01/21/2016

Share your paper’s circulation ideas and earn chance at prizes along with more readers

The Circulation Committee of the Ohio Newspaper Association (ONA) and Steel City Corp. are working together to offer a FUN, FREE and REWARDING platform for sharing circulation/audience development promotions and/or ideas.

Here’s how it will work:

Ohio newspapers will be contacted monthly either by phone or email by Steel City Corp. in order to obtain any promotion/idea you have utilized recently. These ideas could be (but are not limited to) Home Delivery Promotions/Single Copy Promotions/Digital Audience Development Promotions/Newspaper in Education Promotions/In-Store Point of Purchase/Cost Savings Promotions/Partnership Promotions…I think you get the idea.

What the newspaper needs to do:

Submit a promotion in a format or method that is EASIEST FOR YOU.  For example you could send it via email or just drop a copy of the marketing piece in the U.S. mail if that is EASIEST FOR YOU! 

Note the attached (a copy of the front and back) was a Free Standing Insert recently utilized by The Plain Dealer in Cleveland. Submitting the actual FSI is fine in this example.

What is your REWARD for this?

Each month all of the ideas will be entered into a drawing sponsored by your ONA Circulation Committee. A random winner will receive a $ 25.00 gift card.

But WAIT (as they say in those TV ads) THERE’S MORE!: All of the entries collected between now and September will be automatically entered into the 2016 ONA Circulation Conference promotion competition. All entries will be judged during the conference Oct 2-3, 2016. The winner of that contest receives $250!!!!

But WAIT….THERE’S MORE!  Steel City Corp. has offered to collect the ideas throughout the time frame and then publish a booklet with ALL the submitted ideas. Each newspaper that sends in at least one idea will receive a copy of this booklet ….FREE!!!!  Think about it, submit at least one idea and receive a booklet with a collection of Ohio newspapers’ ideas.

Do not delay, Steel City Corp. is accepting August entries NOW!

Email your idea(s) to jsmith@scity.com

Or mail:

Steel City Corp.
Attn: Jim Smith
1000 Hedstrom Drive
Ashland, OH  44805

Winners

January winner: Rob Jenney of Findlay Publishing Company, who submitted a promotion they ran in two newspapers encouraging people to subscribe and receive a turkey and gift cards (see image at right).

Their promotion yielded 131 new subscribers for The Courier and The Review Times. The promotion ran from just prior to Thanksgiving until one week before Christmas as as a ROP ad in the newspapers, TMC and in their monthly coupon book. They also did one batch of FSI. Download the promotion as a PDF here.

February winner: Chris Cryder of The Daily Jeffersonian with the submission of the “Free Classified Ad with 3 Month Subscription.” Download the promotion as a PDF here.

March winner: Abby Scheaf of The Columbus Dispatch with 3 free standing inserts. Download the promotion here as a PDF.

April winner: Larry Boggs of The Repository in Canton.

May winner: John Hale of The Herald-Star in Steubenville.  Download the promotion here as a PDF.

June winner: Mark Keller of The Bryan Times for his “Follow Matt Wisler” rack card entry. Download the promotion here as a PDF.

July winner: John Hale of The Herald-Star in Steubenville. Download the promotion here as a PDF.

August winner: Larry Boggs of The Repository in Canton. Download the promotion here as a PDF.