Retaining Readers and Attracting Ads in the Digital Age

Attract and retain readers

With the popularity of social media and digital media platforms, readers can seek information from a variety of sources, they turn to reading news on these platforms instead of reading on newspapers. This poses a challenge for traditional newspapers in attracting and retaining their readers.

Experts say that in the future, traditional newspapers will have to adapt to the changing media landscape and find ways to provide high-quality content. Publishers and newspapers may look to use social media and digital platforms to reach new audiences and retain their existing ones.

Around the world , many news organizations say their focus is on the “value of journalism”. A recent study by the International News Media Association (INMA) found that most news organizations (72%) have begun to develop products that emphasize the importance and value of journalism. Spain’s La Vanguardia newspaper highlights the slogan “truth is the first casualty of war” when attracting paying subscribers. Vox Media emphasizes its mission of empowering information. The Guardian affirms its independent and fearless journalism - offering high-value packages to retain users.

Mr. Le Quoc Minh - Member of the Party Central Committee, Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan Newspaper, Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Department, President of the Vietnam Journalists Association presented a speech at a Conference held in mid-April 2023. (Photo: Son Hai)

“People who pay for subscriptions spend more over time and are less likely to cancel,” advises the CEO of the New York Times, a model that has been a huge success in attracting subscribers. They expect to reach $800 million in revenue on digital platforms in the near future.

Discussing the issue of product orientation, Mr. Le Quoc Minh - Member of the Party Central Committee, Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan Newspaper, Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Department, Chairman of the Vietnam Journalists Association commented that press agencies in Vietnam still continuously produce news, articles, photos, and reports as they have done for many years, while there are very few new products. In the world, many newspapers have focused on creating new products to attract users.

"World press tends to follow explanatory journalism and constructive journalism. Nhan Dan Newspaper is also following this direction. We have created a section called "In-depth journalism" which includes in-depth articles that can be stories about characters, units, locations or products. The index shows that the number of people viewing this content is increasing and the time they spend on the newspaper page is longer," said Mr. Le Quoc Minh.

According to Mr. Minh, the press often wants to mention negative things, but the current trend is that the public wants to read more positive news. To serve and retain users, many news agencies have integrated tools with features that allow users to choose to see or delete less negative news. In the new design, Pink News has a mood control button as part of its personalization options. This LGBTQ+ magazine said that in a recent survey, about 25% of their readers expressed a desire to read only positive content. Readers can choose to turn off negative information when needed.

To compete with new media channels, many newspapers in the world and Vietnam orient their content to focus on "the value of journalism".

"News should focus on people, many news agencies are trying to emphasize human stories, looking for inspirational characters, that's the right thing to do, the problem here is the storytelling skills of journalists," said Mr. Le Quoc Minh.

The Human Journalism Network is a global network of inspiring and impactful stories. Its founders hope that sharing these stories across multiple countries and languages will create a larger reach and save money in a time when sending reporters to the field is difficult. The organization was founded in 2021, initially in Latin America, but will go global in early 2023, with content in English and Spanish, supported by the Center for Independent Journalism.

Attract advertising

Another challenge for traditional media is the competition with new media channels for advertising. Social media and digital platforms provide businesses with different ways to promote their products, and this is a way for businesses to save on advertising costs. This requires traditional media to find ways to improve their advertising services to attract businesses.

News organizations have long complained about big tech companies stealing their revenue. The end of third-party cookie support will only make matters worse. Privacy-related changes threaten to reduce revenue further in the short term, but are pushing news organizations to start collecting first-party data themselves, which could be the basis for a more sustainable future.

Nowadays, many newspapers have adopted the "premium advertising" approach and focus on special advertising programs to attract businesses.

Mr. Le Quoc Minh said that to attract advertising, many websites, even news websites, also attach a lot of Google extension and ad network codes, and the user experience when accessing that page with too many small ads, sometimes very offensive - is really a very unpleasant experience.

According to Mr. Minh, many newspapers have now adopted the “premium advertising” approach. Many news organizations are expected to follow Bloomberg News’ lead – abandoning all programmatic advertising (from January 2023) and focusing on direct advertising sales. The “reader first” approach is an acknowledgement that too many ads and poor user experiences contribute to the difficulties of newspapers by making users uncomfortable and eroding trust.

Another example of the shift to premium advertising is GE's historic move to cover all of its print and digital advertising in The New York Times with a multi-media campaign.

Many newspapers around the world have also focused on developing diverse advertising products and creating special advertising programs to attract businesses. They also use technology to improve the advertising experience for businesses and ensure the accuracy and reliability of advertising information.

The Times of India's "Times Auto Awards" promotional program is an example. It is a special promotional program for businesses in the automobile industry. It includes automobile-related awards and events. Businesses in the automobile industry can register for this program and use it to increase their market presence and promote their products and services to potential customers.

It can be seen that social media and digital media have been developing strongly in recent times, which has affected the activities of traditional press. However, traditional press still plays an important role in society, especially in providing accurate and high-quality information, while also playing the role of a supervisor and controller of power.

To exploit its advantages, traditional newspapers need to adapt to the new era by using technology and developing digital products as well as focusing on providing high-quality and unique content, exploiting their advantages in expertise and values of journalism to attract readers and advertising.

Hoa Giang

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/bao-chi-truyen-thong-giu-chan-doc-gia-va-thu-hut-quang-cao-trong-thoi-dai-so-hoa-post250941.html