Sound consumer segmentation can identify potential readership pockets to grow the franchise. From the 1997 media-usage study, So Many Choices, So Little Time, publishers learned that newspapers surpass other media in terms of utility and advertising information. Despite that, we learned that local television rated higher in terms of providing local news. They must commit to it, too. Right now, the money spent on promotion provides only anecdotal evidence of effectiveness.
Few publishers operate systems that track and provide accountability, a key promotion strategy.
Systems must describe readers and drive accountability in terms of service, retention, acquisition and promotion. In the coming decade, newspapers must adopt these and other premier marketing techniques if they are to grow. As circulation falls, so does audience. As audience falls, so will advertising share. If these continue to slide, then industry economics will change, too.