4-Myths Keeping Publishers From Driving Digital Revenue

As a publisher, you've undoubtedly observed the dramatic evolution of media over the last 10-15 years, complete with false starts, failed promises, and the ever-present onslaught of the next shiny object. You've also witnessed Google grow to a $40B per year advertising juggernaut and print budgets tighten (on a market-by-market basis).

One of the most common traits we see with "local" in attempting to navigate this changing landscape is confirmation bias. That is, to allow a single observation to confirm that digital isn't viable, or print isn't being threatened or whatever belief keeps you from having to accept business as usual doesn't work and that innovation is required. I get it, understanding the threats and opportunities is hard - even the experts and 'big companies' have gotten it wrong for years while local publishers are limited in their ability to invest time to understand what's really going on.

Local Publishing Myths about Digital

This confirmation bias, and the situation on a whole, has led to a few common myths publishers believe about "digital" and "their market" that I'd like to take the opportunity to dispel.

1. I can't make money with digital because I've asked and local businesses don't want to buy digital - I can't even give it away
2. I can't make money with digital because XYZ competitor tries to sell digital and they're not being successful
3. I can't sell digital because local businesses don't have any more budget and selling digital would only take away from print
4. I don't have anything valuable to sell

These myths revolve around conventional wisdom - we all know where conventional wisdom leads... In '99 the dot-com hype was at a frenzied level, in 2005 home builders were building at record paces and in 2011 Groupon's success had spawned over 800 daily-deals companies - yet contrarians and pragmatists profited in the face of conventional wisdom.

The Reality of Local Digital for Publishers

It's important to note as I write the responses to each of these myth's that the responses and solutions are based on fact, first-hand experience and observation - they are NOT theoretical!

"Local Digital Ad Revenue set to hit $37.9B in 2015…Up from $23.3B in 2011" and "Online promotions were $35B in ’12 doubling by 2015 - BIA Kelsey

"The ‘average’ best-practice local media companies make 15% of digital market share.  (Some make as much as 25%.) "- Borrell Associates

I started writing an explanation about Locable's experience and it was coming across too salesy so I've removed it since this is meant to be educational - suffice it to say, publishers from all walks of life are already finding success with digital. The only common thread and prerequisite are publishers who want to grow and possesses a quality publication where quality is measured by meeting reader needs and delivering a desirable audience to advertisers. If you don't have those two things digital becomes just one of many things you need to address.

Reality 1

If you're making an effort but not selling digital it's because you're doing it wrong - this should be really good news like when your golf buddy notices you've got a hitch in your swing and fixing it makes you better immediately.

"But I can't even give it away," you say... no surprise, if digital is worth nothing to you it's worse less to advertisers so why should they waste their time on it.  Print is nice and there's something powerful about seeing your name/business/advertisement in print but people advertise to grow their business.

If your digital messaging doesn't help advertisers understand how you can help them grow their business they're not going to be interested - here's a hint: print and digital may feel like islands but effectively growing your business means building bridges to play up the strength of each medium which is the core of our Print-to-Web reader engagement strategy and our Appetizer-and-Dessert sales strategy and it's what gives legacy (aka print) publishers an unfair advantage.

Reality 2 

Aren't you lucky, if your competitor was successful you'd be in a world of hurt because then they could come after your advertisers with a diverse offering and you'd have no answer.

The funny thing is, if you had a competitor that was struggling to sell print you wouldn't say, "oh, man, people don't want to buy print!" You'd immediately assume there is something wrong with their sales approach, product, or the value they're delivering... and you'd be right.

Sure, learn from your competitors there's always insights to be had in what works and what doesn't but don't think their outcome is the only outcome.

Reality 3 

This is usually not true... people won't spend more money on the things they're ALREADY doing or which they don't understand (see point #1). Digital opportunities with local publishers are related to print but they are different the same sort of way eating dessert is related to going out to eat but it's not the same as eating an entree for dinner.

Sure, some businesses are tapped out and some markets are tough but unless you're the only advertising and promotion outlet and you have 100% of the local market share you can't begin to make this argument but even if you have those things you're still probably wrong because most people still want to grow their business and/or work less and if you give them a way to do this they will buy more.

All of that being said, if someone is going to stop advertising in print it'd be better to keep a digital-only advertiser than say goodbye.

Reality 4 

If you have a publication then you have digital value to offer. Banner ads are the obvious way to make money online but their value is tied strongly to traffic so if you don't have enough traffic to deliver much value you may feel lost but don't fret - banner ads aren't the only option, solve the problem and make money along the way. The big newspapers and magazines have enough traffic to monetize but that's also stunted their growth and most local publishers think they're simply smaller versions of 'the big guys' which is dead wrong. The emphasis should be on the geography not the medium: "local" newspaper or "community" magazine. The solution lies in leveraging your unfair advantage - readers, relationships & brands.

In Conclusion, Digital is a Fertile New Opportunity for Local Publishers

Advertisers aren't doing you a favor when they buy an ad, in print or online, you're doing them a favor by making it available and this needs to be the attitude you and your sales team has. With that, seeking ways to ad value to ensure that advertisers always get value from their spend becomes a lot more manageable.

Contact us for a free local Publisher Assessment and we'll show you exactly how digital is your best way to improve profitability over the next 30-45 days and we'll even show you what the current spend is in your county (with data by Borrell Associates).