A locally owned Florida newspaper recently revamped its special sections program for greater ad revenue and reader engagement. Here’s how the West Volusia Beacon did it:
CREATE:
When the team at Florida’s West Volusia Beacon set out to optimize their special section publication schedule, they assessed sales to determine which existing titles were performing and which were not. After removing underperforming titles from their sections program, they filled the gaps with a themed “Well Being” series, using Metro Themed Special Sections (TSS) to increase focus on their high-performing topics – health, medical and senior living – under this popular umbrella title.
SELL:
Beacon CFO and CTO Michael Jaeckle says that having a well-designed, ready-to-present cover ready for each TSS facilitated sales. He explains, “Not only did we no longer have to scramble for good content, we were able to sell pickups from one publication into the sections that publish later on in the year. Sales were easier too since we had a beautiful cover to show the clients. Since we also had the content beforehand, the clients could choose which article’s page to appear on.”
PROFIT:
The Beacon’s most recent “Well Being” edition was “Senior Life.” The successful section included 14 clients, with ads of various sizes including full-page designs. By getting a better handle on what their local audience and advertisers want from special sections and streamlining sales and production processes, the team has been able to create a more profitable and efficient program.
LEARN MORE:
To learn more about fully templated print and digital special sections from Metro, call 800.223.1600 or email service@metro-email.com.
Metro’s ready-to-present-and-sell Themed Special Section (TSS) program features 37 popular titles. Learn more about the new line up of print and digital special sections from Metro for 2023 by watching our most recent webinar which you can access from the link, as well as the 2023 Themed Special Sections schedule. We are also available by calling 800-223-1600 or emailing service@metro-email.com.
An added bonus for all of our news media partners are the educational webinars that Metro hosts — free of charge for all attendees. Here is a link to our webinars page where you can see what we have coming up, as well as the archive of past webinars.
