Self-Promotion Stimulates Readership

Complacency is defined as the "self-satisfaction accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers or deficiencies." Newspapers are increasingly falling victim to this definition and are compounding the problem by not actively marketing themselves. This inactivity loses readers and advertising for the sector.

In South Africa, the print industry is comparable to the relaxed state of the radio industry prior to the advent of additional broadcasting licences.

Suddenly, the sleepy radio waves went into high alert as new players claimed slices of advertising budgets and many inactive stations began marketing themselves in a big way.

The same state of lethargy prevailed in newspapers until a relatively stable market was turned upside-down two years ago. No new titles were being launched, every so often an existing title closed down, everyone was complacent, the status quo would continue.

This all changed with the fiery Daily Sun. Here was a new title that not only ventured into an untapped market but also advertised itself directly to its target audience through billboards, television commercials, and other media rocking the newspaper industry.

Since then, three other new publications have launched - Son, This Day and Die Węreld - with varying degrees of success, or failure. Even though these publications were not all successful, they did succeed in forcing established publications to revisit their marketing efforts.

For example, Rapport increased its above-the-line marketing, combating intrusions from Die Węreld. Although there has been a small ripple effect in the industry, noted by some publications increasing their promotional efforts, there are no distinct increases in advertising efforts.

The other mistake that we are making is that we, the newspapers in South Africa, are only reacting to activities within the newspaper industry itself, when we should be just as aware of what other media types are doing. After all, we are all fighting for a slice of the media spend as well as the attention of the public.

Other media types are actively marketing their products and in the process, they are attracting more and more attention to their industry as a whole. If newspapers do not stand up and make themselves heard, our industry could be overlooked by advertisers and the public.

Once newspaper marketing departments have acknowledged the need for increased marketing efforts, they are faced with the challenge of convincing the "powers that be" that larger marketing budgets are needed. This could be tough, especially if those powers are the same people who have been content with the way things have been going for the past two decades or so. They will face the usual barrage of questions, including ones related to measurability and effectiveness.

There are no easy answers when it comes to marketing, but with a clear picture of who your market is, what their needs and wants are, you can make better choices when it comes to how and what you want to communicate to them.

During the last three years, Beeld has steadily increased its advertising spend to create higher brand awareness and will continue the trend.

Self-promotion stimulates readership, and advertisers appreciate a medium they have chosen, actively marketing and publicising itself.

Permission to reprint article from Maria Terrell, Associate Director, INMA. The International Newspaper Marketing Association (INMA) is a non-profit organization serving as the industry's premier marketing ideas association. Please visit www.inma.org for more information on membership and benefits.

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