Marketing Ideas for Newspapers

Businesses frequently turn to newspapers to market and advertise their offerings because of the medium’s ability to reach large numbers of people on a regular basis. But newspapers also have marketing needs to promote their brand, boost readership and take a competitive stance in the marketplace.

 

Newspaper Kiosks

Newspaper businesses can establish kiosks in well-traveled areas like shopping malls, post offices or train stations as a marketing strategy. Kiosks can sell current copies of the newspaper, but also provide customer services, such as subscription renewals, address changes and classified ad sales. Marketing tactic can include selling branded goods including canvas bags, hats or coffee cups emblazoned with the newspaper logo.

 

Social Networking

Newspapers can use social networking to market the energy of the newsroom by creating accounts for individual reporters, photographers and editors to post story developments before the story appears in the newspaper, according to the International Newsmedia Marketing Association. Readers may become interested in not only the story and news content, but also their newfound ability to peek into the mysterious world of newspaper newsrooms to learn more about how stories are researched and handled before reaching the public. Allowing readers to post comments and questions for your newsroom employees to respond to, boosts interactivity and creates relationships between the public and your newspaper.

 

Real Readers

“Ways to Market Your Newspaper” recommends using real readers for in-house newspaper ads marketing the ways local residents use their trusted newspaper. For example, a real estate agent could be featured alongside a description of how her recent newspaper ad helped her close additional sales last month. Or, a father could be featured with his children alongside a description of how the newspaper’s event calendar helps him locate fun activities to enjoy with his family. This marketing strategy has the appeal of being real and readers may even develop the habit of examining new ads to identify familiar faces.

 

Contests and Freebies

Pairing contests with free copies of the newspaper is another useful marketing idea. Solicit current advertisers to sponsor contests for readers, providing ample recognition of their efforts in materials related to the contest, including contest guidelines printed in the newspaper and their logos featured on the contest webpage of your company site. Boost readership by soliciting essay submissions--for example, true courtship stories around Valentine’s Day or scary story submissions near Halloween--and then publishing the stories on random days to encourage people to buy newspapers. Winners can receive free subscriptions for a certain period of time.

 

Go Outside

Newspapers can market themselves by stepping outside the business world and extending a goodwill gesture to the community, with effects that resonate back to the office. For example, Kim Gordon, writing for Entrepreneur.com in an article entitled, “Fresh Ideas for Innovative Marketing,” recommends purchasing the naming rights of a community hiking trail. Other ideas might include sponsoring a park bench, local beach break or scenic viewpoint. Periodically publish a newspaper story about your “adopted” location, such as its history or ecological challenges.