The Lexington Way “Every Home, Every Day, Every Way!” Aaron J. Kotarek Vice President, Audience Development Herald-Leader Media Lexington, Kentucky New England Association of Circulation Executives Fall Conference Northampton, Massachusetts November 6, 2014
The Marketplace: Lexington & Eastern/Central Kentucky
Daily Circulation: 84,602 Sunday Circulation: 108,471 Distribute to two-thirds of the Commonwealth of Kentucky (72 counties) 2012: Fastest growing newspaper in Kentucky, print & online, and 13 th fastest Nationwide
Lexington DMA Lexington, KY DMA Map Lexington, KY Market Facts Population: 984,000 • Vibrant, Dynamic, and Affluent Market � Lexington population has grown over 13.5% to over 300,000 since 2000 � Scott County is the fastest growing county in KY � 2 nd largest city in KY and 63 rd largest in US � 41% of Fayette County residents have earned a Bachelor’s Degree or higher � Consistently ranked as one of the top places to live in the United States � The Bluegrass Region is a greater than $20 billion economy marked by consistent, sustainable growth • We Own The Market: � Top website in the State (KY.com) � Top Ad buy in the DMA � Connect with 500,000 print and online readers per week � 3 time Pulitzer prize winning property � Strong brand identity within the communities we serve � No need to highly discount our products and services
H-L Products and Services
Digital Platforms & Social Media • Kentucky.com • Facebook – Top website in the State – Over 57,000 main page likes! – According to Hitwise we have had the top share of – 5 Facebook pages all new sites in KY 16 of last • Twitter 18 months – Over 35 H-L accounts • Reach 500,000 adults per (News) with over 100K week (print/digital) followers • 13-14MM page views per • H-L You Tube Channel month – Over 1,000 videos • H-L Mobile Applications – Over 50% of our traffic comes through tablet & smartphone
24/7 Audience Connecting with and influencing today’s modern consumer occurs throughout the day. Our products engage when called upon – they do not interrupt. *
What’s Your Niche?
Successful Top-Line Revenue Strategies Be CONSISTENT and PERSISTENT 1. Selectively Raise Renewal Pricing • Segmented and Based on Propensity to Pay by Household & Elasticity • Rank Households Using CLV Tool (Quantify a Subscribers VALUE) • Implement VARIABLE grace by HH based on tenure, payment history, FOD, demographics, rate, etc. 2. Focus on Retention of CORE Subs and Customer Engagement: Wiser Investment Than $60 Acquisition CPO’s • Implement Aggressive Stop-Saving Measures 3. Raise Sales-Acquisition Expectations: Higher Quality Orders at a Lower Cost 4. Initiate “Activation Fees” for New Starts and Perm Stop Restarts 5. More/Strategic Placement of Local News On A1 and Sports • Local News is our FRANCHISE • Relevant and Differentiated News That Cannot Be Found Elsewhere 6. Further Engage/Monetize Customers With E-Mails/Social-Media 7. Actively Market Digital Subscriptions • Educate Consumers on Benefits of Digital Suite at EVERY Point of Contact 8. Develop NEW Print Products to Grow Preprint Revenues
Premium Content Days • Value Proposition: Enhanced, Local, Relevant, and Differentiated CONTENT • Execute 9 days throughout year • $1--$3 charge per HD subscriber • Sunday Single Copy Pricing ($2.00) • Generates over $750K Annually
Early Sunday Single Copy Edition
1. Remind subscriber that FULL RATE for their particular subscription package is $XX.XX and they are receiving a discount of $XX.XX by paying their current rate of $XX.XX 2. Promote value of the newspaper: 1. www.Kentucky.com 2. The Herald-Leader e-edition (a digital replica of the newspaper) 3. The Herald-Leader Smartphone applications such as iPhone and Android as well as our m.kentucky.com mobile site. 4. The Herald-Leader iPad application 5. Hundreds of dollars in potential savings through the Reader Rewards Club Extra 6. Award winning UK athletics coverage by John Clay, Jerry Tipton, Mark Story & H-L photo staff 7. Three-time Pulitzer prize winning journalism as well as award winning Public Service and Investigative reporting 8. Special sections such as: Uniquely Kentucky, Readers Choice and UK sports previews 9. Over $11,000 in advertising circulars and coupon savings in 2013 3. Offer our Reader Rewards Card , $9.99 value, with 44 offers that are reusable for continuous savings (see attached list). 4. Offer a $10 gift card ; choice of gasoline, grocery or movie tickets 1. Shell Gasoline 2. Kroger 3. Regal Theaters 5. Offer both reader rewards card plus $10 gift card 6. Negotiate a “slight” rate concession with the intention of garnering an incremental increase from subscribers previous rate: 1. Locate both rates on your Mather Rate Sheet 2. First offer a rate in between the two rates. This offer is based on a discount the subscriber is eligible for – this will be discussed during training. For example, Customer’s previous rate was $3.00 per week and now is charged $3.40 per week. Offer $3.20 per week 3. If that doesn’t work, Revert to previous weekly rate 4. Last offer is – if possible, drop rate by $0.10--$0.50 cents per week 7. If customer still states they want to stop, offer to downgrade their subscription package to a Weekend, Sunday Only or Digital Only package.
“Get Them In The Door Approach ” New Subs: Introductory Offers 52 Wk Term Widen Your Funnel Diversify Your 26 Wk Term New Start 13 Wk Term Portfolio EZ Pay Subs Stop Negotiate Rate Concession Accept Incremental Rate Adjustment
Re-Acquisition “Low-Hanging Fruit”
Open Dialogue Accessibility to Executive ABC “Always Be Closing” No Money Down Offers Admit Shortcomings Fix Problems Don’t Hide Behind Desk
Love Letter—We Miss You Re-Acquisition Campaign Valentines Day, 2014 Return Rate: 2.84% CPO: $24.00
Persistent and Aggressive Re-Acquisition Campaigns Are a Must LOW HANGING FRUIT 3-Pronged Approach: Post Card, followed by Email and Telesales
Turn the Tables on Craigslist ☺
Digital Engagement & Social Media Marketing
Daily AM Digital Engagement Email • Daily “push out” to all subscribers • Provides easy path to Digital Platforms • Touts that mornings content as well as upcoming content • Displays top Videos from the week • Engages Plus subscribers to authenticate Press + account (if they have not already done so) • Entices Print Only subs to upgrade to Plus Package
A-1 is Prime Real Estate: USE IT When Available!
Use your Social Media platforms as acquisition avenues Ardent social media users are low hanging targets for Digital Only packages This offer was placed on over 50,000 Facebook walls of residents of Lexington and surrounding counties for only $200!
Digital Engagement Spadea, March 2014 KHSAA Boys Sweet 16
Subscription Invoice Back Page Step-By-Step Activation Instructions
Consistent Activation Contests
Promote Your Digital Platforms and Encourage Dialogue
How do you get over 57,000 likes? Consistent contests enticing your readers!
Social Media Marketing is a Powerful Tool
We’re All Marketers Folks No Matter Which Department You Reside In Journo who gets it!
Educate Consumers on the Benefits and Value of Your Digital Platforms “I thought your big Digital Plus play was just a fancy name for a price increase. I was pissed at you, and in review you appear to be brilliant. I now use my iPad to read your content here in the restaurant and I used a computer from a hotel room during a recent vacation. You all really know what you’re doing….” Wayne Masterman Owner, Portofino Restaurant Lexington, Kentucky
Sacramento Bee Maria Ravera, VP/Audience Dev. mravera@sacbee.com Bee rewards subscribers who activate their Digital account $5.00 gift card
Modesto (CA) Bee Digital Engagement Rack Card
Brand Marketing & Monetization
Subscriber Appreciation Day Herald-Leader Day at the Races is Thursday, April 24, 2014! Find a FREE General Admission coupon on the front page of the 4/24 edition of the Herald-Leader and join us at Keeneland!
Special Sections & Player Photo Pages
Repackage, Reprint and Reclaim REVENUES
Push-Out Message Email, Social, ROP Promote Upcoming Content Digital Engagement Monetize “The Moment”
Special Sections, Posters, and Player Photo Pages lead to this……future readers ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺
Good Morning Big Blue Nation!
UK Students & Fans Loved These, $15 Printed on back of shirt: @HLpublicsafety #LexingtonPoliceScanner
Go BIG or Go HOME Entice readers to: Gift cards are • Subscribe nice but….. • Authenticate digital account • Consistently use Digital HOW ABOUT A Platforms CAR! • Convert to Perpetual Pay program OVER • Pay a longer term • Upgrade in service 70,000 • Like on Facebook • Follow your Twitter account ENTRIES • Opt-In to Sunday Select • Refer a Friend
Groupon More than a sales tool…..helps promote your products and services in places that are hard to reach Examples: Pandora radio, online radio station sites, etc.
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