Localized Ads, Localized Content: Obviously The Job Of Newspapers, Right? Not If You Ask Newspapers

Newspapers: Still believeing in the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus and Paid Content

It's been said before many times, but the FDA or DEA should look closely at newspaper ink, because there must be something in it that makes newspaper executives hallucinate.

The graphic (swiped from the daily must-read eMarketer) showcases the answers newspaper execs gave to the API trade group to the question of paid content.  They can't look past it, still.  Years and years and white paper after white paper, the industry dreams of paywalls and "establishing value for copyrighted content" while frittering away their natural strength: localization.

When I was at Ad Tech NY a couple of weeks ago, localization was a very hot topic.  Lots of software and publishers there with ways to help businesses and advertisers “reach local”.  It's one of the fastest growing areas on the web, yet newspapers,  the people who invented local – after 10 years of really studying the problem still can't put it together.

One more time, or posterity: the local newspaper is absolutely needed because there are important local stories that only they will tell, that only a community member could tell.  This post would require another 10 pages to explain a community hub model, so in short: newspaper publishers have to become more digital savvy.   They can start by just showing up: I sure didn't see them in the discussion at AdTech.

But what that also really means is helping their advertisers (local SMBs) become more digital savvy.  Instead of trying to convince people the value of copyrighted material (call up the recording industry and check to see how that's going, guys) newspapers must help local advertisers with creative marketing and digital tools to get new business. There are plenty of “local” services to help national advertisers go local, but “local to local” has not been solved in a good way,  and that is where the newspapers can carve a niche. Their sales staff is still there, their community awareness is still there, their brand is burning, but not gone yet.

Helping people make money is a winning strategy in any industry.