Willmar (MN) streamlines their holiday efforts and generates more than $50k in new revenue
The Challenge
Last year, the staff of The West Central Tribune in Willmar, MN, created one holiday section. Due to an overwhelming response from readers and advertisers, the newspaper staff was tasked with creating more than one holiday section for the 2004 holiday season. How could they create multiple sections, double their revenue from last year and keep their sales staff from becoming overloaded with packages and programs? During a planning session led by The Blinder Group, the staff of The West Central Tribune decided to streamline their holiday sales efforts and still increase the sales of their holiday product.
Program Overview
HolidayGifts.com incorporated both print and online components. The print portion featured three different tab sections that ran during the holiday season. Each section contained gift-giving ideas for readers as well as advertising. Ad copy could be changed for each of the three publications.
All ads sold into the print products also appeared online as part of a new "HolidayGifts.com" Web site. The ads were linked from three separate text listings within predetermined online shopping categories on the site (i.e. "Gifts for Her", " Gifts for Him"). These listings featured the name of the advertiser as well as a compelling "value statement" as gleaned from the newspaper ad copy. These listings acted as links that opened up to an online version of the advertiser's newspaper ad, appearing in a separate "browser" window. These windows also featured links to the advertiser's Web site as well as a link for instant e-mail. Online items changed when the print items changed. The Web site was live for the entire holiday season.
Sales Strategy
Immediacy was a key selling factor with positions being locked in on a "first come/first serve" basis. The advertiser's position within each category was determined by time of commitment to the program. In the center of the online page, there were larger advertising displays with photos of merchandise. These positions were available to all premium advertisers (front page, back page, etc.) in the print product. On the site's "right rail", there were smaller boxes with photos of merchandise. These went to the full and half page advertisers.
The Blinder Group created a one-page sales sheet for the program and returned to market to help close business. All ads sold appeared in all three print sections as well as online for the entire holiday season. The sales team was able to close their entire holiday business with just one sales call!
Results
The West Central Tribune generated $35,000 in just three days of selling with The Blinder Group-- 25%-30% of this revenue was new dollars. "We had several sales folks that were skeptical of selling the multimedia program to advertisers," said Jan Queenan, advertising director. "However, with the help of The Blinder Group, we were able to create a program that made true believers out of my sales team! Not only did we have fun selling while the Blinder Group was in town, but we were able to continue selling even after they left." The staff generated an additional $16,000 after the Blinder Group left the market. A total of 59 advertisers are participating in the program this year. The staff of the West Central Tribune more than doubled their holiday advertising revenue from last year!
Contact Information
The West Central Tribune is a daily newspaper located in Willmar, Minnesota.
For more information about the sales strategy of this program, contact:
Jan Queenan, advertising director
(320) 235-1150
janq@wctrib.com
Lead Consultant for The Blinder Group:
Mike Blinder
(917) 865-4827
mike@blindergroup.com
The Blinder Group
Tampa Offices: 6139 Fjord Way
New Port Richey, FL 34652 USA
(727) 847-2464 ~ (727) 847-5959 (fax)
profit@blindergroup.com
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