What will you do with fewer days in print?

I’d like to point my classifieds readers over to an Editor & Publisher Online column that I wrote this week: “My ‘Crisis’ Advice to Newspaper Company CEOs: 11 Points to Ponder.” While it’s a prescription for what ails the newspaper industry overall, I think it’s worth reading through a classifieds lens.

Of the 11 points, classifieds managers should find these ones most relevant: 1, 2, 5, 9, and 11.

A point I make in the column is that for many daily papers, it’s pretty much inevitable that they’ll at some point cut back on the number of days that they publish a print edition. As papers begin to trim to the point where some days’ printed papers are alarmingly thin, it makes sense to consolidate and publish fewer substantial editions — and to beef up online and mobile services for breaking news on those non-print days. It’s the combination of print and digital that will persuade consumers to believe that the newspaper brand is still a powerful one that’s important in their lives.

Here’s a classifieds strategy that can be implemented should your newspaper reduce its print frequency. Focus on each print day to offer a powerful category classifieds section: Autos on Friday; Real Estate on Sunday; Recruitment on Monday; Stuff on Wednesday … whatever makes the most sense. Yeah, you’ve probably always done that; but you’ll have less room to push those categories on other days.

Then use print promotion to drive readers to the classifieds for other categories that are presented smartly online and for mobile devices (phones). That is, if Autos is the special section on Fridays, also promote the other categories by pushing people online or to mobile.

If this happens at your paper, you MUST do a better job and be more creative and useful with your online and mobile classifieds services. While print won’t go away and those weekly category sections can continue to be big money makers, the new emphasis must be on digital. With fewer print editions and a weak online/mobile classifieds offering, your outlook won’t be good.

I’ll have more to say on effective print + digital classifieds strategies soon.