Email is Key to News Publishers Clawing Back Advertising Dollars from Social Media

Many news publishers are struggling to produce enough advertising dollars to be sustainable, with many now erecting paywalls or going the non-profit route to attempt to stay in business. However, publications would be wise to think about what advantages that they can bring to a potential advertiser that social media cannot offer. One such tool is email.

Any publisher who has stayed on top of things during the last five years should have already begun to amass email addresses of readers. Whether it be from a daily newsletter delivered to readers to requiring an email address to read the newspaper online to collecting email addresses via giveaways at local events, every news publisher in the country should have a substantial email list by now. If you do not, there is no time like the present to build one!

With such an email list, you can offer dedicated emails for advertisers to your subscribers. This is an incredibly valuable marketing tool for a business and something that social media cannot offer. In addition to the email being sent to people who have opted in to receiving the emails, the emails are being sent by a trusted third party — your publication. And they’re trackable! You can tell the client how many people opened the email and how many people clicked on it to get more information.

Dedicated emails are a great marketing tool for businesses ranging from private schools holding an open house to a new business holding a grand opening to candidates running for election. Not only do they help news publishers compete against social media, they also are a more effective marketing vehicle than mailers and can even outperform coupons.

For a publisher looking to get into this space, it is important to limit the number of dedicated emails sent per week. Here at TAPinto we limit it to only one dedicated email sent per week, so that readers are not bombarded by them, are more apt to open them, and do not unsubscribe. Realistically, a publisher can probably send 1–2 per week without suffering significant negative consequences to their subscription list.

It is also important to use an email service provider that enables the emails to be tracked so there is transparency and accountability for the advertiser. And of course, the email needs to look professional — sending out text-ony emails or emails with graphics from the 1990’s will not help your advertiser and will also not help your publishing brand.

Email can help many news publishers better compete with social media for scarce advertising dollars. Publishers who are not seriously looking at email as a revenue stream should be. Those that are using it already as a revenue stream should look to improve upon it.