Going Digital Isn’t Enough for Newspaper Publishers
Freedom Communications has announced that it plans to close the doors on one of their Phoenix area papers – The East Valley Tribune. Coverage of the closure was reported by the Associated Press, and they were quick to site that this paper had recently moved to putting more of their energies towards online and that it had reduced publishing schedules from seven days a week to only three. We couldn’t help but wonder if there was an inference by the AP, even if slight that The East Valley Tribune failed, as a result of their quest to digitize. This inference, led us here, to posting our thoughts on the items that most print newspapers miss when trying to move their offline properties online.
Below are five online “to do’s” for newspaper publishers looking to take the digital world by storm, and these, in our experience and based on our research, are definitely the “to do’s” that matter the most.
Commit to the decision:
What we mean by that is, if you are going to digitize your content, and live in the digital space, you cannot think of your Web property as an extension of your newspaper. No longer can the aged processes used to drive your print business, mandate how you operate online. Those who have been most successful in this area, have done all that they can to ensure their digital departments have as much autonomy as possible, and can run as its own business, with its own set of process guides and principles. Guides and principles that align with running an online business.
Employ the right people:
Yes, yes – I know we all use the Web for one thing or the other, but simple use does not a digital employee make you! When making the step to digitize your offline products, ensure you hire leaders, at all levels that ‘get’ the digital space. Ensure they understand and keep current with what the online populous does, wants and needs in an online property. Ensure your hires clearly understand the difference between print and Web advertising, but understand where both fit in to the consumer buying cycle. Lastly, what’s most important; ensure this group does not report into a ‘print traditionalist’, but reports into someone with the mindset of moving the business as a whole, forward. The behaviours needed to run a successful and agile digital vertical must trickle down from the top and as a result, the fewer the obstacles to execution, the more successful this team will be.
Get rid of the ‘wrong’ people:
Just because Sally has been with the newspaper for the past 15 years, does not mean that Sally is well equipped to take the organization forward for another 15. This, believe me, is the hardest thing to handle in the minds of traditional media leaders. Often times, relationships are formed, and feelings get in the way of making important business decisions, but it’s obvious to even those avoiding making these decisions, you have to have the right hires in your digital transition. With that being said, if a newspaper does look to reduce its print activity (reducing publishing cycles from seven days a week to only three) the amount of staff should also be reduced to take into consideration that you will only be able to sell that full page, $5,000 ad in print three days a week, instead of your previous seven.
If you’re online – then sell online!
Meaning, sell Web products to your advertisers. Think outside of the generic ROS banner ad. The Web opens you up to many possibilities, from sponsored sections, contextual ads, syndication, etc…. Being creative with your online solutions will set you apart from your like competitors. Your advertisers will remember your uniqueness, and your creativity and they will most likely call on you first when looking to make advertising decisions for their business as a whole.
Don’t be afraid to sell on performance
Unlike print, the Web allows you to track and pull analytics from any which way. Use this to your advantage and start to build performance campaigns for your advertisers and bill according to performance. You may not want to open it up to all of your online categories, especially if it is one that doesn’t garner enough visits online, but for those that do, it will work wonders for you in the end when trying to build trust and relationships with your advertiser.
