating across the marketing funnel is staggering. On average, 97% report increased brand awareness; 98% show increased consideration; 97% will likely purchase a product from the brand; and 96% may recommend the brand to their friends.

Consider four key findings from the study that redefine the way marketers can use digital to create customers:

Digital experiences drive many first brand experiences: 64% of consumers said they made their first purchase from a brand because of a digital experience, including a Web site, microsite, mobile coupon or email.

Digital can make or break your brand. 65% of consumers say a digital experience, either positive or negative, changed their opinion of a brand. And within that group, almost all (97%) indicated their experience influenced whether or not they eventually purchased from the brand. (Consider this not just for your customers/advertisers, but for your own digital presence. Do your readers and advertisers have a positive experience when utilizing your web site or other digital media? If not, what does that mean for future purchases or renewals, for word of mouth recommendations of your products and services?)

Consumers want deals, deals and more deals. Consumers are largely engaging with brands to receive exclusive promotions or discounts. Of those who follow a brand on Twitter, 44% say that deals are the main reason. Although this is useful insight, it's important not to get carried away. Brands still need to create a strategy around their social media offerings, including thinking about why types of deals to offer, who their audience is and if those deals are easily sharable? (This is tricky: everyone loves a deal, but few of us can afford to give away the store. We need to “test” deals, measure their effectiveness or ineffectiveness, and make changes accordingly).

Actions speak louder than advertising. The overwhelming majority of consumers who actively engage with a brand digitally are more inclined to purchase and recommend that brand to others. Giving customers the tools to not only engage with your brand, but also engage with each other, whether through friending on Facebook, a giveaway, or sharing videos on YouTube, can sharply affect the bottom line.

Dave Friedman (dave.friedman@razorfish.com) is president of the Americas for Razorfish and a monthly contributor to Chief Marketer. Read more here

Will consumers pay for online news?

2009-11-27T19:41:00.003-06:00

According to recent research from The Boston Consulting Group, consumers are willing to spend small monthly sums to receive news on their personal computers and mobile devices. BCG found that U.S. consumers would be prepared to pay a monthly average of $3.

John Rose, a BCG senior partner, said "... contrary to conventional wisdom, consumers are willing to pay for meaningful content... (but) they are not willing to pay much... "

The survey found that consumers were more likely to pay for certain types of content, specifically news that is:

1. Unique, such as local news
• 72% of U.S. respondents
2. Specialized coverage
• 73% of U.S. respondents
3. Timely, such as a continual news alert service
• 61% of U.S. respondents
4. Conveniently accessible on a device of choice

The report also says that consumers are more likely to pay for online news provided by newspapers than by other media, such as television stations, Web sites, or online portals. They are specifically not interested in paying for news that is routinely available on a wide range of Web sites for free.

These findings will benefit newspapers with unique voice and reporting and with strong subscriber bases, such as national and local newspapers, which have content not available elsewhere, while major metropolitan daily newspapers will likely struggle, concludes the report.

Read more from the Boston Consulting Group

Google looking for more than your readers

2009-11-24T18:16:00.000-06:00

Are you concerned about Google or Yahoo stealing your readers? We should be more concerned about them stealing our advertisers. Some of you have no doubt created a list of local banks and mortgage companies and listed their “rates” weekly or monthly … savings account interest rates, CD interest rates, mortgage interest rates, etc. Some of you may have done this for auto loans in your market.

Google has now launched “Comparison Ads,” beginning with mortgage advertisers where their products/rates are compared against each other. It’s expected that Google will expand into other areas, such as auto loans. These aren’t just national banks.

Google hasn’t rolled this out everywhere, so there’s a chance for community papers to create these comparison grids in both print and online (for a fee naturally), and capture that market before a Google or Yahoo takes it away.

Read more here

Email marketing embraced by small businesses

2009-11-22T18:43:00.000-06:00

Twice a week I get an email AND a text message from my favorite restaurant, a small, local independent operation. It tells me the new specials on the menu and what local entertainer might be playing there during the upcoming weekend. Sometimes they tell me about a special event, such as a Kentucky Derby party or a Missouri “tailgate” party at the restaurant. Others tout a special on cigars or a new wine in stock.

Very recently they’ve sent out a couple of email promotions for a local retailer (gifts and jewelry) halfway across town.

Why promote a business that isn’t your business? Maybe it’s to exchange email addresses with the other business, thus expanding the number of eyeballs that each business can reach. This is scary. If they forge additional partnerships with other businesses in town, they might eventually reach as many eyeballs as if they had bought an ad in the newspapers (or on radio or television). And they won’t have spent a dime, other than the pennies it costs for their existing Internet connection.

Just as the school board, city council and county government can bypass the newspaper and deliver their message directly to parents and citizens without the cost of traditional advertising or direct mail, advertisers are finding the tools to do the same.

If this hasn’t happened in your market yet, don’t let it. Offer email (and cellphone text) marketing to your customers at an affordable price point. Your advertisers are busy, stressed and overworked. They don’t really want to spend the time figuring out how to create engaging email and text messages. They don’t want to have to navigate the CAN SPAM rules. Email, texting, even online or text coupons are gaining traction. Let’s deliver those services to our advertisers before they do it themselves or take their business elsewhere.

Why do I bring this up? According to a Hurwitz & Associates survey reported by MediaBuyerPlanner.com, nearly half (46%) of the smallest businesses in North America say they currently rely on email marketing to help them find new customers, keep existing ones and grow their businesses, and 36% plan to begin email marketing in the next 12 months.

Additional findings from the survey:
• Small businesses view cost, fast response and measurability as the top benefits provided by email marketing.
• On average, email marketing accounts for about 15-22% of the total marketing budget for companies that use it.
• About 52% of current users are satisfied or very satisfied with their email marketing solution. Businesses less than satisfied are more likely to shop around for a replacement solution.
• Ease of use, quality of customer support, and price are the top priorities among small businesses for selecting an email marketing solution.
• Newsletters, sales and promotional offers and announcements are the most common ways small businesses say they are using email marketing. Among digital marketing tools used by small businesses, email newsletters are second only to the use of social media marketing. Opportunities to integrate both tactics are on the rise.

7 reader types: how many do we reach?

2009-11-15T18:12:00.002-06:00

At the recent "Public Trust and Public Engagement" seminar at the Reynolds Journalism Institute in Columbia, Mo., Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute outlined "Seven habitual styles of information consumers."

Here we paraphrase, and ask: How successful are you at meeting the information needs of each of these consumer types?

• Traditional: Habits of loyalty to a brand, medium and time-of-day consumption. That type of consumer has diminished.
• Social: Physical or virtual social networks point them to the news, which "finds them." How did you hear of Michael Jackson's death?
• Pursuit: There is pursuit of consumption, where you go find the info rather than it finding you.
• Partisan: We don't know how large this is.
• Passive: People not engaged except for what they stumble across.
• Continuous consumption: With the rise of smart phones. The news junkies, constantly plugged in.
• Post-traditional consumer: They are brand loyal, have only a few sources of news, but they are mostly digital sources.

McBride asked: Given these seven, what do we have to do to reach as many of these profiles as possible? And she noted the new generation looks dramatically different: 40% of them are not white.

It works, it doesn't, can we help?

2009-11-01T17:59:00.003-06:00

Internet2Go and MerchantCircle recently polled 2,500 small businesses and found that 45 percent said they have a Facebook page for their business and 46 percent have a presence on Twitter – a business or personal account, or both.

It’s easy to see why SMBs are using these platforms: “they’re cheap and easy to use,” said Greg Sterling, an analyst with Internet2Go. Read the press release here.

A study by Citibank/GfK Roper tends to contradict, or at least confuse, the issue. Of 500 U.S. small-business executives surveyed, three-quarters told Citibank/Roper that they have not found social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to be helpful in generating business leads or for expanding business. And some 86 percent have not used social networking sites to get business advice or information.

So what do we (think we) know? Some 28 percent use email marketing and 25 percent use online advertising to generate business leads and sales.

According to the Kelsey Group, this year was the first time SMBs use of online media for advertising promotion surpassed traditional media. And the number of Facebook clients using its automated ad system more than tripled, in large part because of SMBs.

Read more at MediaBuyerPlanner

Perhaps we can look at this as an opportunity to provide marketing promotion for small businesses through the combination of our print and online products and services. Small businesses are hungry for solutions, for answers, for the ability to connect with customers wherever they are, at any time. If we can deliver those solutions, we'll have a viable business model for the future.

St. Pete Times launches free prep weekly for students

2009-10-07T20:59:00.000-05:00

Times Publishing Co., publisher of the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times, has begun publishing a weekly newspaper produced by high school students in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties.

The free locally-produced tabloid paper – called tb-two* – is written mostly by students in the Tampa Bay area and will be delivered to high schools in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties. Launching at the same time is an interactive Web site, www.tb-two.com.

In partnership with Pinellas and Hillsborough school districts, tb-two* will be distributed weekly to about 75,000 students during the school year. Some private schools also have requested copies of tb-two*.

“tb-two* targets a segment of our market that is very attractive to advertisers. Any parent of a high school student knows they are consumers of retail goods, electronics, cars and food,” Jerry Hill, director of audience and new business development.

Students who help produce tb-two* can receive experience equivalent to completing a professional internship, and they are able to learn from award-winning Times’ journalists.

“Not only are we giving students real-life journalism experience, we also are providing a real-life newspaper and Web site that covers their lives and community and culture,” said Gretchen Letterman, tb-two* editor. “Another benefit of tb-two* is that research shows students score better on reading tests, develop lifelong reading habits and become more engaged citizens who vote when they have been exposed to newspapers in the classroom. That will make parents and teachers happy.”

A person buying the paper brings 20 times the revenue of an online reader

2009-10-05T20:34:00.003-05:00

Maybe. Ryan Chittum in CJR's The Audit lays out this case:

Print newspapers took in $34.7 billion in ad revenue last year and had 49 million subscribers and newsstand sales. That works out to $709 per unit of circulation.

Newspapers online had $3.1 billion in ad revenue last year and averaged 67.3 million unique visitors per month. That’s $46 per reader.

$709 (or even $603) versus $46. And you wonder why newspapers still like their print products.

Add circulation revenue to ads and the print newspaper had about $45.7 billion in revenue last year. That works out to $940 per unit of circulation

To repeat: $940 per print subscriber or newsstand buyer versus $46 per online reader. $45.7 billion versus $3.1 billion. ....

Either newspapers have done a poor job of addicting more online readers to their offerings or their hardcore readers are still predominantly reading the print paper.

It’s clearly a mix of both.
-------
He follows this with several qualifications. Read them here.

Show advertisers that newspapers work by practicing what you preach

2009-10-03T19:49:00.001-05:00

Earl Wilkinson, executive director of the International Newspaper Marketing Association (INMA), has been busy on the speaker's circuit. He's always provocative, informative ... and our industry could certainly use a little marketing leadership.

From a recent blog:

It's not difficult to understand the irony of an industry that suggests its advertisers spend 5% of their revenues on marketing themselves in the pages of newspapers that, themselves, are marketed with often only one-third of the firepower.

In short, newspapers don't practice what they preach when it comes to marketing.

This is a shame because marketing works. And there's plenty of evidence to support it – especially during recessions.

Simon McDonald, research manager of the Financial Times, draws this correlation: Quality perception is the leading factor affecting profitability. The better share of voice, the higher perceived quality of the product or service. It's not so important that the amount of money spent, but rather what is spent versus the competition.

McDonald offers an example:

“Last year, BMW, Mercedes, Lexus and Land Rover were all spending roughly the same amount of advertising their cars, a little behind the Audi spend who had the largest share of voice at around 23% of the market,” McDonald said. “The downturn hits and all brands, with the notable exception of BMW, cut back on advertising by 10%. Now, without spending a single pound more, BMW is on par with Audi with respect to share of voice, and pulled ahead of three of their other big competitors.”

What if BMW had been more “courageous” and increased their marketing spend by 10%? They would have the largest share of voice in the luxury car market. If they had increased their spend 10% two consecutive years, they would have been “top of mind” position in the heads of car purchasers. And if they market themselves properly, they should shift market share during this recession.

Why does any of this matter?

Because recessions are opportunities for the courageous. It's a message newspapers are (or should be) pushing among its house accounts during today's downturn.

Yet the Financial Times researcher goes further. He points to a McGraw Hill study of companies in the U.S. recessions of 1974-75 and 1981-82 that “showed that those companies which aggressively increased their marketing budgets during the downturn reported back a significant increase in sales two and four years after the downturn finished.”

Said McDonald: “Four years after the 1981-82 recession, those who had increased their advertising budgets during the downturn reported sales growth of 2.5 times greater than those who did not maintain their advertising budgets.”

This sort of message needs to be fed to our advertising sales representatives. And this sort of budget needs to be fed to our own marketing departments. Let's practice what we preach.

Read the full column here.

This expands on an item I posted earlier this year.

Take a(nother) look at mobile

2009-10-01T16:41:00.001-05:00

James J. Cramer, co-founder of TheStreet.com, earlier this fall told his readers why he thought the time was right to invest in smartphones (fyi: he often buys and sells the stocks he writes about). But I found his arguments for pushing smartphone stocks ALSO makes a credible case for news organizations to include “mobile” in their arsenal of news and advertising delivery tools. A few excerpts:

“There’s something bigger going on, something that transcends the daily ups and downs of the economy and the stock market. It’s something that screams, Look at me, Invest in me, Get rich with me. That something is the mobile Internet. …

“As big and as game-changing as the personal computer and the Internet were, I believe the mobile Internet—the integration of voice, data, video, and storage in one handheld device—will be more lucrative than both. Maybe both put together. …

“As any twentysomething, or even middle-schooler, knows, once you procure a smartphone, you can throw away pretty much every publication, every guide, every television, every camera, every music device, heck, every gizmo you have, save your toaster oven. You just don’t need ’em anymore. …

“It took a half-dozen years and a host of competitors like Dell, Gateway, and Compaq to produce personal computers cheap enough to entice the masses. Thanks to the substantial subsidies offered by Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, and T-Mobile in their endless battles for market share, Americans are buying up smartphones and calling plans much faster than they bought PCs.”

We ignore mobile strategies for news and advertising at our own peril.

Read all of Cramer’s article here.

The mobile opportunity

2009-09-23T19:08:00.002-05:00

The majority of US mobile users who watch mobile video at least once a week spend more time using their mobile device than they do their computer - and represent a unique audience that may not be reachable with other digital media, according to a study from Transpera, conducted by InsightExpress and reported by Marketing Vox.

Who might fit this segment? Think young people and sports fans, among others. Are these audiences that you and your advertisers would like to reach?

The study found that 62% of mobile video viewers use their mobile phone more than they use a computer to browse the internet, vs. just 9% of the non-mobile video viewers, MarketingCharts reported.

According to avid mobile video viewers:
• 78% rely on their mobile phone for up-to-the-minute information, vs. only 19% of those who never viewed mobile video.
• 71% prefer to receive information via mobile internet, vs. just 13% of those who don't view mobile video.
• 58% get more of their news from the mobile phone than any other source, vs. only 10% of those who have never viewed mobile video.
• 50% spend more time away from computers than in front of them, vs. the reported 21% of those not watching mobile video.

I don’t have to rely on this survey to tell me this: I just have to watch the media use of my own children, three of them, ages 18-27.

Transpera also suggested that the typical avid mobile video viewer has an average higher income, travels and eats out more and may more attractive to certain brand advertisers than the profile of someone who has never viewed mobile video.

That sounds like an audience we and our advertisers would value. And the findings below suggest that these aren’t just the young:
• 75% of avid mobile video users eat out of the home two or more times a week, vs. 47% of the non-mobile video watchers.
• 59% of the avid mobile video users have spent more than 5 nights in a hotel in the past year, vs. 34% of the none-mobile video watchers.
• 40% of the avid mobile video users earn more than $75K annual income, compared with only 25% of the non-mobile video watchers

"We are seeing a new breed of media consumers that are using mobile to supplement or replace their previous digital media consumption," said Joy Liuzzo, director of Marketing & Mobile Research for InsightExpress.

A MediaPost report adds:
Frank Barbieri, CEO and founder of Transpera, says "... more consumers are turning to their phones for 24/7 access to news, sports, entertainment, weather and more"

The questions: Are we delivering this audience to our advertisers? Are we providing a mobile solution for our readers and our advertisers? Can we afford not to?

Where the money is ... or isn't

2009-09-21T18:42:00.002-05:00

Veronis Suhler Stevenson issued a pretty bleak communications industry forecast back in August. I revisited Stephanie Clifford’s coverage in The New York Times looking for more than the usual doom and gloom.

They're not up in the lead, but there are some takeaways worth noting:

1. Newspapers aren’t the only media taking a hit during this recession. Consumer magazines, radio and broadcast television all have suffered similar hits in revenue (and viewership, listeners, readers). Not that “misery loves company” is much comfort for any of these media, but we don’t see headlines saying magazines, radio or broadcast television are “dead media walking” (or limping) like we do for newspapers. Example: Radio World cited a recent Radio Advertising Bureau report noting a 23% drop in revenue the first half of the year.

Why are the national media ready to write newspapers’ obituary, but ignore the others? None of these media are going away. They will change, adapt, survive and some will grow. They may not have the same market share as before, but they will have significant market share, and in the case of newspapers, they will likely remain the dominant mass media in their markets.

John S. Suhler, the firm’s co-founder, president and general partner, said in the NYT article that while the declines for print media were severe, it was not a death sentence:

“Will there arguably be, maybe, fewer of them? Possibly,” he said. “Will some markets only be served by an online news service? Possibly. But these businesses are going to be around for many, many years to come, if not decades or multiple decades. It’s just their growth prospects are diminished.”

2. What’s worrisome, however, is VSS’ assertion that advertising is and will be a decreasingly important part of the communications sector. VSS says that marketing services, consumer and products and information sold to businesses.

“What’s really stark is that advertising, which not so long ago was the biggest part of the overall pie, is now the smallest part of the pie and is shrinking at a pretty good clip,” said James P. Rutherfurd, executive vice president and managing director of the firm.

What’s that mean? VSS says some of the fastest-growing opportunities include e-mail marketing; mobile advertising outside of; and Internet and mobile video downloads. Newspaper companies, if they so choose, can provide e-mail and mobile marketing tools and campaigns for local advertisers.

This suggests that we need to broaden our vision for our ad sales staffs. While many of us have been focused on re-focusing our newsrooms, a few papers are experiencing success with re-focusing their sales force.

We need to think of “marketing services” as more than selling ads in our newspapers, TMCs, niche publications and our own web sites. If we expand into all forms of marketing – complete devotion to making our advertisers successful – we’ll help them find the right mix of newspapers, TMCs, niche publications, online, radio, directories, event sponsorship and whatever else we can provide them on their path to success. Hopefully we’ll own or manage all or most of those opportunities … but if we don’t, we’ll collect a competitive fee for our service.

Think of your sales force as a profit center of its own, not as a support revenue engine for your existing products. You’re paying them based on commissions or bonuses for your print products … why not generate additional incremental revenue from this existing resource. This would be like a retailer keeping the same square footage, but increasing the sales per square foot … without hiring more staff and raising prices on your existing products. Or use the incremental income to hire more staff, to go out and get more incremental income. It could be a win-win.

You won’t all agree with this, and it may not work everywhere. But it’s worth looking at.

Grow your email marketing while advertising slips

2009-09-18T00:11:00.000-05:00

According to a StrongMail Systems trends survey, 42% of nearly 1,000 global business leaders planned to increase their marketing budgets this year, while an additional 43% planned to maintain levels.

But where did they plan these increases? Some 81% for email marketing, up from 73% a year earlier; 58% social media; 52% search; just 36% for advertising.

Yet newspaper companies can generate funds from email marketing and search, and a few are experimenting with revenue opportunities with social media. Email alerts, updates and newsletters are a great way to drive traffic to your web site … the alerts or briefs in email can provide links that send readers to your web site. You can even create multiple email newsletter alerts on specific topic areas, increasing the number of times you touch readers.

And each email newsletter is an opportunity for sponsorship or advertising dollars. That’s revenue from email sponsorships and advertising, that drives traffic to bolster or increase your web ad rates, which can promote your print product and ad base.

Create your own ad agency

2009-09-16T00:06:00.001-05:00

LinkedIn’s Research Network and Harris Interactive polled 1,000 top executives at ad agencies and their corporate clients this summer.

PLUS: The number of advertisers using print and online are still roughly equal, 88% and 92% respectively.

MINUS: The trend lines for each are going in opposite directions. Three quarters of advertisers that use the Internet say they are using it more than they did a year ago, while half of those that use print say they are using it less. FYI: Some 69% of advertisers that employ mobile advertising say they are using it more than they did a year ago.

It’s doubtful that many, or any, of those 1,000 ad execs and their agencies serve many of the community newspaper markets. And it’s doubtful than many or most of their clients, mostly national accounts, advertise in many community newspapers, though we might wish otherwise.

But there’s a key statistic worth noting: half the advertisers that spend money online do so as part of a broader, multimedia campaign strategy, vs. 14% that advertise online only. This presents an opportunity and perhaps a new revenue stream for community newspapers.

If no ad agency exists in your town, or services you town, why not turn your newspaper sales force into the local ad agency? Heresy you suggest! Why should I sell ads for radio, TV or directories that compete with me?

1. It essentially guarantees that all those advertisers will be in your paper (or web site or niche products). If you’re doing the selling, you should be able to make a case to put at least some of those ad dollars into your media. Check out that 14% that only advertise online … you could get a piece of that, a piece you didn’t have. There’s a lot of advertisers who do radio, TV, or directories ONLY. Why not take a piece of that.

2. And what you don’t get … you get a commission on, just like the big ad agencies in the state capitol or regional metro market. We’ve heard of a couple of community newspapers that have developed a growing revenue stream just on new revenue from commissions for placing ads in other media. If they can’t get the actual ad, they can get a 10-18% commission or placement fee. Better something than nothing.

This may not work for everyone, especially if you have an ad agency in town that you’ve developed good relations with. But for others, it’s worth looking at.

The strength and future of community

2009-07-28T12:26:00.003-05:00

I recently had the pleasure of attending the Arkansas Press Association convention in Rogers, in the northwest corner of the state next to both Oklahoma and Missouri. I took the opportunity to visit a longtime NNA member newspaper in DeQueen, a couple of hours south, and visit with editor Patrick Massey.

Once a daily, the DeQueen Bee is now a weekly serving a county seat of about 6,000 population. Massey says the county has about 16,000 residents. The paper has a subscription circulation of about 3,000 and a nearly equal number of street sales. A sizable portion of the population is Hispanic and work in the region's food processing plants ... many do not have the habit of reading a newspaper, or of reading English.

The streets were mostly empty at high noon, the natives being much smarter than me and staying indoors while we trudged through the unbearable (to my wife Marty and me, not to Patrick) heat. Every person we did see, every one waved or stopped to chat with Patrick. There didn't seem to be anyone in town (the library, a restaurant, city and county offices) that didn't know Patrick and greet him (and his newfound friends) warmly.

So you might think Patrick is a local native who grew up in DeQueen and has the benefit of longtime community connections. Patrick is young and from Canada. But he has been in the "neighborhood" for a half dozen years. He is intellectually curious, a natural attribute for an editor. He is interested in community development, in the Peace Corps, in international affairs, and in local affairs. While offering us a guided tour of DeQueen we were treated to his impromptu conversation with a friend ... the two of them attempting to pull together a program, or series of programs, that might bring the Hispanic and Anglo populations closer together. Here is a young man committed not only to his newspaper, but to his community.

And that's what makes community newspapering indispensable and irreplaceable. There are a lot of Patricks and Patricias out there. They are building community. They are our future. Give them a pat on the back, and your support.

Are tools in your future?

2009-07-22T16:54:00.003-05:00

News, information and advertising have long dominated our mix. We provide context, perspective, history, options, analysis of events in and around our communities. We provide basic information, lists, calendars, births, deaths, scores, achievements and much more of daily life in our communities. And we provide commerce and trade in our markets.

But is that enough in these times? Should we be doing more? Are there opportunities in seeking out and delivering other services?

There's a growing discussion that the future is not just an information age, but an enabling opportunity. Those that will succeed will provide the tools to make information more valuable, the discussion goes. So you've seen data-meets-application at www.chicagocrime.org -- now http://chicago.everyblock.com/crime/

And you've no doubt seen several iPhone apps that find restaurants, taxis, hotels, and so much more on your cell phone.

In his blog, Rafat Ali suggests that newspaper companies get into the app (application) business, add the business of innovating and creating tools to their traditional portfolio of products and services. He mentions an app or tool that uses a cell phone to find the nearest subway station and links to the schedule. Why didn't The New York Times think of that, he asks. Students here at the University of Missouri developed a real estate app/tool that is getting attention from the international Apple development crowd.

The information and data is there ... and we often collect it and print it. Can/should we do more with it?

E-mail: An opportunity for newspapers?

2009-07-22T16:35:00.003-05:00

While most other forms of advertising and marketing show signs of fatigue in this economy, e-mail marketing continues to improve. MediaPost's Research Brief reports: "The newly released Epsilon Q1 2009 U.S. Email Trends and Benchmarks Study shows an increase in open rates for the third quarter in a row..."

Highlights of the report include:

--Deliverability continues to remain stable at 94.1%, up from 93.4% in Q1 2008.
--Open rates increased to 22.1%, up 11.2% from the rate of 19.9% in Q1 2008.
--Click rates increased 4.0% overall from last quarter to 6.1%.
--Average volume per client is up 12% from this same
time last year.
--None of the industries measured saw a decline across all three metrics.

"Business Products and Services, Consumer Packaged Goods, Pharmaceutical, Telecom and General Retail all saw an increase in all three major metrics - deliverability, opens and clicks - compared to last year."

Which suggests that e-mail marketing works. Is E-mail marketing part of your advertising portfolio that you offer local merchants and service providers? Should it be?

Read more here.

Print links boost advertising response

2009-07-22T15:04:00.002-05:00

Maybe we can learn a little something from magazines, or re-confirm something we already knew ...

MediaPost's Research Brief reports "New research from Affinity confirms that magazine ads with URLs are more likely to drive readers to advertiser websites overall, as well as across a range of genres. Even if "drive to web" is not the goal of the advertising campaign, including a URL to boost web visits is a benefit most advertisers will appreciate, says the report."

Analyzing data from the American Advertising Federation (AAF), BigResearch (for the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association), Mediamark Research, Inc., and the Online Publishers Association, as well as a new quantitative analysis from the research and consulting firm Marketing Evolution, Affinity concludes that "Offline media perform well in driving web traffic and search, often better than online media, even when URL addresses are missing or not prominently displayed in offline ads."

It's not much of a stretch to suggest that these findings would be similar for newspapers. Read more here.

Looking for another revenue stream?

2009-07-20T16:27:00.002-05:00

So is MediaNews Group's Dean Singleton. And he's found (another) one: individualized PRINT news products.

A New York Times story today mentions creating "newsletters that gather real estate articles about Denver neighborhoods and run ads from real estate agents," using a technology called Printcasting.

Read about Printcasting and the web to print concept here.

ESPN: The Craigslist of sports?

2009-07-20T16:09:00.002-05:00

The New York Times that "ESPN is taking aim at hometown sports coverage, threatening one of the last strongholds of local newspapers and television stations. ... [A]fter a promising test run in Chicago, ESPN is adding local offshoots to three more cities. ... New York, Los Angeles and Dallas — in what executives say is only the “first inning” of their effort to provide hyperlocal sports coverage in cities across the country."

If you think it's a pipedream, that ESPN can't possibly drill down to the ultra local level, you might have to think again.

From the NYT: "Once ESPN establishes itself in local markets, it plans to move deeper into local sports — down to the high school level and perhaps beyond — by using social networking and other technology to inform its journalism. ... The company would say only that its costs are “minimal,” using existing resources to expand; in fact, ESPN says it is hiring only about 15 new people for the sites ... There is also a focus on pickup leisure sports. Organizing a neighborhood softball league."

Read the full story here.

AOL reinvents itself ... again

2009-07-20T15:52:00.004-05:00

According to the Financial Times, "AOL will on Friday unveil the early stages of a plan to become the internet’s largest provider of original content within two years."

OK, so what if they have national news, sports, weather, celebrity news?

More from FT.com: "AOL aimed to improve its Advertising.com display ad network business, invest in and build local properties and renew focus on its access business, he said.

"Last month the group purchased two local companies it hoped would improve its services to communities at a time when small newspapers are shutting down."

You can read more here, but let's tackle that last statement: "... small newspapers are shutting down."

Where did that come from? According to our tally, about 30 community papers folded or were merged into a sister publication in the past year (many of those merged properties still serve the communities of the nameplate that disappeared). But let's say they all closed: that's NOT EVEN one half of one percent of America's community newspapers (there are about 8,000 community newspapers ... you can do the math). Let's say we don't know about all that closed, so let's double that number to 60 (just as an exercise ... I wouldn't claim that 60 actually closed). That would still be LESS THAN 1 percent of America's community papers.

JC Penney closed more than 1 percent of its stores when it restructured a few years ago. GM and Chrysler are closing more than 1 percent of their dealers. Even Starbucks cut back its number of storefronts. Penneys, Starbucks and most retailers are challenged in this economy, but are expected to survive. Few really believe GM and Chrysler will disappear, but then they are and have been posting operating losses for quite some time ... a few newspapers are posting losses, but most still show an operating profit.

One thing newspapers used to do well: provide perspective and context. I sure wish we'd do more of it when reporting on our own industry.

Newspapers and for-profit "events"

2009-07-13T17:50:00.001-05:00

I'm not going to regurgitate or plagiarize Alan Mutter here, but rather suggest you click the link and read his blog. What's it about? A sane discussion of the brouhaha over the Washington Post salon debacle. An excerpt:

"The legitimate way for newspapers to serve the public interest and make a buck is to host events that afford multiple opportunities to generate news and profits at the same time."

"[A newspaper] could make money by selling sponsorships; charging admission; selling pre- and during-event advertising, and marketing post-event media including web, print and video accounts of the proceedings (which would contain advertising, too)."

Click here to read his blog.

For another view, check out this Los Angeles Times column.

News at the speed of ....

2009-07-12T18:01:00.001-05:00

Does the breathless, nonstop banter in the national media and online leave you convinced that the bloggers are the hares to our tortoise? That we can't possibly keep up with breaking news?

Steve Lohr reports in The New York Times that "For the most part, the traditional news outlets lead and the blogs follow, typically by 2.5 hours, according to a new computer analysis of news articles and commentary on the Web during the last three months of the 2008 presidential campaign." This according to a study by researchers at Cornell.

And, "While most news flowed from the traditional media to the blogs, the study found that 3.5 percent of story lines originated in the blogs and later made their way to traditional media."

Read the story here.

If you'd like to receive links to stories like this, NNA members can subscribe (free) to our Thursday e-newsletter, rE-print. It's a weekly collection links to stories, items and research that may be of interest to community newspaper publishers and their staff. Just send a note to LamarHenderson@nna.org to get on the emailing list.

Going mobile (and I'm not talking about The Who song)

2009-07-10T17:35:00.001-05:00

According to AdMob, as reported by a MediaPost Research Brief, 5 in 10 (that's one-half for the mathematically challenged) consumers on both iPhone iPod Touch use the mobile Web more frequently than they read printed newspapers.

More than 40% reported using the Internet on their mobile devices more often than using the Internet from their computers or listening to the radio.

Additional findings:
57% of iPhone users plan to purchase clothing, 47%, entertainment and 45%, travel.
61% of iPod Touch users plan to purchase clothing, 53%, entertainment and 36%, cell phone.

This suggests that if we want to reach "readers" in our markets, we need to deliver our work on multiple platforms, espeically mobile platforms. And as advertisers see that last graf, they'll be looking for ways to reach them via mobile devices. We can look to deliver mobile readers to advertisers, or we can watch Sprint or AT&T or some other outfit do it.

Is the glass half empty, or half full?

2009-07-09T15:39:00.002-05:00

How many of you read a headline this month that said something like:

"Gannett posts 17% operating profit during worst economy in decades" ... ?

Now, how many of you read something more like:

"Gannett ad revenue falls 34% 1Q; JP Morgan predicts further drop 2Q" ... ?

Scroll down this list of blogs to "Define failure" and note the report that Intel posted a margin of 12.8% and General Electric just 9.4%.

Now I'll ask the obvious. How many stories have you read about the possibility of Gannett going bankrupt, or of the possibility of Gannett papers closing, or of the entire industry disappearing in a few short years? And how many stories like that have you read about Intel, General Electric ... or Safeway, Kroger's, Target, Sears, Honda, Toyota (all posting LESS than 15% margins, MUCH LESS in some cases).

You say potaeto, I say potahto

2009-07-07T16:48:00.000-05:00

AdWeekMedia and Harris Interactive recently reported that TV ads are the most helpful to Americans in making a purchasing decision (37%), followed by newspaper ads (17%), then Internet search engine ads (14%). On the other hand, nearly half those surveyed indicated they ignored Internet banner ads.

While we agree that Internet advertising has yet to prove its effectiveness (as opposed to its popularity with media buyers), we do question the TV over newspaper finding.

In our own research, conducted by the Center for Advanced Social Research at the University of Missouri, we found that 79 percent agreed that if they had the choice, they would prefer to look through ads in a newspaper than watch TV advertising (survey of respondents living in communities served by newspapers with a circulation of 25,000 or less). And 75 percent agreed that if they had the choice, they would prefer to look through the ads in the newspaper rather than on the Internet.

Looking at it from the reverse angle, Harris reported that newspaper advertising was the LEAST ignored of all the media.

Read more about the Harris survey here.

NNA members can read more about the NNA research here (login required).

What might the future look like?

2009-06-26T16:29:00.001-05:00

MediaPost's Diane Mermigas suggests "The double-digit sales of smartphones and notebooks during the worst economic downturn in half a century are more evidence that connectivity has reached utility status with a force that is profoundly shaping content and advertising. ... too many content and service providers are not fully embracing connectivity to reinvent themselves -- and connected consumers are taking off without them."

She summarizes a Pew Internet & American Life Project survey: "Even as service prices increase, U.S. home broadband adoption [appears] to be largely immune to the effects of the current recession. Even in this downturn, consumers will pay for content and services they deem most relevant and valuable."

"That should be fertile ground for print publishers, television and film producers, distributors and related service providers to generate new revenue. Unfortunately, too many are focused on salvaging rather than reforming their legacy businesses."

"Conventional advertising, subscription or even free business models will simply transfer over to a connected marketplace. They won't.

"The advertising backbone of 20th-century media ... is going to be less important in a connected world. Advertising's new, more powerful extension will include connectivity-powered target marketing, recommendations and e-transactions supported by safe, universal payment.

Read more about her views on connectivity here.

What's up with teens?

2009-06-25T16:41:00.000-05:00

It's a common assumption that teens spend all their time online, searching the Internet for entertainment news, while we older citizens might actually read a newspaper and spend less time online.

Not so says The Nielsen Company, a top ratings and media measurement firm.

Media Post reports "New research from The Nielsen Company says teens spend 11 hours and 32 minutes per month on Internet usage -- far less than adults. The overall average is 29 hours and 15 minutes."

If watching my daughter and her friends offer any hint, teens spend most or much of their time NOT glued to their computers, but to their cell phones. Texting has replaced surfing and email. Surfing and email are old media to them.

Where the money goes

2009-06-22T15:57:00.003-05:00

According to The Deal.com, "Moody's Investors Service reports a sobering statistic: a mere 14% of newspapers' costs arise from producing editorial content.

"The print distribution model and corporate overhead account for 70% of the expense. It goes without saying that Internet-only rivals don't sweat the cost of newsprint, ink, printing plants and trucks."

Well, that may be true of large dailies, but less so for weeklies. But it's a point worth considering. Yes, web advertising is worth a lot less than print advertising. But there may come a time when web advertising for newspaper companies will match and surpass the expense, sans newsprint, ink and distribution.

Your next competitor won't need to buy or rent a press, buy newsprint, ink or distribution ... or hire the folks to run all that. Those costs used to be a barrier to entry that worked to newspapers' advantage. Those (cost) barriers are disappearing. If we wait for someone else to solve the digital challenge, someone else will! We're the news leader in our communities ... it'll be bad business to become the follower.

In an earlier, related article, The Deal.com noted that "hyper local publications in small communities ... account for about 36% of the entire U.S. advertising market and face limited competition."

Another view from Editor & Publishers' Fitz & Jen

You can skip the top third of that story and drop down to where it mentions Gatehouse, then Verve Wireless Inc. That part is more interesting (did you know that Verve serves content to mobile phones for about 150 local media partners? To the tune of about one million wireless page views per day? TextCaster offers a similar service.)

From that story: "In 1908 ... the average newspaper cost a nickel. Adjusted for inflation, that comes to about $2.67."

FYI: While American newspapers typically derive about 20 percent of their revenue from circulation (subscriptions, street sales), European papers often bring in as much as 50% of their revenue from readers.

More from the article: "Newspapers still operate on a manufacturing and distribution model that involves printing plants, trucks and expenses that do not burden their online competitors." And "What passes for bold in the newspaper industry wouldn't pass as conservative in the kinds of businesses the newspaper is competing with."

Some of this is obviously about the big dailies, but there remain nuggets of observations and suggestions that we all might benefit from.

Define failure

2009-06-22T10:49:00.003-05:00

According to just about any and every major metro daily report, national broadcast or cable news report, online news site, or the bazillion blogs out there ... the newspaper industry is dying, or already dead.

Yet what have they been hanging this news peg on?

#1: The closure of the Rocky Mountain News and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

#2: A decline in profit margins (historically in the mid 20s to mid 30s, higher in some instances) to the high single digits to the high teens.

Take a moment to think about these.

#1. The closed papers in Seattle and Denver were the "second" newspapers in a Joint Operating Agreement (JOA). JOAs have been around since the 1930s. They were created NOT to subsidize or prop up profit margins, but to preserve a second VOICE in a community. For decades, the voice of the people has been found in America's newspapers. Radio, television, the web had not become players yet. It was and remains important to civic life to have more than one "voice" in a community. A JOA, as approved by our government, sought to avoid a monopoly of thought and voice in a community, not necessarily create a business monopoly. So certain conditions had to be met for the government to allow a JOA.

Central to those requirements: before the government would allow a virtual economic monopoly in the service of retaining a multiplicity of voices, one of the papers had to be declared a "FAILING" newspaper. The discourse went something like: if the paper was going to fail otherwise, then it was worth the "exception" to traditional anti-trust laws to preserve the second voice.

So let me get this straight. These papers (there were perhaps 30 JOAs across America at one time or another, many of them with Gannett and Scripps Howard) were deemed FAILING when the JOAs were created, as far back as 75 years ago. The JOAs were created to preserve a second voice, not to rehabilitate the failed economic engine of the second, failing paper. The motive was to preserve a voice, not rebuild a paper to independent status.

Technically, the Rocky and the P-I didn't die in 2008. They were deemed a failure when the JOA was created years ago. They lost their voice in 2008, but lost their business years ago.

And what has been the result of these JOAs as these agreements or contracts expired? In virtually every case, the JOA did not continue and the second (already failing) paper disappeared. Yes, a couple of those second papers tried to go it alone after the JOA, but none of them lasted two years back out on its own.

So, where were the "newspapers are dead" stories when the Columbus (OH) Citizen-Journal faded at the end of its JOA? Or the Anchorage Times? Or the St. Louis Globe-Democrat? Pittsburgh Press? Miami News? Evansville (IN) Press? Cincinnati Post? And several more ...

It's not that newspapers are dead or dying. It's that it is very difficult to support two major daily newspapers in many cities. These are cost-intensive operations with heavy manufacturing and delivery costs. And in today's society, there is no shortage of second, third or hundredth voices. But if you look at the local paper in almost any market, it is still the largest voice in the media market, reaching the most citizens, sharing the common concerns of government, leadership and community. You might be thinking that the Internet is growing and may reach more people in a market. But it's like cable TV: it's so fragmented that it is virtually impossible to have a community wide discussion of important issues in any media other than the newspaper.

In most communities, the local government, advertisers and citizens can reach the majority of citizens via the newspaper. That doesn't happen with television, radio, cable, satellite or the Internet. All the stakeholders in a community would have to "buy" multiple television, radio, cable and Internet sites to reach half the marketplace. Not terribly efficient, not so easy, and very confusing when trying to get your message out ... whether from some official, an advertiser, or from an interested citizen.

#2. Profit margins have declined for many newspapers. Profit margins have declined for just about every business and industry in America and all the industrialized Western countries. Profit margins are down for Microsoft, for Honda, for Toyota, for major retailers, for just about every business. Where are the stories saying that Microsoft is going out of business, is dead or dying? Where's the story trumpeting the inevitable doom of Honda and Toyota? Revenue has declined for just about everyone, including our national, state and local governments. So why are we holding newspapers to some higher expectation?

As I listen to publishers across the country, and read reports in the media, it is not all that unusual for newspapers to have profit margins in the high single digits to the high teens. Even many of the major metro daily papers have margins in that range. But, for some of those major dailies, even a profit margin of 10 percent isn't enough to make the payments on the debt load they are carrying. Most of America's papers are NOT buried under a huge debt load. But many of America's largest papers are owned by publicly traded companies that assumed large debt obligations as they expanded by acquisition during the boom years. Those debt-laden companies represent less than 10 percent of America's newspapers, but it's the only ones you hear about in the national media. That's because they are large companies with properties in large cities that (continue to) serve large audiences. But this group is not the entire industry, nor do they represent the majority of cities and towns in America that are served by newspapers.

But as a matter of comparison, the June 12 edition of USA Today reported in one of it's Business section stories that Intel posted a profit margin of 12.8% and that General Electric posted a profit margin of 9.4%. That's comparable to what we're seeing in the newspaper business. Where are the stories trumpeting the death of Intel and General Electric?

Do your own research. Check the profit margins on grocery stores or department stores. You'll find the former in the 2% range; the latter in the 6% range. Yet I don't see headlines claiming Safeway or Kroger or Target or Sears are the walking dead.

Mid and small market newspapers are not failing

2009-06-19T11:51:00.003-05:00

So says John Cribb in his latest industry report. Here's a few excerpts from the report:

"We’ve spoken to dozens of owners and executives of mid and small newspapers/shoppers and though many are struggling with the current economy, they are getting by. Most say revenues are down 10%-15%, and are making expense cuts to compensate. EBITDA margins can still be in the 15%-25% range, although 5%-15% is closer to the norm. ... Certainly, these are ugly numbers compared to what newspapers are used to, but they are not disastrous.

"This is not the financial condition of an industry that is failing. ... Mid and small newspapers are holding up well considering the intensity of this recession. ... Conventional wisdom that the newspaper industry has failed is just plain wrong."

Another view of the future

2009-06-02T01:22:00.000-05:00

You may not agree with "2020 Vision: What's next for news" ... but it's well worth the read.

This will likely be a hot topic at the annual meeting of journalism/communications professors and instructors in Boston in August.

I won't try to summarize this piece: read it yourself, it's well organized for a quick read (with plenty of links if you want to read deeper).

But there are a couple of points I'll mention here: TOOLS. Consider the author's paragraph II.4. Information alone isn't enough. We'll need to explore providing more tools readers and citizens can use.

Paragraph II.5 says explanation and memory will be key. We already trade in "explanation," but until we get our archives digitized for quick keyword search, we'll not be an effective memory for our communities.

Paragraph III.14. (Think differently): "Give the pixels, sell the cotton. Know how webcomics creators get paid? Not by restricting access to their panels, but by selling t-shirts and posters."

Saving the industry?

2009-06-02T00:20:00.003-05:00

According to Forbes, Alberto Ibargüen, former publisher of the Miami Herald and president of the $2 billion John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, is directing a multi-year plan to spend $100 million on 130 projects dedicated to new media and the future of news. They range from projects on community-financed reporting and media "test kitchens" at universities to a new journalism institute in India, home to the largest newspaper market in the world.

Yet, when Forbes asked if the prospect of no daily newspaper in one or more major US cities kept him up at night, he answered: "Absolutely. Not just the possibility of no newspaper, but having a newspaper that's so thin that it can't perform its watchdog role or deliver the kind of information that bonds communities together. That's a much bigger problem for our democracy than new media's challenge to national newspapers. The fact is that new media lends itself more easily to national and international news than local news. For the first time in our history it's easier for a high school student to learn about the crisis in Darfur than it is to find out about corruption in their local City Hall or what the school board wants to teach."

He's spot on in that observation. Yet his foundation appears to have abandoned 80 percent of America's existing local newspaper operations to concentrate on new media initiatives ... don't bother applying for help unless you're doing something new and digital. Trying to do your job better? Trying to launch new (heaven forbid) print initiatives? If what you want to do or accomplish doesn't happen in a web browser or cell phone, don't both applying to the journalism foundations.

Forbes also asked: Are you optimistic about the future of newspapers?

A. "I think we've got a major Yogi Berra issue. Yogi once said that if the fans don't want to come to the ballpark, nobody can stop them. Its not just a matter of the recession. If the fans want to use mobile telephones or broadband as their main way of getting information, nobody can stop them."

He goes on to explain how newspapers and department stores were structured alike and served each other well ... but both industries are facing similar changes (but newspapers seem to be lagging in transitioning). It's an enlightening observation ... read more here.

Worth repeating

2009-05-30T16:57:00.003-05:00

Updated: June 22, 2009

I think I've said this at least twice in this blog, earlier in the year, but it's nice to find confirmation from others in our industry.

Simon McDonald, a research consultant for Financial Times in the UK told the World Association of Newspapers: "Cutting marketing (advertising) budgets is one of the worst things you can do to your business in a recession."

His research indicates that companies that maintained their advertising spending in down times emerged stronger than competitors when things improved. "Advertisers can benefit from a recessionary period," he said. "If you stop spending, and the competition keeps spending, they're going to be the only one being heard."

McDonald cited a McKinsey study of 1,000 companies that showed those that invested in a recession emerged stronger and more highly valued than their peers, and that advertising spending was a key factor.

You might mention that to your advertisers.

UPDATE: Want a real world example? Check today's New York Times Business section. Hyundai and Kia are growing market share as GM and Chrysler have had to curtail marketing expenditures ... and even as the European and Japanese auto manufacturers are struggling to sell cars in the U.S.

Digital challenges remain

2009-05-28T16:28:00.002-05:00

The Wall Street Journal once again hosted "All Things Digital", pulling together many of the brightest minds in the business to share their thoughts about the state of the industry. The paper and Fox Business News provided extensive coverage. You can type "All Things Digital" into the search box at wsj.com or at FoxBusiness.com ... the latter has a fairly good interview with Rupert Murdoch on how he views the digital future.

But as in our industry, there is far from widespread consensus. We spent years fighting to develop Standard Advertising Units (SAUs), only to abandon them this decade with a rash of competing web width reductions.

While many of us have read about the huge increase in online video, Mark Cuban (chairman of HDNet cable/satellite network and Dallas Mavericks owner) has a contrarian view .. "the industry still doesn't have advertising standards, among other shortcomings." While uploads and viewing are indeed growing at a remarkable rate, Cuban says it's mostly subsidized by Google/YouTube; not necessarily a sustainable model. Read more here.

On a similar theme, Liberty Media Chairman John Malone told Forbes.com's Quentin Hardy that Internet-based content providers cannot make sufficient revenues from advertising and that they will have to find novel approaches to get consumers to pay. He suggests that the cable TV business succeeded because it blended "together transport services and content. If you were a subscriber, you weren't sure if you were paying for the connectivity or the content."

The item ends with: "What will be the role of local news? Will there be local advertising, or will everything be national? This is one of those scale issues."

While he was talking about television, the discussion is of interest to all. Read it here.

Shifting ad dollars

2009-05-27T16:31:00.004-05:00

The April/May 2009 edition of ChiefMarketer.com reports: “Under pressure to make every marketing dollar count in this recession, marketers are gravitating to channels that offer measurability, accountability and a sound return on investment. And very often, that means heading online, even if they have to shift dollars from offline channels.

That's up from less than 20% a year ago. It confirms a trend that been reported before: some ad dollars are moving away from print (TV and radio, too) to digital marketing. What's the most popular form of digital marketing?

“… Just over 74% said they will use e-mail marketing this year … the number … sending out e-mail newsletters is up about 7 percentage points from last year, to 70.5%.”

Why are marketers moving their efforts from traditional media to digital media? Many claim it's because digital marketing delivers a better return on investment (ROI) ... higher profits on lower expenditures.

One third of marketers believe interactive marketing delivers a stronger ROI than traditional (print, tv, radio) marketing. Yet, 38% of marketers don't know the ROI they get online, or they don't measure it. Why don't they know? Most say there are not yet solid measurement tools nor standards to measure results against. But most expect those to be short-term roadblocks that will soon be overcome.

Our question (or answer) becomes: Can we demonstrate/prove a better ROI with our products and services? How do we measure it and report it? We "know" we produce results, but our "proof" tends to be proof of eyeballs, not always proof of sales or increased profitability. How can we measure that? And if we can't, how can we deliver ROI ... and not abdicate to the new kids on the block? Can we provide digital marketing options in our local markets before Google and Yahoo figure it out ... or a local entrepreneur gives it a shot? Of course we can. It's not rocket science to produce targeted e-mail campaigns for our advertisers and potential advertisers. The question may be: will we?

On a closing note, the survey asked why marketers choose interactive (digital) marketing? They answered:

1. Building brand (74%)

2. Drive web traffic (68%)

3. Build loyalty (63%)

4. Build e-mail list (59%)

5. Generate sales (53%)

Ad cutbacks signal trouble

2009-05-26T10:22:00.002-05:00

An earlier posting discussed the benefits of continuing advertising during a recession: if the advertiser continues advertising while his/her competitors cutback, the advertiser who continues his/her marketing efforts will likely gain market share against his/her rivals. And at a much lower cost than if the advertiser was battling competitors head to head. To gain market share in a competitive environment, the advertisers would likely have to increase his/her marketing/advertising expenditures.

Advertisers who continue marketing during a recession, while the competitors pull back, can gain market share simply by maintaining ad expenditure levels.

Now we find a study that says more than 48 percent of US adults believe that a lack (or decline) of advertising by a retail store, bank or auto dealership during a recession indicates the business is likely struggling.

At the same time, a majority of consumers think businesses that continue to advertise are competitive and/or committed to doing business.

"It is critical to advertise in the current economic climate, to maintain long-term positive consumer perception of your brand," said C. Lee Smith, president and CEO of Ad-ology Research, the company that conducted the research. "Advertising not only assures consumers of a business' reliability in a soft economy, but it can influence where and what they buy, especially when the ads address concerns about value."

Other nuggets from the research:
• 40% of consumers use coupons more now than they did a year ago% are somewhat willing to pay more for "green" products that claim to be better for the environment, and 7% are very willing.
• 46% are somewhat willing to pay more for "healthy" or "organic" food products, while 7% say they are very willing.
• A deeply discounted price is the number-one factor that would make consumers more likely to purchase a big-ticket item (more than $1,000)

More information here

10 ideas

2009-05-22T10:14:00.001-05:00

A staffer at an alternative newspaper has posted 10 ideas s/he wants to try at his/her paper. You don't have to publish an alternative paper to recognize a few ideas that might work in community newspapers:

• Non-free online classifieds
• Personalized email alerts
• Audience relationship management
• Menu-level restaurant reviews
• Lunch finder
• Layer narrative on top of data

Read more here

The squeeze is on

2009-05-13T12:32:00.000-05:00

The USPS has suffered a major decline in volume, and projects more of the same.

If you joined your fellow NNA publishers in March at the Government Affairs Conference, you heard postal officials talk about the squeeze on revenues ... pre-paying retirement funds, reduced volume, high cost of new equipment, restrictive costs associated with union contracts, etc.

Electronic delivery (email) and electronic bill-paying is putting a hurt on the USPS.

Recently the chair of the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) told a House oversight subcommittee that based on current inflation trends, the price adjustment for 2010 would likely be less than one percent.

Of course, newspaper in-county rates are but a small subclass of periodicals mail. It's possible for newspaper delivery rates to rise much more than any inflationary cap and still keep the total periodicals average hike to the inflation cap proscribed in the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006.

That's why membership in the National Newspaper Association supports NNA's ability to represent community newspapers in Washington, DC. While newspapers may make up but one percent of the nation's mail volume, it 1) is often the largest mail customer in local post offices and 2) the only class of mail that is GROWING.

We need to keep a strong voice in Washington before the USPS and the PRC, and NNA needs your membership and support to do it. If you are not yet an NNA member, support your industry and your newspaper by joining.

It's fierce out there: TV tackles spec ads

2009-05-11T12:16:00.000-05:00

For many newspapers, the real local competition for ad dollars was/is Yellow Pages. TV was too pricey; radio too fleeting.

That was then, this is now. While newspapers once "owned" classifieds, it's not just Craigslist challenging that domination. Broadcast companies such as Hearst-Argyle have been aggressively pursuing classifieds with their once-fledgling web sites. Those web sites are more affordable, and more competition, than the wide-area TV broadcasts.

Now a New York TV station is developing a print-to-motion campaign that targets retail advertisers by quick and clean broadcast spec ads -- pre-producing spots from ads they see in the newspaper, on the Web, even on signage at sporting events. ... in less than 30 minutes.

Management says they are closing 75 percent of those sales calls. "It's a clever way to get newspaper advertisers on board quickly," says a station manager in Dallas.

If you thought you didn't need, or didn't have manpower and time, to produce spec ads, it may be time for you to reconsider.

Read more here

Pulse Research: We're far from dead

2009-05-08T11:37:00.003-05:00

It's not all doom and gloom out there. Quite the contrary, Main Street America is telling Pulse Research that life must go on despite a difficult economy. Survey results collected in March and April that include respondents from all 50 states indicate that 25.5 percent of readers plan to increase their spending in the next 12 months.

The very detailed report (more than 60 pages) show exactly where readers expect to spend their funds, providing newspaper publishers with a terrific list of leads or targets for successful advertising campaigns. This research tells you where readers shop and expect to shop, what they expect to buy, how the newspaper influences their shopping, and much more.

The research also notes that newspaper web sites are a top online source of product and service information for readers.

And for those of us with printer's ink in our veins, a third of respondents believe that the print edition of newspapers will be around for 20 years or more.

This FREE report contains a lot of useful information for you to share with advertisers and potential advertisers.

You can read more about it in the June edition of Publishers' Auxiliary.

Disclosure: Pulse Research has conducted research with and for the National Newspaper Association in the past.

Raising prices: two views

2009-05-04T16:51:00.002-05:00

There's plenty of debate and discourse on whether or not to charge for content online.

However, in the past week two publications, Newsweek and the Financial Times, have published articles suggesting that print products should raise their newsstand prices.

Newsweek talks with Samir Husni, a magazine specialist, who offers some compelling arguments to raise newsstand prices, if not subscription prices.

" "We don't value our content anymore," Husni says. "It was a crime to sell a subscription to Portfolio for $12 a year." Even though Portfolio targeted well-heeled readers, it sold itself cheap on the newsstand and cheaper in subscription, and gave away its content online. When the economy soured and advertisers turned away, the magazine came up short. In tough times, Husni says, a greater reliance on subscription revenue is a safer bet than advertisers. "The chances of, say, a half-million subscribers going bankrupt and canceling subscriptions is far less than 50 major advertisers going bankrupt or cutting their ad budgets," he says. (NEWSWEEK is raising prices as part of the relaunch of its print edition.) "

And Financial Times reports that the New York Times is expected to announce a newsstand price increase

Local search: fastest growing online search category

2009-05-01T17:38:00.004-05:00

A surge in annual growth of local search far outpaced growth of overall Web search, according to a study from the Yellow Pages Association (YPA) conducted by comScore, Inc (via MarketingCharts).

Local search - the practice of using online search tools to find local businesses, products, or services - grew 58% in 2008, reaching an annual total of 15.7 billion searches. By comparison, core US web searches grew at a smaller rate of 21% year-over-year, nearing 137 billion searches by the end of 2008.

Local searches now stand at 12% of core searches on the top 5 portals.

A recent report from Borrell Associates noted small and medium-sized businesses are increasing their investment in local, interactive advertising and are now investing 11% of their advertising dollars online, up from less than 4% three years ago.

What's this mean for the community newspaper market? Local advertisers have begun a sizable shift in "directory" type advertising expenditures to the web. With a relatively low barrier to entry (a few servers and some software for a few thousand dollars vs. tens of thousands of dollars for presses, ink and newsprint), if you don't provide this as part of your suite of services to local advertisers, someone else will (think Yellow Pages who commissioned this study, but are not the only players in this field.)

So if you haven't done so already, look to add an online directory of businesses AND services in your community, and make sure you have a SEARCH function on your web site to make it easy to find what readers are looking for.

Are we finally able to turn the ship?

2009-04-30T17:11:00.000-05:00

Borrell Associates this week released their latest survey of online advertising revenues: What Local Media Web Sites Earn."

From the Executive Summary: "Last year $12.6 billion was spent in online advertising by local advertisers. Sales were dominated by pure-play Internet companies with no ties to legacy media – the likes of Google, Local.com, Interactive Corp., Marchex, ReachLocal and many others. However, for the first time since we began tracking local shares in 2001, pure-play companies lost ground. The second-biggest shareholder, newspaper companies, effectively arrested their online share decline in 2008 after losing an average of four points per year since 2005."

The report notes that one of the advantages enjoyed by local media is 98,000 feet on the street sales people who have relationships with local advertisers ... something that the pure-play companies lack.

Of concern to our segment of the industry is the poor representation of weekly newspapers: just under 4 percent of weekly newspapers contributed to this survey. We've learned over the years that community newspapers publishers and their staffs are under the gun each and every week to get their papers out and don't have or make the time to answer surveys.

Yet, the media market these days REQUIRES up to date, accurate and comprehensive data in order to continue to prove our worth in a competitive media marketplace. It's no longer sufficient to give anecdotal answers or figure somebody else will do it. We all have to pitch in and tell our compelling story.

So when NNA, or Borrell, or other industry organizations seek your input -- PLEASE GIVE IT! After all, we are collecting it in an effort to HELP YOU. We have a strong story to tell, but we need data to back up our claims, to prove our statements.

According to a report on ClickZ, Borrell's President Colby Atwood expects no growth, and perhaps even a decline, in spending on banner ads, pop-ups, and online classified listings. "The growth is going to be in e-mail, paid search and streaming video," he predicted. "What's happening is advertisers are learning to use unique tools. Now, your local plumber can have a TV ad campaign that is targeted. That's kind of a strategic reason for some of these shifts we are seeing in local online advertising."

Skipping the middleman

2009-04-25T16:32:00.001-05:00

It's a common marketing strategy. Sell direct to the public. Cut out the middleman (store?) and pass the savings along to the consumer.

But what happens when news sources bypass the newspaper or local TV and go straight to the reader/viewer? What will happen if President Obama skips the press corps and communicates primarily via Facebook? I already see some of that in my hometown: electronic and mailed newsletters from the local school district delivered directly to my inbox or mailbox. I guess they're hoping to paint a better picture than what the local newspaper or TV news broadcast might give me.

But worse, what happens when advertisers consider doing this? Starbucks is developing a loyalty program based on coupons delivered to cellphones, bypassing traditional newspaper, magazine and TV marketing campaigns. The Starbucks "coupon" will contain a 2D barcode that can be scanned by a Starbucks employee at the point-of-sale to redeem the offer. Where it's being tested, it is reportedly achieving a 60% coupon redemption rate. That should get our attention.

We know that in an economy like this, coupons become a much stronger marketing option. Newspapers historically capitalize on their position as the number one distributor of coupons. But if we want to maintain that position, we're going to need to add new coupon capabilities, including digital, email and SMS. You don't need an expensive hi-tech program to do this.

I get an email "ad" every so often from my favorite car wash, with a link to a "coupon" that was locally designed. I print it out and hand it to the person at the cash register. The problem: the email/link/coupon came directly from the car wash, not from my local newspaper. This is a program any local paper could create and provide for advertisers. And you don't need fancy barcodes for cellphone coupons. Newspaper ad departments can design a simple text message coupon for local advertisers and send them to subscribers who sign up for news and advertising text alerts. The advertiser could cover the cost of the text messaging service, or multiple advertisers provide a profit, and the newspaper gets to provide a value added service (latest scores, last night's zoning vote) to its readers.

With the low barrier to entry (no presses, ink or paper required), anyone can provide these services (and many are). The old adage is true: If you don't do it, someone else will.

Related post on coupons

Custom publishing opportunities

2009-04-16T10:57:00.004-05:00

New research from Roper Public Affairs tells us that 93% of those surveyed were familiar with custom publishing, and that more than two-thirds say that companies that provide information about their products or services in those custom publications help them (the reader) make better purchasing decisions.

Readers tend not to see these publications as "advertisements." The report says that custom media is a preferred source of information with 74% saying that an interesting collection of articles is more appealing than getting information from advertising.

This points up opportunities for community newspaper publishers.

1. Advertorials, especially advertorial pages, sections, or inserts might work in your community.

2. Special publications about specific institutions or businesses might provide an opportunity. Many of you already produce annual "Prospect" sections on major segments of your community/economy. Or you already produce a medical/health care section that profiles the major hospitals and health care operations in your community.

3. Some of you produce publications for institutions or businesses in your community: creating, selling, printing and distributing the annual Chamber of Commerce magazine or paper; or a United Way section. Readers may receive the publication from the business or organization, but you've been paid to print it and share in the ad revenue.

You've always known this works. But this research can reassure your advertisers, clients, institutions that readers do value these types of custom publications.

• 56% said they prefer to get a print version (37% prefer an electronic version)
• 68% say that information in these custom products help them make better purchase decisions
• 63% say they have bought something they saw mentioned or advertised in a custom publication
• 66% say they are likely to buy from the same company that provided them with a custom publication

Learn more here

Local news: a contrarian view?

2009-04-15T16:20:00.003-05:00

The elimination of local news at WYOU-TV in Wilkes-Barre, PA, has led someone over at Borrell Associates to suggest that
"the real problem in local markets is that media outlets are oversupplying their communities with local 'news.' The deluge of edited, polished local news is causing newspapers to shut down or cut back, and is now beginning to cause some of the third-rated TV newscast ... to fade to black ... while people's attention is diverted toward a more interesting 'W-YOU' -- things like YouTube, Facebook and MySpace."

Sounds a bit over the top for our markets, many/most of which don't have a local TV station, much less three of them. The author does admit:

"...local news has its followers, and the audience is massive for newspapers and TV stations. In fact, the Internet hasn't put a dent in people's preferences for getting local news from TV and newspapers. ... The percentage of adults getting news from those two legacy sources hasn't changed much since the Internet came along ..."

TALK ABOUT BURYING THE LEAD!

The author's negative view is really about markets with two newspapers and multiple TV stations: not the community newspaper market.

Read the blog posting here.

Are your market demographics changing?

2009-04-14T12:16:00.000-05:00

We've all seen a dramatic rise in the Hispanic population in America, but have you looked closely at your own community for opportunities to serve a changing community?

A new study points out that young, well educated Hispanic consumers report continued readership and engagement with the Hispanic print medium. 57% of respondents who read their Hispanic newspaper are under the age of 35!

The survey found that 82% shared their Hispanic publication with at least one other person; 74% have read three or more of the last five issues; 63% frequently look at the advertising; 24% say they always pay attention to the advertising.

Learn more here

Traditional media tops citizen media

2009-04-10T17:19:00.002-05:00

Researchers from the University of Missouri School of Journalism recently found that despite ongoing reports of financial troubles and cutbacks, legacy media are more comprehensive and more technologically advanced that citizen media and bloggers.

We found that legacy sites offered almost double the percent of news (89 percent) in comparison with citizen news sites (56 percent) and three times that of blogs (27 percent)," said Margaret Duffy, faculty chair in strategic communication in the Journalism School. "The topic coverage on blogs and citizen new sites is generally narrow and the sourcing is light."

The researchers analyzed citizen news sites in 47 towns and cities and found an average of fewer than two citizen sites per city. Two-thirds of the sites were blogs.

Read more here.

Look to deliver online and print coupon opportunities

2009-04-10T15:11:00.000-05:00

In this economy, coupons are hot, hot, hot.

More than 90 million consumers (78% of retail shoppers) currently use newspaper coupons, says new research from Platform-A and Information Resources Inc. (IRI).

Yet, nearly four of ten, some 40 million consumers, say they would likely use coupons they found online. Some 51% of 18-24 year-old shoppers say they would likely use online coupons. So look for ways and partners to provide your readers with online coupon opportunities in addition to your print coupons.

But continue to push those ever popular print coupons. While 51% of those 18-24 intend to use digital coupons, 68% of them report that the do clip newspaper coupons. For age group 25-34, it's 40% - 71% digital to print coupons; and print coupons rank higher as the age groups increase.

Read more here.

Did you know?

2009-04-07T17:19:00.002-05:00

An upcoming book from Bill Reader (professor at Ohio University) shares some interesting statistics (many of them from Jock Lauterer's [professor at University of North Carolina] recent book: Community Journalism: The Personal Approach) ...

Small newspapers certainly outnumber large newspapers both in terms of total circulation and in the number of newsrooms (and, by extension, newsroom cultures).

An analysis of circulation figures published in the 2004 Editor & Publisher Year Book showed that of the 9,321 U.S. newspapers listed, 9,104 (97.7%) had circulations below 50,000, a common benchmark used to distinguish “big” from “small” newspapers.1

Those 9,104 “small” newspapers reported circulations totaling 108.9 million, compared to a combined circulation of 38.2 million for the 213 “big” newspapers.2

The majority of all newspapers are weeklies, with an average circulation of slightly less than 7,500.3

Among the 1,456 dailies, 1,239, or 85%, are small newspapers, and reach about 44% of all daily newspaper readers.4

Those figures suggest that newspaper journalism in America is dominated by small newspapers, and that there are perhaps “two journalisms” in the American newspaper industry.

Playing with numbers

2009-03-24T23:39:00.002-05:00

Dozens, perhaps hundreds of news outlets and bloggers have been leading their reports on the new Pew Center for the People and the Press survey trumpeting “fewer than half of Americans (43%) say that losing their local newspaper would hurt civic life in their community “a lot.” Even fewer (33%) say they would personally miss reading the newspaper “a lot” if it were no longer available.”

The takeaway by most readers is 1) fewer than half of Americans think that losing their newspaper would hurt civic life in their community and 2) only a third of Americans would miss their paper if it somehow disappeared.

But let’s add together those that losing their local paper would hurt civic life “a lot” with those that say it would hurt civic life “some.” Now we’re talking about 74% who think the loss of their paper would have at least some negative effect on civic life in their community.

And if we add those readers who say they would miss their paper “some” if it disappeared to those that said “a lot,” we have 58% who say they would miss their paper if it went away.

Now, that leaves a much different takeaway. Three quarters of Americans think the loss of their paper would have a negative effect on civic life; more than half would miss their paper.

Only 8% said the loss of their paper would not hurt civic life at all.

And only 26% said they would not miss their local paper at all if it were to disappear. Sure, this number doesn’t make us smile, but it’s not nearly as bad as the headlines in the news reports and on the blogs.

Even more surprising, when we talk about young adults, 18-39, some 72% say the closure of the local paper would hurt civic life “a lot” or “some” … about the same as the older age groups. And 52% said they would miss their paper “a lot” or “some” if it closed.

This is hardly terrible news, but you’d be hard pressed to realize that from most of the reports I’ve seen.

Of course, we can surmise that Pew interviewed citizens in America’s largest cities and the respondents were referring to their major metro papers, not their weekly community newspapers.

How can we know that? The respondents said they get most of their local news from television. (Well, 66% said TV; newspapers were next with 41%. Internet came in after radio). For those of us living outside major metro markets, or even outside the top 250 markets, we know there is NO local television. Out in our markets, television is regional. It might cover the courthouse burning down, a major wreck that closed the freeway, or the high school football or basketball team once a year if and when it makes the state playoffs. But daily or weekly local TV news coverage? C’mon.

Pew and just about everyone else seems to always forget that there are 1,000 smaller dailies and 7,000 weekly newspapers … and their millions of readers … all across America.

Pew needs to get out of Philadelphia, and the major media need to get further afield than the last subway stop to do a fair and accurate job of researching and reporting the news industry.

Read the Pew report

Media falling behind in digital space?

2009-03-24T17:05:00.002-05:00

A new study from IBM reveals a "growing rift" between advertisers, consumers and content owners, as media companies "struggle to keep pace with" new demands from tech-savvy viewers and marketers.

Mansha Daswani on worldscreen.com reports that the IBM study says that "media companies are falling behind in meeting the growing expectations of digital savvy consumers and the advertisers looking to reach them ..."

IBM is calling on content owners to "fundamentally" change the way they deliver information to audiences. … "To succeed—especially in the current economic environment—media companies will need to develop a new set of capabilities … [including] … micro targeting, real-time ROI measurement and cross-platform integration. ..."

Beyond Advertising: Choosing a Strategic Path to the Digital Consumer cites four key trends: consumer adoption of new distribution formats, a shift in advertising spend, digital migration of platforms and the emergence of new capabilities.
The report notes consumer adoption of sites like Twitter, YouTube and Facebook. Between 2007 and 2008, the adoption of social-networking tools soared to 60 percent from 33 percent; mobile Internet data plans nearly tripled to 41 percent from 15 percent; and access to mobile video quadrupled to 35 percent from 7 percent.

Advertisers are following consumers to new platforms; the study indicates that 63 percent of Chief Marketing Officers expect to increase interactive/online marketing spending while 65 percent expect to decrease traditional advertising. Agencies, content networks and distributors, the report states, are not ready to meet the demands of the digital consumer and advertiser. Eighty percent of advertising industry participants interviewed for the study expect the industry to be at least five years away from being able to deliver true cross-platform advertising (including sales, delivery, measurement and analysis).

AOL's coupon service goes mobile

2009-03-23T23:36:00.001-05:00

CNet’s Jessica Dolcourt asks (and answers): “What's even better than getting grocery store coupons online? Getting them from your cell phone.”

She’s talking about AOL’s version of its online coupons service, Shortcuts.com, that's now optimized for viewing from the mobile phone.”

Dolcourt reports that coupons for popular cereal and a jumbo pack of Pull-Ups Training Pants greet you when you navigate to Shortcuts.com from the mobile browser. After registering your savings club card with Shortcuts.com, you'll be able to add vouchers like these directly to your account, and redeem them in-store without a paper receipt.

AOL’s service isn’t the only one offering mobile coupons. Cellfire is a coupon application built for a variety of mobile phones that branches out beyond grocery stores to get you coupons to local and national chain restaurants and other retail shops.

Coupons have long been a mainstay of newspapers. We need to be looking at broadening how we deliver coupons to our readers. Right now AOL’s 14 partner markets cover a limited area. But that could change quickly.

Trying to get it right

2009-03-18T17:15:00.000-05:00

In a story headlined “Extra! Extra! Are Newspapers Dying?” USA Today notes that not all is doom and gloom.

“Publishers and journalists have become their own worst enemy,” says Robert Picard, a media economics scholar who edits the Journal of Media Business Studies. “They are running around arguing that the sky is falling. And they’re making it far worse than it is.”

Another view from the story: “We need to view journalism in the same way that we view libraries and public schools, as absolutely essential to any prospering community,” says Theodore Glasser, professor of communications at Stanford University.

The paper’s reporter continues: “…one has to imagine an epic social and economic transformation to conclude that the newspaper industry is at death’s door. Nearly half of all adults read a newspaper every day and spent $10.5 billion last year to do so. The average newspaper generates about a 10% profit margin.”

“It’s not the 20% to 30% they were enjoying several years ago,” says Randy Bennett of the Newspaper Association of America, “But it’s still an enviable profit margin for many businesses. … Smaller-market newspapers are in better financial shape.”

[We’ve reported earlier that the supermarket industry tends to operate on a 2% margin; department stores on a 6% margin.]

Picard offers an interesting historical footnote: Before about 1840, when the Penny Press turned newspapers into an inexpensive mass medium, 15% of the population spent the equivalent in today’s dollars of as much as $4 a day for a newspaper.

All in all, the story is pretty much doom and gloom, ignoring even its own nuggets of information that suggest a broader story.

How your customers view the Internet

2009-03-17T19:52:00.001-05:00

While small and medium-size businesses (SMBs) spend, on average, 11% of their ad budgets online, some spend far more. Real estate agents are spending an amazing 47% of their ad dollars online, and local computer stores 36 percent, according to "Main Street Goes Interactive." The report says SMBs are responsible for more than half of all interactive spending.

Daily News Habit Doubles Among U.S. Mobile Users

2009-03-16T19:49:00.001-05:00

Forget the web (well, just for a moment forget the web on your computer).

Mobile (cell phone) web usage is small but growing rapidly, very rapidly. Techcrunch’s Erick Schonfeld reports on comScore data that says the number of U.S. consumers who access news and information daily on their mobile phones doubled from 10.8 million in January, 2008 to 22.4 million in January, 2009.

An estimated 63 million people accessed news and information on their mobile phones at least once during the month. Of those, about a third did so via a downloaded application rather than a mobile browser, with the most popular downloaded app being maps.

What's the real story?

2009-03-05T13:07:00.001-06:00

If we're to believe only the major media reports, our industry is on its death bed.

We know that's not true ... some (many, most?) of us will feel some pain this year, and some of our titles may disappear or merge with sister titles, but the reasons aren't necessarily those cited in those major media reports -- mass defection of readers and advertisers.

Some of us will hold our own in a tough year, and a few of us may even improve year over year.

But industrywide mayhem? We saw titles fold, merge and reappear during and after both of the two previous recessions. We can expect more of the same this time.

Readers are not abandoning community newspapers. And advertisers who have shifted dollars into "new media" are learning that those campaigns are NOT producing results comparable to newspaper advertising. New media is sexy, sure. The young are there, sure. But are they buying? Do those ads actually sell? The early research says the results are disappointing. Advertising in community newspapers is down but a fraction of that of the major metros.

But I'm not here to pound on the metros. As noted in a followthemedia.com item: "McClatchy CEO Gary Pruitt has said that last year the chain produced an operating profit, before debt payments, of more than 20%, which just goes to show how the villain in all these stories is the debt newspapers undertook thinking the good times would always be here and not thinking to have clauses in their agreements that would ease the pain in case things (the economy) turned south."

Or, as the article paraphrases industry analyst John Morton: "publicly owned newspapers during the first nine months of last year had an operating profit of 10.8%. Unfortunately for those who have massive debt ... that wasn't enough, but for most businesses in this type of economic climate that's really not doing too bad."

Another good analysis

Earl Wilkinson of the International Newspaper Marketing Association (INMA) takes a good look at this, with similar results. While some of his analysis and suggestions are aimed at larger papers, he has several items we should all consider.

More on twittering

2009-03-04T13:37:00.001-06:00

Back in December I posted an item or two on twitter, and how it might apply to newspapers.

University of Missouri Professor Jen Reeves manages or works with a couple of news operations in Columbia, MO and recently shared her twitter insights and practices.

You can read her brief explanation here.

And you can view her presentation here.

Looking for a new revenue stream?

2009-02-25T12:39:00.002-06:00

We've all been asking the question: How do we make money online?

Sarah Lacy suggests in a Newsweek article: unsexy newsletters

Think about it. It follows a pattern we're familiar with: useful or interesting news delivered to readers. You don't have to walk out to the mailbox to retrieve it, go find a web site to read it. It's there waiting for you when you're ready to read it.

They're not the newest fad, but these daily digests sent via e-mail can generate some much needed ad revenue when there's not much of it to go around

As the ad recession deepens, some companies are leading the way in showing how to make money from electronic digests of a web site's (or newspaper's) content, delivered regularly to your in-box.

One success story is DailyCandy.com, purchased by Comcast (CMCSA) last fall. Lacy says Dany Levy started DailyCandy as an e-mail newsletter in 2000 and has resisted the allure of blogging ever since. A longtime print journalist, she was just doing what she knew—and that was media, not tech. "People have a paper delivered to their door every morning," she says. "The push model just made a lot of sense to me. You didn't have to remember to go anywhere; it was just in your in-box." Daily Candy expanded to more than 2.5 million subscriptions while spending little on marketing. Most of the growth came from readers simply forwarding the newsletter to friends. The company has been profitable since the third quarter of 2001, Levy says. (Even expanding readership by forwarding the email resembles the familiar pass-along concept of the newspaper industry.)

Return on investment

Ted Rheingold, founder and chief executive officer of Dogster, weighed all the options for generating revenue, from placing ads on his site through Google's AdSense program to working with an ad network, from building his own sales force to distributing a newsletter. He discovered that AdSense would yield about 28¢ per 1,000 times the ad is seen (for a CPM of 28¢, in industry parlance). Glam Media, one of the highest-paying ad networks, would deliver a floor CPM of $2. But that was still leaving a good amount of revenue on the table, especially considering an ad network takes half the gross.

In addition to letting Federated Media sell some inventory, Dogster built its own Web sales force, setting CPMs at $8 to $20. But even that pales compared to what he charges advertisers per 1,000 views of an ad on his e-mail newsletter: a whopping $20 to $40.

Publishers can see how many people open an e-mail, how long they read it, and how many friends they forward it to. Advertisers eat up that kind of engagement, because it's different, tangible, and more likely to result in an action such as making a purchase.

For tips on successful email newsletters ... and what NOT to do, read Lacy's article here ....

Local video advertising

2009-02-25T11:07:00.002-06:00

The ad business in general may be in the doldrums due to the economic downturn, but one space that's bustling with innovation is online video ads for local, small-to-medium (SMB) sized businesses, writes Will Richmond on VideoNuze.com.

He notes this is not a new concept: cable operators' local ad divisions have been doing it for years. What's new are companies that allow a far higher degree of self-service video ad creation and campaign management by the client, online placement of their ads, and much improved analytics and return on investment (ROI) measurement capabilities vs. traditional cable TV.

For some local merchants, engaging in this process will be overwhelming and they'll stick with the tried and true local options like newspapers. But others will realize that video packs far higher emotional punch than a text ad.

This can be an opportunity for community newspapers. If newspaper can provide this service to their advertisers, and display the results on the newspapers' web sites, the newspaper will become even more valuable to the advertisers.

So how does a small operation do this with limited staff? The same way the advertiser might -- using the new tools. They inlcude Spot Runner, Spot Mixer, Jivox, Mixpo, PixelFish and others.

Read more ...

Email: a tool for our advertisers, and ourselves

2009-02-23T17:04:00.003-06:00

More than half (57%) of American consumers have more positive opinions about companies that send them emails, and 50% say getting email increases the likelihood they will purchase - either online or offline — from these companies, according to a survey from Epsilon and conducted by ROI research and reported by MarketingVox.com.

The email branding survey explores the impact of permission-based email marketing as well as specific vertical product categories, including financial services, retail, consumer product groups, and pharmaceuticals/healthcare, MarketingCharts reports.

Epsilon found that permission-based email marketing campaigns extend far beyond e-commerce transactions and also have a significant impact on purchasing behavior and consumer loyalty in the brick- and-mortar world. Key study findings:
57% of consumers feel they have a more positive impression of companies when they receive email from them.
40% said that simply receiving email has a positive impact on their likelihood to make a future purchase from a company.
71% remember email communications when making purchases at the sending company’s web site.
50% said they're more likely to buy products from companies who send them email, whether their purchases are online or at a place of business.

The survey reported that in the retail category, 67% of respondents said they purchased products offline as a direct result of receiving an email from a retail company.

Other key insights about customer behavior, loyalty and email:

Consumers appear to be growing more accustomed to offers from companies they trust and seem to appreciate the relationship. Some 84% of respondents said they like receiving email from companies with whom they register, because even if they don’t always read the message, it’s good to know the information or offer will be there when they’re ready (sounds like a newspaper, doesn't it?). This response rate is up significantly from 69% in a similar, 2005 study.

The number of consumers who agree that the fact that they receive email from a company makes them more likely to purchase products from the sender in the future regardless of where they make the purchase (50%) is higher than in 2005 (37%). This demonstrates that consumers are noticing emails, and while they may not be ready to purchase immediately, the correspondence is having a greater influence on their shopping behavior and brand recognition (again, sounds much like a newspaper).

(What this might tell us: we might benefit from marketing ourselves via email, not just in house ads or flyers inserted in the newspaper. Email might be a particularly good, inexpensive way to market our new and niche products to readers. Better yet, for our many advertisers who do not have an active web site or an email marketing program, newspapers could provide this service for them. Might be worth considering.)

Plenty of pain to go around

2009-02-23T17:01:00.001-06:00

Feeling the effects of the sharp economic downturn, radio took another big hit in the fourth quarter of 2008, according to the Radio Advertising Bureau as reported by MediaPost. Total ad revenues fell 11%, compared to the same period in 2007. As in previous quarters, the worst losses in dollar terms came in local advertising.

This contributed to an overall 9% slump for full-year 2008 compared to 2007, to just under $19.5 billion. The fourth quarter of 2008 was the seventh straight quarter to see radio ad revenues decline.

The 11% overall decline between the fourth quarters of 2007 and 2008 equaled about $750 million--dwarfing the increase of about $4.4 million in off-air revenues (which includes Internet advertising on radio stations’ web sites).

Another new player in local news

2009-02-18T16:56:00.003-06:00

If you think Google, Yahoo and the other “national” online ad networks are primarily interested in national advertising, think again.

Long before the recession they created partnerships with hundreds of local papers to tap into those local advertising markets. While all types of advertising are suffering during this recession (did you know that radio and TV advertising have both plummeted more than 10%, not just the metro newspapers?) local advertising is the brightest spot in the current economy. Yes, it may be down, but those that follow the numbers say it’s down less than most other categories.

Carol Eisenberg reports on muckety.com that Tim Armstrong, Google’s president of advertising for North America and Latin America, is underwriting a new startup called Patch, which plans to put small teams of journalists in communities all over the country to produce hyper-local news content.

“Tim believes that Patch should be in every community in America, and wants Patch in his town,” says the company’s website.
“He wants to read local news stories done by journalists, make sure that local government is transparent and accountable … and have his town be as interesting and alive online as it is offline.”

Armstrong’s investment is through his personal investment fund, Polar Capital Group; for now, Patch has no direct link to Google.

Most of the company’s paid staff of 20 are engineering and advertising types, not reporters and editors. Patch is reportedly hiring one journalist per town. To start with, it has set up “patches” in three towns in suburban New Jersey - South Orange, Maplewood, and Millburn.

Eisenberg muses that one can’t help wondering whether this is a news experiment, or simply a new approach to sucking up local advertising dollars - one of the last sources of revenue for cash-starved local newspapers…(and) whether Google jumps in if it proves profitable.

What's the problem?

2009-02-18T15:07:00.004-06:00

Interesting story in February's Editor & Publisher, by Joe Strupp: "

Tight Squeeze: Are 17 dailies too many ... ? Or is local ownership the answer?"

While a story about dailies, it's really a story about community newspapers, and much of what's said or reported can and does apply to weeklies as well.

"Most of the problems we are seeing ... have more to do with the debt load and structure of the national companies than the local paper," says Jonathan Kellogg of the family-owned paper in Waterbury, CT. "Some of the [difficulties] you have seen with the chains has nothing to do with journalism." ...

"The Hartford Courant is a good example," says Hearst's Lincoln Millstein. "It is extremely profitable, but it has a parent company that is highly leveraged."

Full story in the print edition, or online if you have a subscription.

Now is the time to grab market share

2009-02-16T14:59:00.003-06:00

The economy has tanked and your advertisers are pulling back ... is that the problem?

I can't remember where I read it, nor verify that it's true, but somewhere I read that during the depression of the 30s, Post cerals cut back on marketing while Kellogg continued its marketing efforts. Now, neither company could "afford" marketing, but the story goes that when the depression ended, Kellogg had bested Post in market share and never looked back. While it cost Kellogg hard money during the depression, it was reportedly still cheaper than a hardscrabble fight for market share in normal times. It was a gain in market share that stung, but was still cheaper than a head to head battle.

Even if this story isn't true, it has merit for consideration.

In a story by Erik Hauser, he and Robert Gabsa suggest that today's business chaos equals opportunity. "What better time for a company to grab market share than when there is a sense that their competition is on their heels. Strong, well positioned brands are always looking for an opportunity to grab their share of the market -- there has never been a better time than now! ...

"How do we grab market share in times like this? ... Start to add back the zeros to the marketing budgets. ... Get out there in front of the consumers to build goodwill, loyalty and drive sales now and long after this economic downturn is behind us."

This is what we need to be telling our advertisers ... now is NOT the time to pull back. Now is the time to win the market.

Need more convincing?

The New York Times reports (free registration required) that "while other technology companies curtail their ad budgets to ride out what appears to be an intense and protracted recession, Apple ... said ... it actually increased marketing and advertising during the last three months of 2008, compared with the same period a year ago. ...

"There is good reason ... Microsoft ... is more vulnerable than it has been in years. ...

"So far, Apple seems to be winning the fight. The Macintosh gained more than 2 percentage points of market share in the last year ..."

To hammer this point home, Advertising Age reports this week that advertising/marketing skinflint Walmart has boosted its marketing/advertising effort by $300 million.

"The retail behemoth, long known for its penny-pinching prowess, has gone on a massive media-spending spree in the past year, hiking measured media outlays some $300 million while much of the market pulled back.

"By spending so much more as rival retailers cut, Walmart is on track to go from the ninth-biggest to the second-biggest spender in the category, just behind Macy's."

And Walmart is one of the very few retailers that posted gains in the last reporting period.

This is a message we need to tell all of our advertisers.

The trouble with research

2009-02-05T14:49:00.003-06:00

Research can be good for you. It can validate your product and service to both readers and advertisers. But sometimes, it can raise more questions than it answers.

An outfit called Prosper MediaPlanIQ suggests that ad dollars should be divided up to reflect where consumers spend their media time. The assumption is that if folks say they spend more time online or watching TV, then more ad dollars should go there. At the most basic level, that might appear to make sense. Yet, other research will tell us that the most effective advertising tends to come from newspapers, word of mouth and direct mail. We've even seen research that says reading a newspaper drives readers to the web to do more research before making a purchase ... they may not have followed through on the purchase if they hadn't first been prompted by the newspaper to explore the product or service.

Effectiveness is not necessarily volume. It's volume and action.

So what's Prosper suggest for the cellphone companies? They say that currently the largest share of the advertising budget for AT&T, Verizon and Sprint/Nextel is TV (about 50%), followed by newspapers (25-30%), then radio (about 9%), Internet (about 7%), outdoor (about 5%) and magazines (about 3%).

What's Prosper's recommendation for change? They say the cellphone companies should divide up their media buy like this:
* TV: 28.5%
* Radio: 25.9%
* Internet: 14.7%
* Outdoor: 13.7%
* Magazines: 11.3%
* Newspapers: 6%

I don't know about you, but I tend to tune out all but the funniest TV commercials, if I watch them at all. I don't listen to radio. I use the Internet incessantly, but I block popups and get real annoyed with those ads in front of videos ... makes me dislike the advertiser more than making me want to buy their product or service. There's not a lot of outdoor advertising here ... it seems a lot of states have cut back on "visual clutter" on our highways. I always INTEND to read magazines, but seldom get around to it. And there are days when I pick up one of my papers BECAUSE I'm looking for a particular product or service that I hope to find on sale.

And while I'm sure I'm unique in some ways, I don't think I'm all that different from a lot of folks out there ... at least those with a dollar to spend. Yes, we have three children out there who may consume media differently, but trust me, they have no money to spend (unless they hit me up for it).

You can find out more here.

Great advice still good after all these years

2009-02-05T14:05:00.002-06:00

Richard Tofel reminds us of sage advice from the Wall Street Journal's Barney Kilgore:

Today's newspaper should be about tomorrow's events, not yesterday's.

Readers, Kilgore realized, turn to newspapers ... to know about what happened yesterday so that they can more intelligently cope with today, and tomorrow.

More here

ABC News launches iPhone application

2009-02-05T13:54:00.003-06:00

Some of you may use The New York Times or Associated Press news application on your iPhone. Now you can get local news on your iPhone from your local TV station.

Well, to start, this will work only in the major metro markets where ABC owns the station. But once they work out the bugs, you can bet they'll offer this to all their affiliate stations, in all markets.

What's the new ABC iPhone application do?
* Video
* Photo slide shows
* Top headlines
* Local news
* Breaking news alerts
* Emergency alerts
* Weather

Find out more here

Should we ask for equal time?

2009-02-04T14:15:00.002-06:00

How many reports have you heard or read about the supposed demise of newspapers? Too many, I'm sure. These stories seem to be everywhere on TV, cable, on the Internet AND in newspapers. Bah, humbug! You'll see a post below about a new effort to "set the record straight."

But did you know, by watching TV or cable, or reading the Internet or newspapers, that broadcast TV news is under severe duress, even as citizens tell surveys that they get most of their news from TV?

From Reuters: "The age of Obama dawned with a wake-up call to the U.S. television industry to get serious about Internet-based sources of revenue.

"Ratings showed that the January 20 inauguration marked the first time that more people tuned in to a live, high-profile event on the Internet than on TV."

Why aren't we hearing or reading more about that? Probably because TV networks and stations know better than to sound their own death knell, especially when death isn't necessarily imminent.

Read more here.

It's time to work together, stick together

2009-02-04T12:46:00.001-06:00

Hopefully, by now you've heard about the Newspaper Project or seen its new web site.

From its opening announcement: "Newspapers and their online offspring combined are more popular than ever imagined and yet media reports nearly always paint a portrait of an industry gasping for air in the digital age.  This wrongheaded perception stems from the economic recession that’s affected all advertising-based businesses, and from the myth that newspapers no longer attract the public support they once enjoyed.  But the biggest contributing factor to the distorted picture of the industry’s condition just might be us, to paraphrase Pogo, the comic strip character. ...

“We must cut through the noise to set the record straight.”   The group’s message, said CNHI's Donna Barrett, is straightforward:  -- Newspapers are very much alive and growing when you consider the print and online audience together. And they talk to far more people than their radio, television and Internet competitors ... .  - Advertisers continue to invest in newspapers because they deliver results. They still move goods and services more reliably than other forms of promotion."

Admirable, and unfortunately, necessary. Yet it overlooks very similar efforts by NNA and others. NNA's research in 2005, 2007 and again last year demonstrates that more than 80% of Americans read a newspaper weekly (most of NNA's members ... indeed, most of America's newspapers--about 8,000--are weekly newspapers).Using that reasearch information, NNA has produced stories, house ads, Powerpoints for presentation to civic groups and advertisers, and template media kit/rate card ... all available for download and use by NNA members from the NNA web site.

And this last year NNA has partnered with SNA in their quarterly review of ad revenue for community newspapers. That research demonstrates that community newspapers ad revenue isn't suffering anywhere near what the metro dailies are experiencing.

In the past, NNA has partnered with Inland in its annual benchmarking survey. Unfortunately, most community newspaper publishers did not or would not take the time to fill out the extensive research questionnaire, and the partnership lapsed. Maybe it's time for community publishers to make the time ... the advantage of associations such as NNA is that working together we can accomplish more than working individually ... that sharing information and success saves us time and money in that we don't have to reinvent a wheel or overcome a challenge that someone has already wrestled to the ground.

In an economy like this, there's not much sense in wasting precious resources duplicating or overlapping existing work, and it's a false savings to cut ties and "go it alone" (without the sharing that comes with association membership).

The Newspaper Project's first effort was an ad focused on daily newspaper readership. We need to broaden the campaign to include all newspapers, dailies and weeklies. CNHI has plenty of weeklies, as do most of the major companies, including McClatchy, Gannett, Media General, Landmark, MediaNews. I hear from plenty of publishers who want to work with NNA (and other associations) but cannot because their management is focused on their more troubled daily brethren.

Rest assured that NNA does not leave the weekly newspaper publisher (individual or group-owned) behind, NNA is your voice in Washington, DC, before the USPS, and delivers best practices to members every month in Publishers' Auxiliary and 24/7 on our growing website.

Join us as we promote our industry, the community newspaper industry, and help us get our message out.

Internet challenges? You're not alone

2009-01-23T17:35:00.000-06:00

Recent research from Webvisible and Nielsen (via MarketingCharts) tells us 63% of consumers and small business owners turn to the Internet for information about local companies. And 82% use a search engine to do so.

Yet, just 44% of small businesses have a website. Those same small businesses spend less than 10% of their marketing budget online, the research tells us.

Why the disconnect? My hypotheses: most small businesses are much like our small businesses: we lack the trained staff/skills, the technology, the tools, the bandwidth to create and maintain a robust web site.

Ever wonder why a small business balks at buying links on your web site to their web site? It may very well be because they're a bit embarrassed about their web site. It may be there, but it may not "do" anything (help them sell). It may not have been updated for days or weeks.

The research more or less supports this:

* 51% (of small businesses surveyed) believe both the quality and ability of their website to acquire new customers is only "fair" or "poor."
* Only 7% say their primary marketing goal is to get more visitors to their website.
* Only 9% are satisfied with their online marketing efforts.

This could be an opportunity for community newspapers.

If you're building your own online enterprise, perhaps your web staff could build web sites for your customers (and charge them for the actual production and hosting, creating a revenue stream). Or go simpler: create a web page for the advertiser that opens when you click from a skyscraper or button ad on your web site. That full page could have today's or this week's special offer, coupon or menu. You can change it weekly for them, or more often, if you're able. You've taken the burden off the advertiser and made yourself more valuable. And by creating ads on your web site, the search traffic comes to you and counts on your website usage statistics.

Then there's the old, but new again, saw: if you don't do it, someone else will (or has).

More from the research: Top sources for local information:
* 82% use search engines (such as Google, Yahoo or MSN)
* 57% use Yellow Pages directories
* 53% use local newspapers
* 49% use Internet Yellow Pages (such as yellowpages.com)
* 49% use TV
* 38% use direct mail
* 32% use White Pages directories

Of those surveyed, 50% said search engines (such as Google, Yahoo, or MSN) were their first place they looked when seeking a local business, while 24% chose the Yellow Pages directories.

You can read more here.

More INMA highlights

2009-01-23T16:01:00.002-06:00

From Ken Riddick, Vice President of Digital Media for Hearst:

About mobile: “Convenience is the new relevance.”

Meaning that news is relevant to the consumer WHEN it happens, and available to him/her at that moment on the most convenient device/platform immediately at his/her disposal: typically, the cell phone. The “news” may no longer be relevant to him/her an hour later when s/he gets back to the office and his/her computer, or the next morning when the paper is available. Think sports scores, stock prices, traffic jams, school closings, etc.

“Engage the audience by inviting them in more ways to participate in the dialogue:
• comments
• crowd sourcing”

Meaning that the more engaged or involved a reader is, the more likely the reader will become or remain a loyal reader and return day after day, week after week. There are more opportunities to do this than just Letters to the Editor.

“Embrace data as a way to engage audiences.”

Readers seem to hunger for news about what public officials (including school officials) earn; how much nearby property sold for; foreclosures; births; deaths; building permits, etc. Consider placing these online with search capabilities. Data is news AFTER it’s been published in the paper, but readers can’t look back once they’ve recycled the paper. There’s an audience for data after it was this week’s news.

Riddick’s experience with partnering with the Yahoo Consortium (about 800 papers currently working with Yahoo) is that it as expanded the reach of his newspaper’s reach from 20% of the local market to a penetration of about 80% of the market.

Riddick has found success partnering his web sites with:
• Yahoo Hotjobs (similar to Career Builder)
• Zillow (a package of information and services related to real estate)
• Kaango (online classifieds)
• Metrix4Media (a search alternative to Google)

Riddick suggest web channels (think niche publications) such as:
• Pets
• Photos
• Moms/Parenting
Content can be supplied by readers. A part-time editor can manage the channels. One editor can monitor or manage two or more channels.

A final recommendation from Riddick, a good one:

“Deliver satisfaction.” (Don’t limit yourself to just thinking about delivering the news).

From Dean Whiite, director of marketing and promotions for The Las Vegas Review-Journal:

Be the Home Page for public places such as local coffee shops. Starbucks won’t let you do this but local coffee shops may partner with you.

Pre-alert readers to classifieds that they are interested in. This will require a web interface where they can tell you what they are interested in … and an email and-or mobile/cell phone delivery mechanism that will alert them of the item even before it’s in print. This sets up a REWARD for subscribers, builds loyalty, gives them another reason to subscribe (if you offer this to subscribers only).

Tidbits from INMA conference

2009-01-22T00:15:00.003-06:00

The International Newspaper Marketing Association (INMA) is presenting an audience development summit this week. Notes from the first day:

Earl Wilkinson, INMA executive director:

"Traditional media will pay the bills through 2012, (but their) digital media will drive growth."

About sales: "We (too often) aim at meeting a number, not at growing a number."

About management: "We need leadership, not managers."

Anne Crassweller, president of NADbank (newspaper audience databank) of Canada:

(Canadian) readers spend twice as much time with (news in) print than (news) online.

(Canadian) readers are migrating to free (newspapers) and online (news).

Dean Lytle, director of audience development for the Winnepeg Free Press:

"Be somebody else. (Act as) if someone bought your paper and put you in charge of new business development. What would you do?"

Judy Sims, director, product development and business management for the Toronto Star's thestar.com:

"Be the ultimate resource for things that are most important to (citizens in your market)." For Toronto, that includes news, features, business listings, tools, data and databases, advertising and maps.

Other tidbits:

Are your circulation promotion efforts stymied by Do Not Call rules? Get folks to call you. Offer giveaways and prizes that they have to call in to "enter" or "register." When they do, you can collect their contact info and pitch them a subscription,

Trying to figure our what to offer readers, and how?
Ask them what they want from a newspaper.
Ask them what they want form a website.
Ask them what they want from an e-newsletter.
Ask them what they want from their cell phone.

You'll likely find that they want different things from each device. They won't want the paper delivered via web or phone. What they want from the web they probably don't want in their paper, etc.

It's not about regurgitating what you have in a half dozen ways. It's about delivering what people expect from the device they are using at the moment.

Working together for the future

2009-01-19T00:07:00.003-06:00

A recent online column by Diane Mermigas trumpeted:
“TV, Newspapers Can’t Shortcut Digital, It’s All Or Nothing.”

That’s a bit strong, perhaps inaccurate, and other readers took her to task for it. But tucked away throughout her column were words worthy of consideration:

“Slapping a digital face on a legacy body just won't do. Meaningful, sustainable digital conversion must employ social networking, a ubiquitous interface and findability tools …”

“Google's YouTube TV site rolls out via Internet channels on the Nintendo Wiki and Sony PS3 video game consoles. Also of note: An already exceptionally interactive CNN's real-time presidential inauguration coverage this week will occur in tandem with Facebook. …”

We know that our children and grandchildren spend enormous amounts of time on social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace, and with interactive games on the Nintendo Wii, Sony PlayStation and Microsoft Xbox 360 … and that few spend any time with a newspaper.

We also know that any user interface (the design and organization of a printed newspaper, or the ease of navigating a web site) must be easy, simple to navigate, and that readers expect to find what they’re looking for quickly. SEARCH is the most used function on the Internet … but how many of us have robust search capabilities in our newspapers or on our web sites? Can our readers quickly find what they want or need to know? How many of us can deliver our news reports beyond the printed paper and a modest web site? Do you know anyone who does NOT carry a cell phone? Do you have a way to reach them?

We have work to do.

Diane also offers in her column: “Some structural factors limiting growth potential include building a monetizeable traffic, adequate ad platforms, a digital talent pool and rigorous research and development to foster innovation.”

Does your web site have monetizeable traffic? An adequate ad platform? A digital talent pool? Research and development to foster innovation or explain the value to your advertisers?

In most cases our traffic counts need a boost to monetize them. That’s why CentraMart and others are developing systems to help drive traffic to our web sites. Most of us do not have a robust online ad platform. That’s why DotConnect and others are developing them for us.

NNA brings both of these programs to members; check them out on our web site.

Finding and nurturing the digital talent pool will require some work and investment from all of us.
This is where working together, sharing among members, helps us approach the future. NNA will continue to explore the future with companies such as TextCaster (text messaging news alerts to cell phones), Pressmart (digital delivery of pdf editions of your paper to readers across the country and around the world who want to keep track of what’s happening back home) and even Google (digitization of newspaper archives).

And, finally, Diane also notes: “The Internet now surpasses newspapers and all other media except for television as a primary source of news--although young consumers predominantly rely on the Internet for just about everything, finds a new Pew Research study. Aggregating news services for customized advertising and fee-supported delivery to iPods, smart mobile phones and other connected devices are also in order.”

There’s never been a better time to work together, pool our resources, and support each other. Your membership and support of NNA helps NNA help you.