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Apple fires warning shot at Facebook and Google on privacy, pledges fight against “data-industrial complex” [Apple’s senior VP of software Craig Federighi] made it clear that despite Apple delaying the release of new privacy features in its mobile operating system – a decision made shortly after Facebook publicly attacked the idea – it will now roll out in early 2021 and “we’ll begin requiring all apps that want to do […]
Buzzfeed Acquires Huffpost, Announces Strategic Partnership with Verizon Media “The consolidation is the latest example of digital media brands looking to achieve scale and stability as they face intense competition from tech giants like Facebook and Google in the ad market.” How the Daily Memphian grew newsletter subscribers to more than 40,000 in fewer than two years “Here’s an idea to steal and adapt: Focusing on newsletter subscriber acquisition will […]
This week I discovered the Editor & Publisher Podcast, hosted by Mike Blinder, the new publisher of Editor & Publisher Magazine. I love listening to podcasts, but this is the first one that I have discovered (besides the Our Hometown News Podcast) that focuses specifically on the local newspaper industry. The podcast has many excellent episodes available, but one that has stood out to me as especially on-point in much […]
Last Thursday I had a great time talking with Kevin Slimp, the New Guru, about strategies for increasing print circulation (see the full recording here). Overall, Kevin focused on the importance of getting to know your readers. The “Big Idea” of the session was his recommendation that newspapers hold annual focus groups with the public to ask questions about the paper. Page by page, column by column, these focus group […]
News Corp Profits Q3, Podcast Subscriptions on Spotify, and Subscriber Retention Strategies. #1 – News Corp Stock Surges on better-than-expected quarterly profits “It is clear that the digital landscape is changing fundamentally, and the company has been an important catalyst for that change. The principle of a premium for premium content is now recognized, and there will inevitably be further developments in algorithmic transparency and the digital advertising marketing, two […]
We come across a lot of interesting articles in our research on the local news industry. Here are some of the articles we are enjoying this week: #1 – New York Times Hits 7 Million Subscribers as Digital Revenue Rises “Our strategy for journalism worth paying for continues to prove itself out,” said CEO Meredith Kopit Levin. “Digital subscriptions would not only be the central driver of the publisher’s growth, […]
Welcome to the first Virtual Office Hours with the Our Hometown Support team. https://our-hometown.com/join-us-for-office-hours-this-friday-at-1pm/ Watch the full office hour video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLYBdP_qDek See below for highlight links. Top Stories: Recap on our last Virtual Conference – Helping Local Businesses During Shutdown and Reopening Video: https://youtu.be/WLYBdP_qDek?t=40 Blog Post: https://our-hometown.com/virtual-conference-recap-helping-local-businesses-from-shutdown-to-re-opening/ Next Virtual Conference Announcement – Digital to Print Publishing with Meg Norris Video: https://youtu.be/WLYBdP_qDek?t=136 Blog Post: https://our-hometown.com/virtual-conference-digital-to-print-publishing-with-meg-norris/ What are Pending Transactions? Video: […]
Session 2 for the day. June 9 at 3pm EST “Smarter Ways to Use Email with Quizzes, Polls, Ballots, and More” Speakers: Jennifer Williams Tim D’Avis LIVE UPDATES: Email and Promotions Work Together 87% of new email opt ins come from promotions The Cycle: Run Promotions. Send Emails. Repeat. Follow-up promotions by moving your audience to the next digital action. Feature promotions and interactive content in newsletters to capture valuable […]
Second Street is running a virtual summit this week focused on the topic of email newsletters. https://summit.secondstreet.com/schedule/ See below for some of the ideas that stood out to us: Session 1 June 9 at 1pm EST “Building a Better Email Program: How to Use Newsletters to Drive Relationships and Revenue” Dan Oshinsky dan@inboxcollective.com Live notes: Why Email Works Email is a place to engage and start a 1 to 1 […]
Today we had our first public webinar and discussed some of the top digital revenue opportunities for newspapers in 2020. We covered the following topics: Predictions for 2020 (starts at 0:48) Paywalls (starts at 11:06) Increasing Subscription Revenue (starts at 18:08) Email and Newsletter Marketing (starts at 21:26) Advertising/Sponsorship Revenue (starts at 24:11) Other Revenue Streams (starts at 26:40) Watch the full webinar video below