The path to revenue growth lies in mastering the strategy behind renewals, whether in advertising sales or subscriptions, while driving new acquisitions and assessing their long-term impact on the bottom line. It’s an area that combines strategy, sales and financial analysis and presents a compelling model for outlining the foundation of revenue growth in news media organizations.

The circus is coming to town — to every city in America. And only the donkeys and elephants will be performing in the center ring. It’s America’s quintessential, quadrennial big show — the 2024 presidential, congressional, state and local elections. Despite how little attention and money print media and newspapers receive from many political campaigns, there are still opportunities to generate additional revenues — especially suburban and small-market newspapers with hyper-local reporting.

Special sections enhance local communities and provide excellent sponsorship opportunities of significant value. News media outlets excel at effectively conveying the worth of these special sections, which can highlight the positive aspects of your community and greatly benefit local and regional businesses through sponsorships.

News media publishers should leverage layered advertising strategies to boost their bottom line — and their advertisers’. Numerous strategies and techniques exist that may fit advertisers’ needs. Here are a few ideas....

Getting onsite click-to-cancel right is imperative for the coming generation of news media and will require techniques built on highly valuable content, efficient user experiences and transparency. Any applicable future adaptations needed in your onsite cancellation and retention experiences should not be viewed as obstacles but as opportunities to reassess and refine your product strategy and communication flows.

Richard E. Brown, senior director of retention for The Daily Beast, believes that everything is an opportunity, and every opportunity is a chance to build something enduring and expansive for the future. With that optimistic spirit in mind in examining AI, he sees three discernable applications that the business side of news media may benefit from immediately.  

One of my favorite things about being a revenue leader is perfecting the overall sales strategy. I love harmonizing the beat of all sales and marketing efforts to help others and grow revenue. Growth in any industry is a skill set rooted in a genuine passion for helping others. Sales is the business of people, and having a passion for helping people is a must if you’re going to grow.

Too many newspapers and other media, their advertising sales reps, local businesses and retailers are unaware there is a giant pile of billions of dollars they could utilize to increase everyone’s revenues. That pile of $75 billion is in the form of annual co-op advertising funds manufacturers make available to local businesses and retailers to co-promhttps://editorandpublisher.creativecirclecms.com/images/close_button_red.gifote the manufacturers’ products and services.

2023 will belong to the optimist, the engineers and the can-do spirit. Cynicism and doubt only leave bitter tastes and bleak futures, and if you stay there, you may be unable to recoup. The second half of 2022 was tumultuous and left too many highly talented individuals unemployed on both the content and revenue side of media. Therefore, do whatever possible to stop this cycle and not take the losses and learnings from last year in vain.

It’s a new year and time for media, agencies and local advertisers to digest the many competing forecasts for 2023 ad spending. There will be sales quotas; agencies will create pitches; and local advertisers will search for the most effective media mix. However they may approach these tasks, the universal forecast is: Digital advertising will continue to gain on legacy media and become an even more dominant force.

This year's Sales Superstars stand out in their ability to stand up against the challenging times newspapers face today. They stay focused and get the job done for their customers, their communities and the companies they represent. Our list of 16 individuals spans the age range, years of experience and small to large markets. Their words ring with wisdom born in the trenches. With extreme appreciation and celebration, we introduce E&P’s 2023 Sales Superstars.

2023 will be the year of re-emergence for news media. Why? The tracks have been set for news organizations to reemerge as innovative tech companies delivering personalized and substantive information. Yes, you read that correctly. Your local news company will become a partner with you throughout your day instead of only providing top-line regional and national news, politics and opinions.