Gannett provides extra value to readers during Hurricane Ian
Ideas Blog | 27 February 2024
There’s nothing quite like a large weather event to prove the value of media companies and the public service they provide.
Gannett smartly utilised the news of Hurricane Ian to reinforce the importance of their services and increased subscriptions, app downloads, and engagement in the process.
Gannett looked at its objectives in different stages. It had a goal pre-storm of getting people prepared. The objective during the storm was to keep people safe; after the storm it wanted to keep people engaged by reminding them of the value Gannett provided to them in a time of need.
During the storm, local marketing teams for The News-Press and Naples Daily News in Florida were tasked with driving people to sign up for text alerts to be the first to know news about the storm and access community resources. They did this by creating what they called an SMS Insider Group.
They also wanted people to sign up for news alerts via e-mail, turn on weather alerts in the app and engage in the print newspaper by accessing e-newspapers.
Once the storm was over, The News-Press and Naples Daily News marketing teams drove new digital subscriptions and engaged with current subscribers to reinforce the value they get with their subscriptions.
The marketing campaign pushed people to engage with news content on the Web site through the app, e-mails, SMS, and alerts. Digital ads included taglines like “Prepare. Connect. Pull Through TOGETHER” and “Coverage that calms before, during, and after the storm.”
Results during the storm
The marketing campaign succeeded greatly for The News-Press and Naples Daily News. The SMS Insider Group grew to 7,700 people in the first five days of its launch.
Perhaps an even better indicator of success was the dozens of notes that poured into the newsroom thanking the news team for providing such a valuable service. Messages included someone saying the texts were the only means of communication they had about the storm for days after it hit and others from people who, thanks to the updates, knew their family members were safe in places like Fort Myers, Naples, and Saint Augustine.
News alert sign-ups in the state of Florida also increased by 1,190, which is a 15% growth. Gannett also saw a 45% increase in new app downloads due to the campaign. By comparison, the USA Today Network overall saw an increase of 1.8% during the same time. Specifically in Florida during the actual week of the storm, Gannett saw app downloads total 6,077 compared to a weekly average of 3,500.
During the campaign, registered native app users grew 353% in Florida compared to 45% for the USA Today Network overall. Florida saw registered app users grow from 7,749 to 35,132. That’s a growth of 27,383 users. During the same period, the rest of the USA Today Network grew registered app users by 26,473.
After the storm
Within seven weeks after the storm, Gannett gained 4,000 new digital subscribers. That’s a lift of 53% on new digital subscribers compared to trends pre-storm.
Some 143,000 subscribers received e-mails sent to drive engagement, and Gannett saw an open rate of 45% and a click-through rate of 6.5%. More than 17% of subscribers clicked on the links in the text messages about storm coverage, and 54% engaged with the live blog. Additionally, 12.5% engaged with stories about clean-up and staying safe.
E-mails about services Gannett offers proved to be more challenging in engaging subscribers: Just 2% of subscribers engaged with an e-mail about downloading the app and 8% with an e-mail about the e-newspaper.