How 3 papers dramatically increased their revenue with Readers’ Choice

Matt Coen

Blair Barna, the advertising director and co-owner at Charleston City Paper, Alesia Humphries, the chief of digital sales for The Signal, and Bonnie Markham, the advertising manager for the Alton Telegraph, joined Second Street for a webinar to share their best practices and tips on how to use digital tools to increase their Reader's Choice revenue.

1. Ballots drive revenue. With ballots, you can generate revenue a number of different ways – with enhanced listings, category sponsorships, online ads, print ads and even with live events. These models can be combined to maximize your revenue, but don't feel like you need to do everything. Use the combination that works best for your market.

2. Ballots engage your audience. Ballots are naturally viral, and incorporating digital is like adding gas to the flame. Running your ballot online helps you reach a broader audience and makes it even easier for people to interact and participate in the ballot. This engagement also helps you build your email database and generate hot leads for your advertisers.

3. Online ballots are efficient. Anyone who's been involved with ballots over the years is well aware of the pain points and the time involved. These are big endeavors. However, just running your Readers' Choice online saves time, money and resources, since you don't have to count ballots and sort write-ins by hand.

4. Niche ballots are a way to expand the opportunities. Leverage your Readers' Choice success and expand your ballot program throughout the year with niche ballots. These more targeted initiatives will help you engage more targeted audiences and advertisers, and you can align them with other niche initiatives to generate even more revenue. The Signal made $4K in all-digital revenue with a high school football ballot!

Ready to optimize your own Readers' Choice ballot?

Download The Voter's Choice Playbook, which is designed to help you get started. In it, you'll find sections on how to plan, sell and promote ballots, along with plenty of case studies.

Matt Coen is the president and co-founder of Second Street, a leading provider of private-label online promotions platforms and partner success services for media companies based in St. Louis, Mo. He can be reached at (314) 880-4902 or matt@secondstreet.com.