CRM For Newspapers

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It will come as no surprise when I say the Newspaper Industry has been in turmoil for some time now. Despite having joined the Internet bandwagon, Newspaper publishers have had to deal with distributed readership, fluctuating subscription and circulation figures, uncertain advertising revenues and ambiguity in internet adoption.

The struggle has continued with multiple attempts being made to retain readership and increasing revenues… most with some effectiveness but not enough to sail through. Is it that they have done nothing right? No. Chicago Tribune’s Metromix was a sell out, so was New York Times foray into the blogosphere. There are many such examples to go by but the question still remains- Is that enough? Once again the answer is No.

There is a lot that Newspapers can do and one of the options is using CRM more effectively.

With the integration of print and online, there needs to be a centralized CRM. Having a single source of truth as far as the customer goes has become quite pertinent to stay ahead of the game. Where a centralized CRM helps is:

• Providing a centralized view of advertising effectiveness
• Enabling a holistic view of circulation and subscription numbers
• Centralizing sales data for both channels

Most Newspapers have already begun implementing an integrated CRM system. Whether they are exploiting the potential of this data and the reports is anybody’s guess.

What Newspapers need to adopt now is the next generation of CRM, i.e. Social CRM. As the name suggests, Social CRM is all to do with Social Media. Today, if there is one wave that Newspapers need to ride on it is Social Media. There is a plethora of user feedback and sentiment that is available out there which can be put to optimum use by Newspapers esp. for their online content.

• Capture user feedback, comments and sentiments through popular social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to create relevant and accurate editorial content
• Use the user data to publish articles/content that is relevant to each demography
• Implement contextual and/or subliminal advertising to increase effectiveness
• Derive sentiments and messaging from user generated content (blogs/citizen journalism features) to aid editorial
• Get proactive feedback on content through social channels
• Implement social analytics to analyze subscription, circulation and advertising feedback and figures
• Provide innovating subscription packages and bundles based on user feedback

Traditional and Social CRM both can go a long way to help Newspapers understand the customer’s need and ensure retention. With the immense data that these systems can provide, Newspapers can achieve what they have struggled with esp. in the online world- proximity to the customer.

How well they adopt and exploit the potential that is within their reach is to be seen.