Having interviewed dozens of publishers, editors and other news industry professionals for more than 20 Revenue Roundup articles I’ve written for Editor & Publisher, I’ve discovered generating revenues remains a constant challenge. Some news outlets are reinventing special sections and editions, a traditional segment of most newspapers, to attract more readers and new and loyal advertisers. Here are four examples that publications and news outlets can adopt.
A souvenir wedding edition from the heart of Kansas
David and Connie Powls own The Holton Recorder and Jackson County Shopper in a primarily agricultural community with a population of 13,300 in northeastern Kansas. For their daughter’s wedding, they printed a souvenir edition for the couple to share with guests to commemorate the wedding.
“I asked our printer to change the four plates on the front page of one of our 12-page newspaper editions and run just 200 copies. The new front page featured a photo of Justine, our daughter, and Cameron, her fiancé, and a headline announcing their wedding and brief details at the bottom. The remaining 11 pages were that week’s regular content. They can look at it in 50 years and see what happened in their community when they were married,” Powls said.
The printer charged $45 for all the work. Powls thinks any newspaper duplicating this idea could market it to families as a novel gift to a bride and groom and charge five times as much. He has shared this special edition concept with Kansas Press Association members and other publishers in the state, and they are interested in marketing it in their communities.
Powls is also pursuing the opportunity to sell advertising in these souvenir wedding editions to wedding-oriented businesses, such as florists, caterers and others who are not regular advertisers. Creating a digital version could also interest wedding couples, many of whom are digital natives and would share it with family and friends who couldn’t attend their wedding.
Special sections have been successful for The Holton Recorder for many years, especially in a small, close-knit community. It publishes an annual conservation section to honor county soil conservation winners, a big county fair results section with more than 100 photos of 4-H ribbon winners and sports team photo sections during the school year.
“We publish our ‘Meet The People’ special section as a progress edition every few years. It features group photos of people where they work with short histories of the businesses. It’s a very popular section. In a community our size, people like to know where everyone works,” Powls said.
Deseret News finds new revenues in a new print product
Despite the many reports and trends about the loss of revenue from print editions, the Deseret News has quickly proven there are still “revenues in ink” with its Deseret News Digest. It is a tabloid publication of 24 or more pages and was first published in September 2023. The content was previously published in Deseret News’ print editions and online platform. It is distributed via mail to a rotation of ZIP codes of 110,000 households in three Salt Lake City-area counties.
“We designed the product to look different, so people didn’t think they were receiving the Deseret News but something different. Utah is one of the fastest-growing states, and the Deseret News Digest was an opportunity to introduce our product to new residents,” Burke Olsen, publisher, said.
According to Olsen, The Digest is an opportunity to engage with more residents, whetting their appetite to subscribe to its print products and email newsletter, download its app and visit the Deseret News website. The Digest was also launched to attract new advertisers; many have been advertising from the first edition.
“Utah is the home of companies that want to reach a national audience. Beginning 12 to 15 years ago, it's been hard for us to maintain and build relationships with national advertisers with the decline in print revenues. With the Digest, however, not only have we contacted national advertisers, but they’ve contacted us, requesting ad pricing,” Olsen said.
Olsen said they didn't require a new staff since the content is repurposed stories, and its in-house designers can create the pages. More costs were saved when it was decided to insert The Digest into Deseret News’ Hometown Values publication, the state’s largest print product sent to 560,000 homes monthly. The Digest model is also very flexible. If less advertising is purchased for any edition, fewer pages are printed.
“My counsel to any of my fellow publishers is to look at what we’ve accomplished with the News Digest. If the model works for you, then jump into it. We’re all interested in bringing in all the revenue we can to fulfill our mission to our readers and society,” Olsen said.
A comprehensive special edition strategy boosts The AFRO’s mission and bottom line.
For more than 130 years, the AFRO has been the trusted voice of the Black community in Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and throughout the nation. It produces and organizes many events and special editions and promotes them to residents, organizations and advertisers with an annual calendar of all the AFRO’s planned initiatives.
According to Lenora Howze, executive director, AFRO News developed a comprehensive special editions strategy several years ago, with the overarching theme of “We’re Still Here.”
“The theme serves two purposes. Despite all the challenges and troubles we have faced, we, as the press — the Black press, more specifically — have overcome those challenges without ever missing a publication. The other purpose was to tell everyone who didn’t know, or perhaps forgot, that the AFRO was still publishing. August 2024 will mark our 132nd year,” Howze said.
The AFRO’s calendar of special events for the next year is presented during an informal breakfast meeting with ad agencies, ad buyers and media buyers in September or October so they have plenty of time to include buys in their first-of-the-year budgeting.
Howze added that each month’s special edition is published the third week of the month. The entire print and digital editions of the newspaper are devoted to the theme. This year’s themes honor Black history and heritage and offer practical advice for individuals and households.
“Dedicating an entire edition to the month’s theme helps advertisers and sponsors create ads that support the special edition theme. We also offer advertisers various packages that include one or more special editions, which gives them exposure on all our platforms. Typically, our ad count and revenues double for each special edition,” Howze said.
The third component of the AFRO’s special edition strategy is that the entire team — not just advertising and editorial — participate in the planning session. Howze said great ideas have come from staff in other departments, such as billing and circulation, by sharing what people are talking about in their circles.
TribLive’s hyper-local special editions are promotional winners for small businesses.
Like most large cities, Pittsburgh is a patchwork of communities with unique lifestyles, heritages, events and local businesses with individual stories to tell. To tell those stories and the news of the day, Trib Total Media takes a hyper-focused approach, publishing two editions of the daily Tribune-Review and a weekly and monthly portfolio of community newspapers.
“Our newspapers are the strength of their respective communities. Some have been published for 80 or more years. Our readers appreciate that we use these publications to highlight the businesses, individuals and organizations that make their communities great,” Al DiCroce, director of advertising, said.
This hyper-local approach also applies to special sections and other editions. Trib Total Media often divides its footprint into regions, giving even the smallest local businesses exposure to their specific markets.
Like many publishers, TribLIVE conducts an annual Best of the Best competition. However, instead of just one big promotion, TribLIVE hosts four smaller contests across its footprint.
“By regionalizing our sections, we allow a business to hyper-target the markets that will generate the greatest return on investment. The coupon book is a great example — it has been a consistent product for five years. We continue to see strong revenue and reader response,” DiCroce said.
The Trib also produces community-specific sections and event guides, such as the Norwin Community Picnic Guide, which are available as tabs in select weekly or monthly publications.
DiCroce added that Trib Total Media’s special community editions provide local advertisers with a cost-effective platform that includes design, printing and mailing. He estimates a half-page ad in a community guide or other special edition costs a local business $300 and is delivered to an average of 10,000 households — for approximately three cents per household.
“My advice to other publishers is to create and distribute meaningful special sections that are always focused on how to benefit readers, the people in the community and local businesses. If that’s the focus, then it will be a win,” DiCroce added.
Bob Sillick has held many senior positions and served a myriad of clients during his 47 years in marketing and advertising. He has been a freelance/contract content researcher, writer, editor and manager since 2010. He can be reached at bobsillick@gmail.com.
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