E-Media Tidbits

Sfllaw, via Flickr (CC license) Square peg, meet round hole. Is your online ad sales approach something like this?

I've written before about what I see as a big problem on the business side of online news: missed opportunities in how online ads are sold and delivered. An interesting conversation on a closely related theme has begun over on Poynter's Online-News discussion list. Here are some excerpts of that conversation, posted with permission.

First, Tidbits contributor Steve Yelvington placed the ad issue in context: "Overall, newspaper online ad sales have been growing at compound rates of 15 to 30 percent for nearly a decade now. The same can't be said for audience."

Despite online ad sales growth, Yelvington sees these problems in how advertising departments handle online ad sales:

• "Poor compensation plans that create counterincentives to selling new products.
• "Lack of online sales training.
• "Antiquated print classified rate structures being forced online."

He notes that these problems "seem minor and easily fixed when compared with the continuing overall decline in readership."

Next, media blogger Howard Owens agreed that the "audience problem" is more dire than the "sales problem." He continued:

"As somebody who has run a couple of local online newspaper operations, and who has talked to many peers, it is much, much, much harder to change attitudes on a sales staff than in a newsroom. And that is a real problem for our industry. The only solution I know is to route around print sales reps."

Owens then offered a couple of generalizations:

• Journalists: "Creative types who more often than not are curious about new things. Afraid [that] if print dies, the only thing they really know how to do (gather news) will have no economic value.
• Sales reps: Driven by numbers. If they even think about it [they] know their core skills -- sales -- will never go out of style, so [they] don't worry about finding another job if print dies.

I tend to think that both of these news-business experts are on the right track. That said, the more I see about what's possible with well-integrated and well-implemented mobile advertising, niche ad networks, and feed advertising, the more I suspect we might all be underestimating the revenue potential of online news.

I still think it's possible that if online advertising was done right (the right distribution channels, technology, relevance, pricing, sales skills, and overall company mindset), we might be able to restructure the news business to be profitable enough to support great professional journalism largely regardless of audience size. Ultimately, online media is about niches and relevance -- that is, quality, not quantity. The most profitable online ad models thrive on this circumstance. I'm not saying audience size doesn't matter at all for advertising, but online it can matter considerably less than in print or broadcast.

I suspect that if the news business finally stops viewing itself as "mass media" and starts viewing itself as a purveyor of relevance (news and ads) for both large and small communities (based on common interests, characteristics, or geography), it'll start figuring out how to do online ads right -- and make the necessary staff and procedure changes.

What do you think? Please comment below.