US: Catch readers: football tickets, reporter index?

Posted by Jean Yves Chainon on March 23, 2007 at 12:33 PM

These two ideas are unrelated, but they can help to pull in readers at low cost. In its Sunday editions, The San Diego Union-Tribune offered football tickets for the playoffs. On the other side of the spectrum, USA Today included in its redesign a reporter index, which lists all reporters and offers a one-click access to their profile or all of their stories.

Between Dec. 31 and Jan.14, the Union-Tribune offered a pair of tickets to see the Chargers during the playoffs, within single-copy newspapers. Home subscribers could also get a chance to win tickets by filling out entry forms.

"The idea is to do fewer [promotions] in a bigger way," says George Bonaros, consumer marketing manager.

If your town isn’t big on football, there is certainly some kind of popular social event that people would be willing to spend a dollar on for a chance to participate – and read the paper.

Among USA Today’s new features is a user-friendly reporter index, which lists all journalists alphabetically. From the index, the user can access the reporter’s personal profile, or read all of his or her stories in one simple click.

This is an easy feature to implement and will enable fanatic readers to easily broach through their favorite columnist’s work. It’s also helpful for readers who can’t regularly read their favorite author, for them to get a quick update on the latest stories.

Source: Editor & Publisher – USA Today through cyberjournalist.net