economics of building an email database: nypa
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Matt Coen's presentation on the Economics of Building an Email Database at the 2013 New York Press Association Conference.TRANSCRIPT
New York Press Association Conference 2013
D R I V I N G R E V E N U E | B U I L D I N G D A T A B A S E | G R O W I N G A U D I E N C E
Economics of Building Email Databases
New York Press Association Conference
April 2013
New York Press Association Conference 2013
Presenter
Matt Coen
President & Co-Founder
314.880.4902
@mcoen
@secondstreetlab
secondstreetlab.com
New York Press Association Conference 2013
Who We Are
New York Press Association Conference 2013
secondstreetlab.com
New York Press Association Conference 2013
New York Press Association Conference 2013
New York Press Association Conference 2013
New York Press Association Conference 2013
New York Press Association Conference 2013
Our Partners
2,800 media companies
New York Press Association Conference 2013
Why Online Promotions?
Sour
ce: B
orre
ll As
soci
ates
In B
illio
ns
New York Press Association Conference 2013
Case Study: GateHouse Media
2012 Contest Calendar
Marketing Revenue Initiative Market Initiative Date Revenue
Cutest Babies January $315,000
Big Game Challenge January-February $115,505
Red Carpet Challenge February $58,674
College Basketball March $300,100
Salute to Nurses April-May $214,000
Mother’s Day April-May $65,000
The Pet Show June $71,547
Football August-October $964,000
Reader’s Choice September-November $635,000
New York Press Association Conference 2013
New York Press Association Conference 2013
Case Study: GateHouse Media
Cutest Babies• Results
– 2012: $300k– 2,400 submissions– 3.2 MM votes– 25k deal opt-ins– 83K registered users– 5.7 MM page views– 20% increase in monthly traffic!
New York Press Association Conference 2013
Case Study: GateHouse Media
Pro Football• Results
– 2011: $350K• Pro Football Pickem
– 2012: $950K• Pro, College, High School and
Super Bowl Games• 170% revenue increase!• Larger properties generate $50k-
$100k each• Smaller properties generate $12-
15k each
• Packaged with “Pro Football Weekly” publication
New York Press Association Conference 2013
Quad-City Times’ Get It Today
• Launch of deals was aha moment of power of email
• Deals dramatically moved needle for sales
New York Press Association Conference 2013
Agency Contests
• Quad-City Times– Results:
• Have 7 live advertiser contests right now
• Range from $5K - $15K• Building email list and fan
count for local advertisers (2,000+ fans)
New York Press Association Conference 2013
Why Email Marketing?
• Generate New Revenue:– Track to cross $3MM this year
from email– $500K directly from contests– Over $2MM from deals– Direct marketing email for
advertisers is a six figure business
– Email sponsorship revenue is small, but beginning to grow
New York Press Association Conference 2013
Contests Deals
Why Email Marketing?
Direct Marketing
Email Ads
New York Press Association Conference 2013
Why Email Marketing?
• Email Acquisition:– new way to learn more
about audience & sell marketing service
– Getting permission to market to consumers is critical
• Don’t think of email marketing as a funnel
New York Press Association Conference 2013
D R I V I N G R E V E N U E | B U I L D I N G D A T A B A S E | G R O W I N G A U D I E N C E
WHY NEWSPAPERS?
New York Press Association Conference 2013
Why Newspapers?
NewspaperWe’re Local
Ongoing Ad Options
Trusted Info Source
Affluent & Valuable Audience
Key Client Relationships
Multiple Media
Promotions
New York Press Association Conference 2013
D R I V I N G R E V E N U E | B U I L D I N G D A T A B A S E | G R O W I N G A U D I E N C E
IMPORTANCE OF EMAIL FOR PROMOTIONS
New York Press Association Conference 2013
Revenue from Email
66%
New York Press Association Conference 2013
Groupon’s Investment in Subscriber Acquisition
Key Stats: • $179 million spent
online on subscriber acquisition in Q1 2011
• Signed up over 32.5 million new subscribers in Q1 2011
• Over $1 million investment per market in Q1 2011
New York Press Association Conference 2013
Perceived Decline in Deals
New York Press Association Conference 2013
A $4.2 Billion Business by 2015
New York Press Association Conference 2013
A Tale of Two Cities
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 $-
$50,000
$100,000
$150,000
$200,000
$250,000
Revenue Growth
Database Growth &
Engagement
New York Press Association Conference 2013
A Tale of Two Cities
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1011121314 $-
$50,000
$100,000
$150,000
$200,000
$250,000
Revenue Growth
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 140
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
Email Growth
Database Growth &
Engagement
New York Press Association Conference 2013
Understand the Value of Your List
Sales
Average Revshare
Conversion Rate
Average Price
Database
Emails per Year
Opt-outs
Database Growth &
Engagement
New York Press Association Conference 2013
• UT San Diego• Facebook-based contest• 6,300 submissions• Dates: 11/9 - 12/13• Six rounds of giveaways
- $500 gift card• 2,508 email sign-ups
Case Study: Contests and Deals
New York Press Association Conference 2013
Email List Types: Quality Over Quantity
• Organic List– Opted-in to get Daily Deal email;
best and most engaged
• Promotional List– Users who have sign-up for
contests, savings, and promotions
• General or Circulation List– Key list to market to; a list loyal to
your company
• Purchased List– List acquired from 3rd party; very
low value and low engagementPurchased
General
Promotional
Organic Value
New York Press Association Conference 2013
Go Organic!
• Your Organic opt-ins are more valuable because they have a much higher Click-Through-Rate than a General opt-in.
Email 1 Email 2 Email 3 Email 4 Email 5
2.4%1.6%
3.5%
1.9% 2.0%
8.7%
6.6%
9.8%
5.7%6.7%
General Email CTR Organic CTR
New York Press Association Conference 2013
1st Run 2nd Run -
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
35,000
40,000
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
15K Emails
35K Emails
Stone Bridge Golf Course
List Size
Sales Volume
205 Sold
Email List Size & Revenue Impact
513 Sold
New York Press Association Conference 2013
Case Study: Tracking Links
Top Revenue Generating Links
93% of Revenue from Organic
Email List
Background• The Washington Post• Tracks all online efforts
through Tracking Links
New York Press Association Conference 2013
Case Study: Tracking Links
Affiliate Sites41%
Deal Aggregator8%Blog
2%Display
5%
Facebook Ads6%
Internal Email Lists31%
Google Ad Words8% Twitter
1%
Top Non-Organic Email Revenue Generating LinksBackground
• The Washington Post• Tracks all online efforts
through Tracking Links
Highlights• Affiliate Sites for Regional
travel deals• Aggregator site• Various types of paid media• Marketed to internal lists
New York Press Association Conference 2013
Impact of Email On Contests
Day 1 Day 2 Email Sent Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 70
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
500
Submissions by Day
Represents 22% of
Submissions
New York Press Association Conference 2013
Intersection of Promotions
Contests Deals
New York Press Association Conference 2013
Email Growth: Next Steps
Audit Current Efforts
Set GoalsCreate Annual Plan
New York Press Association Conference 2013
Deal Stores Credits Free Deals
January Free food deals
February Valentine’s Day Store
March
April
May Mother’s Day Store
June Golf Store (tie in w/ Father’s Day)
July Regional Travel StoreCredit to
everyone to re-engage list
August
September University Store Free food deals
October Best Of Store (Q4)
November
December Cyber Monday/Holiday Store
Credit to inactive buyers
Contests Sweepstakes
Kids Whole New You
Cutest Couples Valentine’s Day
Basketball Spring Break
Mother’s Day
Golf Sweeps
Father’s Day Travel Giveaway
Travel/Vacation Photos Concert Tickets
Football (Sept-Feb) Football Tickets
Voter’s Choice Voter’s Choice
Holiday Shopping
Scared of Santa Holiday Shopping
New York Press Association Conference 2013
D R I V I N G R E V E N U E | B U I L D I N G D A T A B A S E | G R O W I N G A U D I E N C E
BEST PRACTICES FOR GROWING YOUR EMAIL LIST
New York Press Association Conference 2013
D R I V I N G R E V E N U E | B U I L D I N G D A T A B A S E | G R O W I N G A U D I E N C E
GREAT DEALS WILL ALWAYS DRIVE EMAIL GROWTH
New York Press Association Conference 2013
Great Deal = More Email Sign-ups
Avg. Daily Sign-ups Avg. Sign-up for Top 10 Deals0
100
200
300
400
500
600
135
520
New York Press Association Conference 2013
Deal Appeal Checklist
Brand Recognition Location Audience Appeal Deal Uniqueness Pricing & Discount Restrictions Multiple Quantities Expiration Date Deal Category Seasonality
New York Press Association Conference 2013
D R I V I N G R E V E N U E | B U I L D I N G D A T A B A S E | G R O W I N G A U D I E N C E
LEVERAGING INTERNAL ASSETS TO MAXIMIZE LIST GROWTH
New York Press Association Conference 2013
“Every touch point with a consumer is an opportunity to capture an email.”• Tim D’Avis, Digital Director, Quad-City Times and Director of
Digital Media, Lee Enterprises
Strategies for Growing Your List
New York Press Association Conference 2013
Traditional Media
New York Press Association Conference 2013
Offline and Online
New York Press Association Conference 2013
Widgets
New York Press Association Conference 2013
Email Sign-up Opportunities
• Give users as many ways to sign-up as possible– Main site newsletter
registration page– Email capture form on
New York Press Association Conference 2013
D R I V I N G R E V E N U E | B U I L D I N G D A T A B A S E | G R O W I N G A U D I E N C E
CONTESTS TO GROW YOUR ORGANIC LIST
New York Press Association Conference 2013
Use Contests to increase your General List Size
WJW-TV Cleveland• 95,923 sign-ups
Our Contest “was the single best way for us to grow our
e-blast database!”
-Jenny Kershaw, Internet Sales Manager
New York Press Association Conference 2013
Case Study: Building Your Deals List Using Sweepstakes
Herald-Review.com• Length of campaign:
8 weeks• Promoted in print &
online• Key strategy for rest
of year to continue growth
360% Deals List Growth
New York Press Association Conference 2013
Case Studies: Building Your Deals List Using Facebook
ABC 15• Phoenix, AZ
– Facebook Contests– Like-gate your contest to
grow Likes as well as your deals email list
– Social and Viral exposure for your deals program
New York Press Association Conference 2013
D R I V I N G R E V E N U E | B U I L D I N G D A T A B A S E | G R O W I N G A U D I E N C E
PIZZA PROMOTION TAKES D.C. BY STORM
New York Press Association Conference 2013
The Washington Post
• Promotional giveaways to drive email sign-ups– Company: The Washington
Post & The Capitol Deal– Deal Partner: Papa John’s – Offer: Free Large One-Topping
Pizza and Delivery– Contest: Win Pizza for a Year
New York Press Association Conference 2013
The Washington Post
• Pizza Promotion Goals– Increase email subscriber
list for The Capitol Deal– Raise trial and
awareness of PapaJohns.com
– Generate Buzz for The Capital Deal in a crowded deals market
New York Press Association Conference 2013
The Washington Post
• Pizza Promotion Schedule– The Washington Post used all
internal and external channels to promote the offer
– Washington Post and Express Subway papers wrapped first day of promotion
– 750,000 emails– FB and Google PPC Buy– Twitter push– PR Push
New York Press Association Conference 2013
The Washington Post
Pizza Promotion Execution• Deal ran for three days• Promotion leveraged both deals and
contests.
• Social Boost was a difference maker:
– Rewarded users for sharing with bonus entries
– After submission they are given referral link
– Configurable where X referrals gets them X bonus entries
– 1 in 4 entries came via Social Boost
New York Press Association Conference 2013
The Washington Post
• Pizza Promotion Results– 132K pizzas were claimed– 65% of participants became
NEW Daily Deal subscribers– 25% of claimed pizzas came
through Social Boost– Papa John’s trended on
Twitter– Win-Win-Win
New York Press Association Conference 2013
D R I V I N G R E V E N U E | B U I L D I N G D A T A B A S E | G R O W I N G A U D I E N C E
USE INCENTIVES TO MAXIMIZE YOUR LISTS
New York Press Association Conference 2013
User Incentive Options
Benefits• Applies to new customers only• Users with credit 3x more likely to buy• Reward users for engaging with your brand
Credits for Refer-a-Friend:User gets credit when they refer a friend or family member who is new to the program and makes their first purchase
New York Press Association Conference 2013
Refer-a-Friend: Case Study
Background• WCHL, Chapel Hill• Offering $5 Refer-a-Friend
credit• Launched April 2011
Results
• 207 new buyers
• $1,035 in credits given
• New buyers generated $10,871
• ROI = $9,836
New York Press Association Conference 2013
User Incentive Options
Benefits• Easy way to market to new and current customers• Codes can be branded for promotional tie-ins• Gives you the flexibility to define the action you want
them to take
Promotional Codes: A code given to users that offers a discount on a purchase
New York Press Association Conference 2013
Case Study: Promotional CodesBackground• KCRG & The Gazette• Realized only 30% of
subscribers had made a purchase
• Created code “LUCKY” & emailed $5 credit to non-purchasers
• Users had 30 days to use code
Results• Increased purchasers to
40% • Converted non-engaged
users into active users
New York Press Association Conference 2013
Set Goals for Growth
• Create measurable goals• Communicate goal with
team and work together towards it
• Be realistic and base goals on your market size
New York Press Association Conference 2013
Q & A
Matt Coen
President & Co-Founder
314.880.4902
@mcoen
@secondstreetlab
secondstreetlab.com