5 Directory Strategies For Newspapers

As newspaper groups continue to consolidate operations and sales efforts, there are more opportunities for them to capitalize on the scalability of the internet. Newspaper web sites on their own don’t drive much traffic. In fact, as a “local” content provider their audience is limited by definition. Local audience is very valuable though. As they continue to consolidate and form groups, the collective traffic and audience that newspaper sites create can really pack a punch if they employ the right strategies.

Directory strategies in particular are an area where substantial gains can be realized if they can think beyond the $25-$99/month enhanced listing model.

While it’s true that local directory listings are easy to bundle with print and substantial revenue can be generated from monthly listing fees, there’s real value in the platform and strategy behind directories when coupled with the scalability of the internet.

An effective directory strategy  for newspaper groups should include the following:

1. A Masthead Branded Solution: Directories should be embedded within the newspaper.com site and accessible via a subdomain or sub directory rather than a separate domain. This leverages the newspapers brand and credibility, builds trust, and creates a seamless user experience. This design also results in substantial traffic and SEO gains for both the newspaper.com site and embedded directory.

2. Self-serve Sign Up  and Upgrades: As SEO drives more traffic  to the directory and profile pages there will be more opportunities to engage business owners directly online. Self-serve also facilitates partnerships with other sites. Widgets can be placed on sites to drive sign ups from chamber pages, partner sites etc.

3. Promotional Tools for Businesses: Beyond the simple SEO optimized listing, there should be a back-end dashboard which allows business owners to not only manage their listing but promote themselves online this will build engagement and encourage usage of the platform. It’s very easy these days to incorporate Twitter and Facebook syndication tools for coupons and special offers. The product should be more of a self-serve promotional tool than a listing.

4. Lead Generation: As new businesses signup and complete their profile pages, an email should be generated and sent directly to local sales teams. This will provide a pipeline of warm leads which can be turned into more dollars beyond the free listing or enhanced listing fee.

5. Search Engine-First Approach:  Rather than being concerned about how much traffic is going to the directory from the newspaper site, the focus should be on search engine traffic. A platform/strategy that generates audience directly from search engines will win. The architecture and design of the platform should be focused on increasing search traffic, not site traffic.

While sales teams remain agnostic to a directories back-end in the short run, newspaper groups are faced with a tremendous opportunity to employ the right directory strategy and platform to generate much larger audience and revenue gains in the long run.

Newspapers: The Original Location Based Service.

For over 400 years newspapers have been providing location based information and services to consumers and businesses. What other entity provides door-to-door delivery of a tangible and unique location based product every day?

While local print subscriber bases may have eroded, online traffic is still on the rise. On mobile devices, news is one of the top-three content categories consumed according to comScore. For the past few years newspapers have been struggling to come up with new business models but some are starting to gain traction by embracing LBS on mobile devices. While we’re sure to see more innovation from newspapers as the tablet war heats up, the following three location-based engagement models are helping newspapers drive new audience and revenue.

1.       Location Based Crowd Sourcing: Local newspapers are taking advantage of mobile technologies to allow community members to report live news and information. Apps like Snap Scouts on the Android, for example, allow community members to participate in crime prevention by putting them on patrol in their neighborhoods earning points for “seeing , snapping, and sending” in anonymous crime info. The Los Angeles Newspaper Group has recently launched its SoCal Prep Sports iPhone and iPad app with the goal of sourcing photos, scores and live updates from audiences at high school sporting events.

2.        Location Based Editorial: Local newspapers are sitting on a treasure chest of detailed content about their communities. When mobile users “check in” to a location as they are so fond of doing these days, local newspapers can serve up editorial content about the location, historical photos, stories and reviews will enhance the users experience.. The Metro, Canada’s leading free daily newspaper has done this by partnering with Foursquare to add their location-specific editorial content to locations on the service. There’s even a Foursquare badge that users can unlock by checking in to a single-copy location. Newspapers can augment a location by adding context to the user experience with interesting content they have in archives.

3.       Location Based Contests: The Boston Globe has teamed up with SCVNGR a sophisticated mobile scavenger hunt and check in service to launch The Boston Globe Trek. This location-based contest encourages users to explore their city and learn more about local attractions by snapping photos and scanning QR codes at various locations across the city. They’ve issued a series of theme based challenges like romance, movies, sports and tech to engage new audiences.

By leveraging their strong brands, content and local sales resources with emerging mobile technologies, newspapers are in a great position to capitalize on location based services. They are still the best source for location based information, and emerging technologies can help them stay there.

6 Steps For Selling Local Search Products To Businesses

Step 1. Choose The Right Prospects:

Search engine marketing (paying for keywords) is not for every business. With effective small business packages ranging from $150 to $2000 per month, the cost is significant for small businesses. You have to ask the ROI question when approaching a small business. How much revenue does the average sale generate? If you’re a flower shop or a dry cleaner and your average sale is $25, it’s going to take a lot more clicks to get a return on your investment. Use a 2% conversion rate to determine if an advertiser will make enough money to cover the cost of the campaign. If it costs $150 for 50 clicks ($3 per click) and you are getting a 2% conversion, each customer costs $150. It’s true that repeat business might result in future payback but prepared to explain that when selling to business owners with small ticket items. Paid local search campaigns are better suited to businesses that are selling high ticket items or service organizations such as home improvement services, legal services etc. Here’s a list of industries that tend to have a higher ROI on local search campaigns. Pick a category and go after it.

Step 2. Lead In With The Major Players:

Forget the name of your product, program or SEM company. Businesses have never heard of you. Lead in with “Google” and “Yahoo”. Remember, as an SEM salesperson,  you’ve “partnered” with these companies. Let your prospects know that first and you’ll be more likely to get the appointment. Try cold calling 10 businesses by telephone and you’ll see that there’s a genuine interest in marketing on Yahoo and Google. Most businesses may not know what “SEM” or “SEO” stands for but they use the major search engines every day.

Step 3. Print Search Results Before The Appointment:

Conduct a local search for the business you’re going to see and print out the results. Try searching for at least two keywords or phrases for the business. For example, if its a flooring company in Los Angeles, search for “carpets Los Angeles” and “tile floors Los Angeles”. It’s also good idea to run searches in surrounding cities, especially if the prospect comes up high in the organic (free) results when you run the first search. Put the printed results in a folder to take with you on the appointment.

Step 4. Prepare Sample Keywords & Geotargets:

This is a “suggested” list of keywords and geotargets (cities, areas etc.) that the client can use to start the campaign. 10 to 20 keywords and 5 cities would be ideal. The easiest way is to think of words that consumers might search for when looking for the clients products or services. There are also some on-line tools where you can pay anywhere from $269 to $599 per year to find effective keywords see Wordtracker and Keyword Discovery .  It’s a significant investment, but for the seasoned salesperson it’s well worth the cost to ensure the success of a campaign that can result in repeat business. The search engines themselves also offer free alternatives. Check out Google Suggest or Overture’s keyword selector tool (currently under construction). Once you have the list print it out and put in the same folder with the search results generated in step 3.

Step 5. The Presentation:

Don’t forget the folder! Take your time educating the client about local search. It’s helpful to show a generic search results page while explaining the difference between “Paid” or “Sponsored” results and “Organic” or “Free” results. Don’t be afraid to explain to the client that they can go directly to the search engines themselves and engage in the bidding and tracking process that your service provides. After they realize how much work and time is involved, they’ll appreciate the service your solution provides. Even if they’ll be paying $1 to $2 more per click, the hands on service and attention they receive will be well worth the investment. Lead into your search results pages (from step 3) by explaining that there could be local consumers right now searching for their products or services without knowing that the client exists. Hand the search results pages to them. You’ll find that most clients will take their time perusing the list for their competitors. After you’ve gone over your packages and pricing you can close the presentation and open the relationship with your suggested list of keywords to kick off the campaign.

Step 6. Follow Up:

Most sales executives will drop the ball here. Local search programs provide detailed reports, including keywords searched and clicks generated  on at least a monthly basis. The best programs will include customized landing pages with unique call in numbers which allow the campaign to be tracked from the click through to a call from the consumer. If these are not available you need to insist that the client track the source of incoming calls and sales. After 30 days of data you can make adjustments to the campaign, fine tuning the keywords and geotargets for better results. Effective campaigns will run for at least 90 days so you’ve got plenty of time to make adjustments if the campaign seems to be under-performing initially. If everything goes well you’ll be increasing the package at the end of the first 90 day run.

Here’s some other documents that might be helpful in your efforts to sell local search:

Nielsen Report On Local Search

Local Search Advertiser FAQ

“The Word Is Alive”