Yudu has allowed me to increase the circulation of the GTA Construction Report by over 2000 readers and is growing each month. Will the online edition replace the printed copies we do each month? Not at all, it will simply allow me to reach more potential clients and increase the value to my advertisers. As I have looked at other online only publications I see the real value in the printed versions as people are still very tactile. Even though internet access is available almost everywhere there are times when the printed copy is more reliable.
GTA Construction Report March 2009 Issue
As I attend the 6 th Annual OGCA Symposium the next few days in Collingwood I will see the true value in the printed edition as I meet over 500 plus members of the association. If we relied only on the online version it would be hard for the members to take away a copy and review through the conference. The printed edition of the newspaper is the nest marketing tool for me to share.
Some of the additional benefits I will start sharing with my advertisers are the following:
- Direct email link from their ad in the paper. Readers of the online edition simply click and start communicating, requesting quotes or ordering products.
- Web links again allow the reader to click through from our papers directly to the clients site. The clients site could be an online video, expanded information about the products or services advertised or even a unique URL that they can track direct traffic from our papers to their sites.
- Establishing a web presence if they do not have a web site. People can do a search based on phone number for example they end of arriving at our online edition and seeing the companies ad.
Some of the benefits I have found are:
- Ability to deliver the paper long before it comes of the presses.
- Use of the online edition for email marketing and generating immediate responses when people as for back issues (no longer waiting a few days for the paper to arrive).
What is next for the online edition? I know that we will be testing the expanded version of Yudu in the next few months and as a very important question. Can we charge a subscription fee and what should it be?
Stay tuned.
1 comment:
Hi,
You make some great points and as CEO of YUDU I am really happy it works for you. The most interesting point is the one I stress to all. Placing a digital version on line does not mean cannibalizing the print. Print is great but on line introduces you to a bunch of new readers at a very low cost..... and these new readers can also help maintain or boost print sales. Good luck. Richard
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