The Power to Grow Readership

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Transcript The Power to Grow Readership

The Power To Grow Readership

The Impact Study A joint venture of NAA, ASNE, Readership Institute

© Readership Institute

Readership Trends

% 100 30 20 10 0 90 80 70 60 50 40

Newspaper Readership Among The Adult Population

D aily Sunday 1964 1967 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010

Source: Newspaper Association of America

© Readership Institute

The Moment Is Unique

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ABC changes open major opportunities:

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Report readership

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Establish a variable-priced strategy

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Count bulk sales

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Grow pass along

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Look at USA Today’s experience © Readership Institute

This Time Is Also Unique Because of 9-11

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For the moment, consumers have a deeper and closer connection to their newspaper because of 9-11

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History says the connection will not last

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Backsliding can be stopped if you give readers new reasons to stay with your paper

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RI (Readership Institute) provides insights & tools to develop that connection © Readership Institute

Measuring Readership

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RI measured readers’ usage of their newspaper on weekdays and weekends

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Readership is:

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Time spent

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Frequency

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Completeness

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RI rolled those dimensions into a single Reader Behavior Score (RBS) for each consumer © Readership Institute

Measuring Readership, cont.

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Newspapers can easily add RBS to their current reader survey measures

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Follow RI standards

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(See paper at www.readership.org

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Track the success of content, service and brand initiatives

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Compare your newspaper to industry norms, similar markets etc.

© Readership Institute

4 Cornerstones and Imperatives

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The Impact study yielded “Eight Imperatives” for growing readership

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Each imperative fits into one of the “4 Cornerstones” of readership growth © Readership Institute

4 Cornerstones of Readership

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Newspapers have tremendous opportunities to grow readership through improvements in the 4 cornerstones of: - Content - Brand - Service - Culture

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4 are linked to each other

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4 must be tackled together © Readership Institute

Readership Growth 4 Cornerstones

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Content

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9 types of content grow readership So does a particular kind of local news Content that is “easy to read” & navigable Content that is promoted Advertising content Service excellence Brand relevance Constructive culture © Readership Institute

The Four Cornerstones of Readership

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Content

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Service

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Brand

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Culture © Readership Institute

Content That Grows RBS

Topics with greatest potential to grow readership 1. News about ordinary people, community announcement, obituaries 2. Health, home, food, fashion & travel 3. Politics, government, international 4. Natural disasters & accidents 5. Movies, TV & weather 6. Business and personal finance 7. Science, technology, environment 8. Police & crime 9. Sports © Readership Institute

Topic

Content & Increased Satisfaction

Characteristics News about community & ordinary people Health, home, food, fashion & travel Politics, government & war

• Quantity • Point of view • Quantity • • • • • Feature-style stories • “Go & do” information Quantity Stand-alone opinion section Color photos Feature-style stories

© Readership Institute

Content & Increased Satisfaction

Topic Characteristics Natural disasters & accidents

• Fewer photographs • Fewer stories overall

Movies, TV & weather

• Shorter, less complex

Business & Personal Finance

• • Commentary, criticism, advice Quantity

© Readership Institute

Content & Increased Satisfaction

Topic Characteristics Science, technology & environment Police & crime Sports

• Quantity • International focus • Longer, more complex • Feature-style stories • More local focus, fewer national events • Fewer photographs • Fewer stories overall • Feature-style stories • Commentary, criticism and advice

© Readership Institute

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Post 9-11

Within the 9 topics, these three have the greatest potential: 1. News about ordinary people, obits and community announcements 2. Health, home, food, fashion & travel 3. Politics, government, international

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They embody a mix of hard & soft news that readers seek

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#1 and #3 are what made newspapers post 9-11 special Interest in foreign news has always been present – as long as newspapers made it relevant © Readership Institute

Post 9-11

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Hard-hitting, moving stories about ordinary people made newspapers come alive

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Unfortunately, those reports are disappearing, replaced by “institutional” stories

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There is renewed emphasis by consumers on family, home, “nesting” and health

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These types of stories are important to growing readership © Readership Institute

About Obituaries

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RI identified many common practices among newspapers with high satisfaction ratings

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Full report at: www.readership.org

© Readership Institute

Change Writing Style

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It isn’t enough to have the right story topics

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Many readers are turned off by the inverted pyramid writing style that is used in 70% of your paper’s stories © Readership Institute

What Are Some Writing Styles That Work?

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Feature-style

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Beginning, middle, end

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Characters tell the story

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Engages, connects

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Commentary

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Author’s voice

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(Reviews, columns, first-person) © Readership Institute

Create an ‘Easy to Read’ Newspaper

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“Easy to read” means:

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The newspaper is relaxing to read (This does not mean brain candy)

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“It’s easy to find what I’m looking for” © Readership Institute

‘Easy to Read’, cont.

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More “go-and-do” information

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More stories about health, home, fashion, food

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More feature-style stories

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More in-paper content promotion © Readership Institute

Advertising Content

Better ad content drives overall newspaper readership Required Actions:

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Learn which ads drive your readership

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Get those ads

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Make readership a responsibility of the ad department © Readership Institute

Advertising Content

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Ad content has the third-highest potential to grow readership

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It is even more significant for

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Readers under 35

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Hispanics & African-Americans © Readership Institute

Example: A Strategy Targeting Young Women (25-34)

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Get more ads that appeal to them

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Special pricing

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Ads should be exemplary

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Best location

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Active promotion of the ads

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Make advertising, marketing, & news responsible for coordinating efforts © Readership Institute

In-paper Content Promotion

Create an aggressive plan for in paper content promotion Required Actions:

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Concentrate first on upcoming content; then same-day content

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Make one person accountable © Readership Institute

9 Types of Readers

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Heavy

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Skimmer

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Selective

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Sunday heavy

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Light

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Sunday heavy only

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Weekday only

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Sunday light

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Nonreader © Readership Institute

6 4 2 0 12 10

Average Daily In-Paper Promotion

Focus on these & in this order #2 #1 8 General Same-day Content Upcoming Content Website © Readership Institute

© Readership Institute

Execution

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In winter 2002 check the Readership Institute website www.readership.org

for a preliminary report on what works © Readership Institute

The Four Cornerstones of Readership

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Content

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Service

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Brand

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Culture © Readership Institute

The Service Cornerstone

Newspapers that deliver what their customers consider service excellence have higher RBS, but the bar is very high © Readership Institute

6 Service Factors that Drive RBS

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Condition/completeness of delivered paper Quality of paper, ink, type size When, how paper is delivered Accuracy of bill Cost of home delivery Overall customer service © Readership Institute

Achieve Service Excellence

5 4 3 Over-the-top service yields big rewards 2 1 1 2 Industry average 4.25

3 Service 4 5 © Readership Institute

For Further Study

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Close link between service and content

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Older readers more susceptible to service issues than younger readers

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“Bare bones” vs. innovative model Importance of excellent service recovery

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Importance of publisher’s role and attitude © Readership Institute

The Four Cornerstones of Readership

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Content

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Service

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Brand

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Culture © Readership Institute

The Brand Cornerstone

Develop a strong newspaper brand

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Drives RBS as much as content Brand is a strong, positive image that is relevant to the reader Required Actions:

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Understand & define your brand

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Enhance and strengthen it © Readership Institute

Readership Brand Model

Content: News & Adv.

Relevance Brand Perception Service Excellence © Readership Institute

Some Key Brand Ideas

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Build a brand in the minds of your readers that:

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Is based on a few strong, positive and relevant characteristics

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Differentiates your newspaper from the competition

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In RI sample we found only six newspapers that have a strong brand

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Brand isn’t a paper’s tag line or flag

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Brand Perceptions that Drive RBS

Intelligent, successful & experienced Honest/Helpful Informed/In the know Community leader & has personality Reflects my beliefs Cares about me Middle Class/Neighborly Fun/Creative Energetic Makes me think Belonging/Fulfillment

The Four Cornerstones of Readership

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Content

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Service

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Brand

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The Culture Cornerstone

To grow RBS: Tear down defensive culture and replace it with a constructive one Required Action:

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Begin to grow readership as a sustained initiative Promote those who will lead initiative & involve staff cross departmentally © Readership Institute

Who Are Newspapers Like?

Constructive vs. Defensive

Adaptive Group achievers Collaborative Outward-looking Not a sin to fail Change-resistant Individual gain Insular Internal focus Don’t fail

Culture by Newspaper Departments Department Over-all Culture Primary style Secondary style Advertising

Perfectionistic Conventional

Marketing Circulation News Editorial

Passive/ Defensive Passive/ Defensive Aggressive/ Defensive Aggressive/ Defensive Avoidance Perfectionistic Oppositional Perfectionistic Perfectionistic Oppositional

Top Execs

Constructive Humanistic Achievement

Defensive Cultures

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Departments work separately in silos

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There’s little teamwork or cooperation within or between disciplines

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Constructive Cultures

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Departments and individuals are achievement-oriented

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“We work together (across silos) for the good of the paper”

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A more satisfied staff

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Moving to a Constructive Culture

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It’s a leadership issue

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Leaders must model, encourage and reward these styles

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Requires leaders to step outside the current culture

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See clearly what must change

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Assess whether the right people are in right place to do it

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How to Implement

Action Step #1

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Measure and use readership to grow it and to serve your customers

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RBS is the key measure of how readers behave

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It is what advertisers need

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Major competitors use:

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Eyeballs/Ears/Minds/Wallets Teach advertisers that RBS/readership is a better measure than eyes or ears © Readership Institute

Action Step #2

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Build the 4 cornerstones urgently and now

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Other media are still fragmenting, but that will change soon

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Action Step #3

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Use readership in every department

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It’s a cause all departments can rally around

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Puts the focus on externals (the customer) instead of internal issues

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Share the goals openly

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Encourage discussion

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Enlist as many staff as you can in the action plan

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Action Step #4

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Promote people who are committed to readership

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Tie goals & rewards to readership

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Devise rewards that matter to employees

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Make a big deal about readership successes

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Action Step #5

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Everyone in the newspaper must take personal responsibility for growing RBS

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All the way from the publisher and editor … to the person who answers the phones

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Action Step #6

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Provide the leadership & the will

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