Digital discovery with KM

Katelyn Mary Skaggs is the digital marketing manager for Leader Publications, a group of four papers in Festus, Missouri. Skaggs, a Southeast Missouri State University graduate, joined their ranks in January 2019 as a reporter. Email katelynmaryskaggs@leaderpublications.biz

We have branded our online business directory as the business index

One major benefit to a business directory is SEO.

Take the digital dive

If you are contemplating starting to sell digital products at your newspaper, this is your sign to take the dive and do it.

Consider adding animation to digital ads for more reader interaction

We recently worked with a local hardware store on six weeks of animated ads on our website.

Free requester paper asks readers for donations and is surprised with results

What is the harm in asking? As the long saying goes, you don’t know until you try. So here is what we did.

Deliver a print product once a week, digital products every day

I wanted to develop a secondary way we could bring readers to our website with more control and a direct digital line of communication. I cannot control what Meta does, but I can have almost complete control ...

Many local clients are lost when it comes to building a website — a newspaper brings a lot to the table

I come across many of our small business clients who only have a Facebook page. This is OK when starting out, but if they want to start appearing in online searches and be organically found, a website ...

Use web statistics/analytics to benefit editorial coverage and sales

Analytic data is the proof. Data is helpful to show what works and what could be more productive on your website.

Your newspaper brand should also be marketed

When community members think about marketing their business or reading up on local news, I want my brand to be the first thing they think of.

‘Freebie’ digital ads mean you're turning away profit for your paper

You should be charging a CPM (cost per thousand impressions) for all digital advertising on your publication’s website or package deals. Stop giving it away for free; it has a lot of value.

Grow traffic and branding with digital advertising campaigns

In the world of digital marketing, circulation can be limitless.

Acronym brief for those getting into digital marketing

I thought reporters had funny names for things, like the morgue, but everyone in the digital marketing space wants to speak in acronyms, so it made my brain spin.

Make sure advertising clients get holiday deals out to potential customers with email marketing this holiday season

Targeted e-blasts or email marketing — whatever you want to call it — is a good way for clients to deliver deals directly to a new customer’s inbox.

How do you get a legacy print advertiser to start digital ads?

I use a toaster metaphor

How to design eye-catching and memorable digital ads

The digital world moves fast, and people scroll at light speed, so the goal is to create ads that make people stop mid-scroll and click.

Create easily searchable content with SEO headlines

In simple terms, SEO helps your content be discovered easier by search engines, like Google. If the search engines cannot find you, then readers Googling to find a story with answers will also not find ...