Going to a really good conference for me is like getting an infusion of energy. Whenever I get a chance to attend a industry conference, my goal is to walk away from the meeting with at least one idea or kernel of knowledge that will pay for the time away from the office.
The annual conference for the Hoosier State Press Association provided me several good ideas and some great knowledge that will more than pay for the trip. Hopefully you were there and experienced the same results as me. For those that weren't able to make it, here are a couple of my take-aways that might help you too as you strive to end the year on a positive note.
Ryan Dohrn from Brainswell Media was one of the main speakers, working with advertising managers and sales reps. One of his quotes from the conference has been repeated numerous times by me since returning to the office. "If we sell traditional media in traditional ways, we will get traditional results." How you change things up depends on your market and your resources, but the reality is we have to change how we are doing business. Media outlets cannot do the same promotions this coming year that they were doing 5 years ago. Just as the businesses in small town - Main Street America have to change, media must also adapt and change.
Newspapers still remain a great option for creating brand awareness for advertisers. A business builder or frequency program where an advertiser runs a series of smaller ads on a consistent basis provides you with a much needed base of ads in the newspaper, and provides your advertiser with better awareness with consumers in the marketplace. Advertisers can growth their brand and their business by associating with the local newspaper. Growing a business's reputation by affiliating with the trusted source for local information, which in many cases is one of the oldest businesses in town, is very real and we as publishers often forget that value.
Building top of mind awareness through the newspaper is not new, but I believe it is something that many have lost track of as a valuable marketing asset to our customers. Consumers need to see a message 10 times before they act. Through newspaper frequency programs, the advertiser is building that awareness and developing an intent to buy from its customers. That awareness drives people to their store and to make purchases. It also helps with online search engines like Google. When you are searching online, you are typically not searching generic phrases. Consumers are searching what is familiar with them, so a stronger brand equals a stronger presence online. Traditional media can help digital media's performance.
Newspaper advertising still performs. Hopefully that is a statement that you know and absolutely believe, and didn't need to go to a conference to have that reaffirmed. Sabline Carbaugh is the owner and COO for Golden Web Marketing, and her article titled "5 Reasons Print Advertising Works" offers some quick hit nuggets for your next sales meeting. My personal favorite is a Penn State University study that showed that readers retain newspaper advertising better than other marketing options. This is a point that gets illustrated every year for me, the Monday after the Super Bowl. Companies spend millions of dollars on Super Bowl ads. Yet hours afterwards, only one or two of those messages are remembered and associated with the brand they are promoting.
There is plenty of negative in the world. It is important that the newspaper industry continues to find and promote the good things that are still being said about it. For me, the words of Dohrn and those that came and shared their ideas at the annual HSPA conference provided me with fuel to attack fourth quarter.
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