One of my most recent clients is a developing newspaper in Osceola County. I was called in as a consultant into a meeting with them because of my experience in e-marketing. The goal of the online newspaper is to create a different perspective from what other local newspapers, such as the Orlando Sentinel, write on.
Some of the problems we face included: coming up with a name, and, of course, marketing for the newspaper.
Some of the problems we face included: coming up with a name, and, of course, marketing for the newspaper.
Coming up with a name
Several aspects needed to be considered when creating a name for an online news site.
- What perception will the name give readers? A particular name may make the readers perceive a bias within the newspaper. Also the name should be remembered easily, nothing too long. When searching for the name on a search engine, it shouldn’t be called up with any negative associations.
- Is the name and tagline SEO friendly? As a developing new site with most of its readership online, it will help increase readership traffic by applying the appropriate keywords within the title and tagline of the news site.
We went through 30 different names, but finally decided on a name that was both memorable, unbiased, and SEO friendly.
- What perception will the name give readers? A particular name may make the readers perceive a bias within the newspaper. Also the name should be remembered easily, nothing too long. When searching for the name on a search engine, it shouldn’t be called up with any negative associations.
- Is the name and tagline SEO friendly? As a developing new site with most of its readership online, it will help increase readership traffic by applying the appropriate keywords within the title and tagline of the news site.
We went through 30 different names, but finally decided on a name that was both memorable, unbiased, and SEO friendly.
Marketing the newspaper
- E-Marketing: As an online newspaper, this will be the majority of marketing. The newspaper is currently in testing, so we created a WordPress site until we are able to get the readership and participation needed. Social media platforms that will most effective initially to market to their audience will be Facebook and Twitter. They will be able to expand to other platforms eventually, but for now stick to the basic two until they can gain the participation they need.
- Print Paper: Let’s go old school. While online marketing is effective, distribution for a hard-copy of the paper will increase readership, awareness, and credibility of the paper. This may not be something we make as a tradition, but will be done to get the newspaper’s name out.
- Giveaways: The prize for the giveaway to was a $100 spotlight on the website for companies looking to promote their business. Registering for the giveaway, encourage subscriptions and increases traffic to the website.
- Print Paper: Let’s go old school. While online marketing is effective, distribution for a hard-copy of the paper will increase readership, awareness, and credibility of the paper. This may not be something we make as a tradition, but will be done to get the newspaper’s name out.
- Giveaways: The prize for the giveaway to was a $100 spotlight on the website for companies looking to promote their business. Registering for the giveaway, encourage subscriptions and increases traffic to the website.
By the end of the meeting, we had a name and an e-marketing plan. All that was left is for them to begin finding and writing the content for the newspaper.