By: Staff Reports NAA Report Says Publishers Aren't Doing Enough
One way that a Web site can make money for newspapers is by
driving print subscriptions. Yet many publishers are doing very
little to promote their print products in cyberspace.
The Newspaper Association of America's Circulation Federation is
addressing the issue with an upcoming report on the complementary
marketing roles of print and online. The final report will be
available in August, but the report's findings were discussed at
the NAA's Marketing Conference in Washington this week.
The report states that "most U.S. newspapers are not contributing
to subscription growth in a significant way through their Web
sites." To change that, circulation and online managers need to
work together to build print subscription and customer-service
functions online, said John Murray, NAA vice president,
circulation marketing.
Technology is a big obstacle; many Web sites lack the e-commerce
systems to accept subscriptions online. Furthermore, "most
newspaper circulation systems do not talk to Web e-commerce
systems, making information sharing and online order taking
awkward," the report says.
But technology aside, almost every newspaper can improve its
online marketing efforts. As Murray said, a newspaper's size
shouldn't impede it from creating a strong online marketing
program.
The report suggests that "subscribe" links run "above the fold,"
or at the top of newspaper Web sites. A review of 100 newspaper
Web sites by the consulting firm Finberg-Gentry found that over
half buried their circulation links on their home pages, forcing
readers to scroll down before finding a "subscribe" button.
To further integrate their print and online editions, newspapers
can develop multi-platform loyalty programs. The report cites
The Salem (Mass.) Evening News, which offers an
online "Plus Edition" available only to print subscribers. Those
subscribers get a keyword search of the paper, a special local
news feature, full obituaries, expanded content, and early
posting (Web visitors who aren't print subscribers won't find
today's news until 2 p.m.).
The Houston Chronicle offers SubscribersAdvantage, which
gives print subscribers free access to newspaper archives back to
1985 and an investment tracking tool. Offline, the program offers
a restaurant discount card and a bimonthly newsletter on what's
going on at the newspaper.
The report further suggests that circulation managers offer basic
customer-service functions online, including stops, starts,
delivery complaints, and so forth. Few newspapers currently offer
these services online.
Even those papers that let new subscribers sign up online often
don't provide an option to renew subscriptions. When the
Austin (Texas) American-Statesman added a place for
subscribers to renew online, they started getting renewals
immediately. And when the paper sent out a bill stuffer
spotlighting the new "renew online" feature, the paper started
getting over 50 renewals a week via its Web site.
The New York Times recently told E&P Online that it
received over 50,000 print subscriptions so far this year as a
result of its online promotions.
Copyright 2001, Editor & Publisher.
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