Proving the Power of Newspapers and Their Websites

As part of their media buy to promote RSPs, Scotiabank advertised in newspapers and on newspaper websites during the competitive RSP season (which also happened to be during the 2010 Winter Olympics this year).  The combination of print and online helped boost spontaneous awareness of Scotiabank to 76%.  Its media agency highlighted that “marrying the two media, newspaper and online, further propelled our reach and effectively created synergy for the campaign.”

Read the full case study here.

Newspapers Looking to Profit from Record-Setting Web Traffic

Yesterday MediaWeek.com reported that traffic to newspaper websites is steadily rising, despite the fact that many newspapers are undecided on how to maximize profits from their own websites.

In the US, unique visitors to newspaper websites grew 10% from March to April, according to a Newspaper National Network study. Since the beginning of 2010, unique visitors grew by 15% in the top 25 US markets. Newspaper websites in the US are experiencing record-setting pageviews with 2 billion recorded in the month of April.

View the full MediaWeek.com article here.

In an article published last week on The Guardian’s website, newspapers must explore new ways to profit from this unbridled growth. It was explained that newspapers need to find a way to keep their two traditional streams of revenue open - advertising and cover price - and explore other revenue-generating online activities, such as e-commerce and enterprise.

Could we see a future in which readers subscribe to their newspaper’s website or access individual articles through a system like iTunes?

Read the full Guardian article here.

Canadian Tourism Commission Calls Upon Olympians

Our Olympic athletes will be helping the CTC to encourage tourism across Canada and help stimulate the economy this year. In an article published Friday in Marketer News, the CTC has explained the third leg of its Locals Know campaign will feature Canadian Olympic athletes, as well as other Canadian celebrities, sharing the local destinations they enjoy most.

The 39-video series features Alex Bilodeau, Joannie Rochette and Scott Moir, among others. There are also videos featuring several non-Olympic Canadians, including Glee’s Cory Monteith, Chef Michael Smith, and singer Keshia Chante.

After viewing the videos, Canadians have the opportunity to vote for their favourite “Gold Medal Getaway” for a chance to win a round-trip WestJet flight to any Canadian city.

The CTC has announced they plan to spend $10 million in 2010 to support the tourism industry. We hope a portion of that media buy will go to community newspapers across the country in support of the Locals Know marketing campaign; however last year its agency of record DDB made a diverse media buy that included national magazines, television, radio and print.

View the full article here.

View the Locals Know “Gold Medal Getaways” video series here.

Technology linking print and online editions

Whether your paper is published in Northern BC or in the Metro Vancouver area – we all look for ways to integrate our online and print editions. Beginning today, the Montreal Gazette will implement a simple solution to this dilemma. A new technology developed by Canadian-based Cmore Media allows readers of print editions to text a short code which in turn provides him/her additional content related to the print article or advertisement, for free.

Not only is this service is beneficial to newspaper consumers, with all the extra content, but publishers and advertisers are also provided with instantaneous and previously inaccessible data. Publishers discover which stories interest their readers while serves as a tool to further engage readers, giving marketers more reason to invest.

This program will further be piloted with the Calgary Herald later this month. It will then be determined whether enough readers will take the extra steps of texting in and clicking a link for more content.

For a full article on this topic click HERE.

A Simple Guide to Writing Great Newspaper Classified Advertisements

A good part of the work we do with the BC and Yukon Community Newspapers Association deals with community classifieds. Many businesses, people and community newspapers contact us looking to place classified advertisements across BC and Canada.

Reaching up to 11-million people throughout the country, it is important the ad is concise and strong. Most effective placements are truly great business-building tools that can be used to generate multiple leads for businesses. We wanted to give a few tips on writing great classified ads.

Remember you will be up against competitors, so the headline must grab attention immediately. Use a benefit written headline – This alone is the key to creating effective classified advertising. Some examples are:

HOW TO . . .
ARE YOU . . .
WARNING! DON’T . . .
DISCOVER . . .
FREE REPORT REVEALS . . .
INTRODUCING . . .

Also, one of the best ways to create a winning ad is by using the two-step method. The two-step method means the prospect must respond to your classified ad to get more info.

Think about the following:

What do you think could be so enticing that people would be moved to contact you? What could have so much power, that your prospects eagerly anticipate receiving it? What costs you almost nothing to produce? What could literally transform your business - irrespective of the business you’re in . . . A Free Special Report.

The special report can be on any subject to do with your service. For example, it could be a report on “31 Common Mistakes…” or “7 Secrets…” or a “How To…” report. It is really that simple. The great news is, as long as your report is focused on your service, your *BEST* prospects will request it. The letter or brochure you distribute does all the selling for the product.

The four basic secrets for writing lead generating classified ads:

1. Start with a short POWERFUL headline.
Like any form of advertising you should always (and I mean always) start your classified ad with a strong headline. Never, ever start with your company name. Classified ads lend themselves to shorter headlines due to the restrictions in space, but test longer headlines.

2. Give people a reason to call now.
Offer something FREE. It could be a FREE consultation, free no obligation meeting, free estimate or free Special Report.

3. Include your contact information.
Telephone numbers work best. But whatever method(s) of contact you use tell the reader what to do. For example: “Call now.” “Write to me at…” “Ring now for our free guide…” etc. This is known as your ‘call to action.’

4. Use short sentences that make sense.
Get to the point quickly. Keep your sentences short, and don’t use unusual words, abbreviations, acronyms, and punctuation marks.

You’ll be surprised at the response you get when you apply these four simple basics to your classified ads. If you would like more information about booking a classified ad check out our website with more information: http://www.bccommunitynews.com/files/place_classifieds.html.

Third party election advertising isn’t dead yet

The controversial B.C. ”gag law” restricting third-party spending on political advertising during provincial elections, which has been dubbed as a threat to free speech, is not dead yet.

Attorney-General Mike de Jong has announced the government will appeal the BC Supreme Court decision last spring that struck down limits on third party advertising before the four week election period begins.

Law Dates Back to 1995
B.C.’s spending limits legislation dates from 1995, but was challenged successfully by the publisher of the Vancouver Sun and Province newspapers.

The B.C. Liberal government then amended the law in May 2008.

Elections BC rules define election advertising to include messages that take a position on an issue that is associated with a candidate or registered political party.

The rules, however, exclude messages sent directly to members of the ad sponsor’s group, employees or shareholders, and personal political views sent by individuals on a non-commercial basis, including text messages, phone calls and the internet.

The future of newspaper advertising?

Curve Communications, a Vancouver based communications firm, recently posted an interesting blog about new technology jointly developed by French company “Total Immersion” and the Australian firm “Dreamscape.” With hopes to revolutionize newspaper advertising, this latest tech advancement called Papermotion appears as an ordinary newspaper ad, however, it comes to life in 3-D when held in front of a webcam.

Will this anomaly of advertising change community advertising? The technology itself is fairly interesting, yet, its use in the medium of newsprint advertising may not necessarily work. If readers require a webcam to trigger content and have to personally hold the newspaper against the camera, it might be that this type of advertising proves too bothersome to be an industry success, not to mention that additional software that must be downloaded to view the ad. Yes, it may be a lot of work to view the ad but the outcome is quite interesting.

To read more about Papermotion and to view the video click HERE.