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Recently in an Editor & Publisher Online column, I described a couple innovative print classified initiatives from the Baltimore Sun and the St. Petersburg Times. The Sun, with its FindIt! recruitment stand-alone section introduced a few weeks ago, and the Times with its overall-classifieds BayLink section introduced last May, both took the approach of incorporating high-quality editorial content (not advertorial) in order to bring casual readers (not just ad searchers) into the sections.
At a time when newspaper classified revenues are spiraling downward, newspapers like the Sun and the Times are trying new ideas that some industry veterans might find radical. This feels less than radical to me, but I see it as a positive step in dealing with the print component of newspaper classifieds. Not all classifieds experts agree.
 Janet DeGeorge |
In fact, Janet DeGeorge, a veteran classifieds consultant who counts dozens of newspapers as clients for her strategy and training services, warns bluntly: “Keep editorial out of the classifieds.”
Her reasoning: “If you talk to sales reps, their customers do get good results if the classified section is designed the way it is supposed to be. Results are not the problem. It’s newspapers shooting themselves in the foot over and over by copying someone else’s disaster.”
DeGeorge’s big issue with adding editorial content to classifieds sections is that the advertising department typically has little control over editorial choices, which can result in placement of stories adjacent to ads where the content deals a punch in the gut to the advertiser.
For example, she says, “Rushed editors see a story on real estate and don’t consider the implication to the advertiser, and could in fact end up driving that advertiser away.
“I have seen the crime report inside the Real Estate pages (Hey readers, you don’t want to live here! Look at all this crime!). I have seen stories on fixing up your home in the New Homes section (i.e., those advertisers want you to dump your old home and buy a new one, not fix it up). At one paper, the editorial staff put a lead story in their Auto section about SUVs. The art showed a picture of an SUV all blacked out, with the letters RIP on it. All the dealers pulled out the next week.”
DeGeorge also is a big fan of stand-alone classifieds sections for the big categories (Recruitment, Real Estate, Autos), because often that’s what it takes to get an employer, Realtor, or car dealer to spend significant money. Blending these sections into the editorial sections of a print edition poses dangers. “At one paper I saw a Real Estate section stuck behind the Sunday Business section. Lead story: ‘Why now might not be a good time to buy a home,’” she says. Ouch.
Obviously, there’s a split opinion within the newspaper industry on this topic, and there’s no definitive advice for the weary newspaper classifieds strategist. (As I go about soliciting “reinvention” ideas for classifieds, making print classifieds sections more “exciting” and useful has been a theme I’m picking up.) But even if you reject DeGeorge’s no-editorial stance, her warnings should be taken seriously when incorporating editorial content into a classified section.
That should be simple enough. Train editors to be mindful of advertiser-editorial conflicts (especially if the editor is on the newsroom side rather than an Advertising employee), and select content that supports the advertiser while also serving the information needs of the reader. (Of course, that means further breaking down the old editorial-ad wall at newspapers, so at least the two sides are talking.)
I looked through several recent editions of the St. Petersburg Times’ BayLink section, which features a significant percentage of editorial content meant to draw in casual readers to the classifieds, and found little that works against the ads (unless you subscribe to DeGeorge’s point of view that editorial takes attention away from the ads). Things like a Careers column in with the employment ads, or home-related book reviews in with Real Estate ads, or a story about the best tires to improve gas mileage are generally harmless enough to advertisers while attracting the casual reader.
What do you think? Should newspaper print classifieds sections be spiced up with editorial to bring in the casual reader along with goal-specific consumers? Or should they be kept ad-only, but redesigned in more optimal ways to serve consumers and advertisers?
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