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In our survey of classifieds managers and new media experts (you can still take the survey), we asked respondents what strategies they thought would work best for reinventing and reinvigorating newspaper classifieds.
Here’s what they thought were the most promising strategies, in order, when we asked, “If your classifieds operation is in trouble, what would you be willing to do to save it and turn things around?” (Multiple answers were accepted.) I’ve added some brief commentary to the items.
1. Shift to web-first or online-centric classifieds publishing system - 82%
There seems to be pretty strong agreement that moving to an online-centric system is a smart idea. Since print is unlikely to be a growth area again for classifieds (d’uh!), this is a no-brainer. Online, opportunities exist and are expanding.
2. Offer free classifieds for some categories - 79%
Here’s another no-brainer. Since Craigslist has decimated many categories of newspaper classifieds by offering free ads, there’s little option but to go free on some categories (and perhaps sell targeted advertising around the free classifieds in an ads-are-content model). Since 21% of our respondents didn’t choose this as a solution they’d be willing to try, I’d guess that those people are mostly in markets where Craigslist and other free online classifieds services haven’t yet hit or had significant impact.
3. Offer multimedia and video ads - 76%
Why wouldn’t you offer video ads nowadays? Yet 1/4 of our survey respondents didn’t select this option. They should consider that most people now have a device that they can use to capture video: video camera; digital camera with video capability; cell phone with video feature (pretty common these days); or even the built-in web-cam on a PC. That plus the means to post video online for free (Youtube, et al) says to me that every newspaper should be offering video ads.
4. Automate order-taking process (remove or reduce number of human customer service reps) - 74%
Well, if you’re going to offer more free ads for some categories (see above), you’re going to have to cut costs by automating. Online classifieds competitors don’t have large teams of human representatives taking ads.
5. Revamp or redesign print classifieds pages - 68%
This one strikes me as critical, yet nearly 1/3 of survey respondents did not select it as an option they’d consider. Print classifieds will continue to be a significant revenue source for a while, but obviously the numbers are sliding badly. Redesigning print classifieds to make them more relevant — by linking them intelligently to related online content (e.g., video ads) — is a must-do.
6. Develop a local classifieds network serving local websites - 66%
The idea of creating a local classifieds network serving a newspaper’s market appealed to 2/3 of our respondents. That seems to indicate that many newspapers are moving away from the old way of thinking, where a newspaper and its website operate as an island brand.
7. Standardize prices (get rid of complex pricing rules) - 58%
A bit over half of our respondents recognize that the newspaper industry’s predilection toward complex and ever-changing classifieds pricing is a problem.
8. Lower prices for ads - 55%
The flip side of this is that 13% said they’d raise prices for ads as a way to improve their financial positions.
9. Share your ads with other websites - 55%
Here at ReinventingClassifieds.com, we’re fond of this idea. The media environment today is highly fragmented, so we think it’s a good idea to get your content (including ads) in lots of places external from your print edition and website. A little over half of our respondents appear to agree.
10. Share revenues with others who publish your ads - 50%
This idea is linked to No. 9 above. If you want others to run your ads, you’ll have the most success if you give them financial incentive to do so. Only half of our respondents thought this was worth considering.
11. Partner with an online competitor (Yahoo Jobs, etc.) - 47%
This finding is a bit surprising, considering the success that Yahoo! has had bringing publishers into its Newspaper Consortium.
12. Create local buying/selling service (warehouse merchandise for sellers) - 42%
This is one of the more innovative and unusual ideas floating around in the newspaper classifieds sphere. It has surprisingly strong support for something so seemingly outside the norm of newspaper operations.
13. Replace your classifieds publishing system - 42%
That’s a bit of a surprise. The majority of publishers appear to think that their existing classifieds publishing system can take them through to the future.
14. Share your ads with competing publishers - 37%
Hmmm. When we asked if respondents would be willing to share ads on other websites, 55% said they would. But only 37% took the extra step and said they’d also share ads (presumably in a financially beneficial arrangement) with competing publishers.
We also allowed survey respondents to include other solutions that they’d be willing to try:
- Corporate decision would be needed on some of the above.
- Create print-online combination sale strategy.
- It’s not in trouble but always looking for revenue generating new ideas.
- Let advertisers target promotion to users based on social data, such as tags, that relate to other types of user generated content.
- Partner with the REALTOR community.
- Put classifieds into the context of a larger online community experience.
- Sell it better, not just take orders.
- We are already doing a lot of these.
- We have some of the listed available now, basically the ones that I checked. Some of the items sound like a good idea and would be worth looking into.
If you haven’t already, please do take a few minutes to take this survey. I’ve presented some preliminary results, because I know that some of you have been waiting to see them. But more responses will make this exercise more valuable. Thanks!
Tags: solutions
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