Economics of Building an Email Database: NYPA

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


Presenter

Matt Coen

President & Co-Founder

[email protected]

314.880.4902

@mcoen

@secondstreetlab

secondstreetlab.com


Who We Are


secondstreetlab.com






Our Partners

2,800 media companies


Why Online Promotions?

Sour

ce: B

orre

ll As

soci

ates

In B

illio

ns


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




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!



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


Quad-City Times’ Get It Today

• Launch of deals was aha moment of power of email

• Deals dramatically moved needle for sales


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)


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


Contests Deals


Direct Marketing

Email Ads



• 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



WHY NEWSPAPERS?


Why Newspapers?

NewspaperWe’re Local

Ongoing Ad Options

Trusted Info Source

Affluent & Valuable Audience

Key Client Relationships

Multiple Media

Promotions



IMPORTANCE OF EMAIL FOR PROMOTIONS


Revenue from Email

66%


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


Perceived Decline in Deals


A $4.2 Billion Business by 2015


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


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


Understand the Value of Your List

Sales

Average Revshare

Conversion Rate

Average Price

Database

Emails per Year

Opt-outs

Database Growth &

Engagement


• 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


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


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


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


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


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


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


Intersection of Promotions

Contests Deals


Email Growth: Next Steps

Audit Current Efforts

Set GoalsCreate Annual Plan


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



BEST PRACTICES FOR GROWING YOUR EMAIL LIST



GREAT DEALS WILL ALWAYS DRIVE EMAIL GROWTH


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


Deal Appeal Checklist

Brand Recognition Location Audience Appeal Deal Uniqueness Pricing & Discount Restrictions Multiple Quantities Expiration Date Deal Category Seasonality



LEVERAGING INTERNAL ASSETS TO MAXIMIZE LIST GROWTH


“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


Traditional Media


Offline and Online


Widgets


Email Sign-up Opportunities

• Give users as many ways to sign-up as possible– Main site newsletter

registration page– Email capture form on

Facebook



CONTESTS TO GROW YOUR ORGANIC LIST


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


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


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



PIZZA PROMOTION TAKES D.C. BY STORM


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


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


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


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


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



USE INCENTIVES TO MAXIMIZE YOUR LISTS


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


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


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


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


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


Q & A

Matt Coen

President & Co-Founder

[email protected]

314.880.4902

@mcoen

@secondstreetlab

secondstreetlab.com

Technology

Economics of Building an Email Database: NYPA