Implementing a Multi-Channel Online Marketing Strategy to Increase Subscriptions

After undergoing a redesign for both its web site and print editions, The Wall Street Journal sought to leverage its expanded online presence to help increase the volume of paid print subscriptions – while simultaneously reducing the cost per order.

According to iMarketing LTD CEO Keith Kochberg, the Internet has opened the door to changing readership trends, while also creating new marketing opportunities that can drive growth for both online and print media. Kochberg and his team of experts recommended a coordinated multi-channel strategy for The Wall Street Journal, collaborating with the newspaper to implement and optimize a range of online marketing tactics simultaneously for maximum impact. Key campaigns included paid search, affiliate marketing and email marketing.

Paid Search

iMarketing’s paid search strategy was designed to drive traffic from search engines to designated landing pages on The Wall Street Journal’s web site, highlighting various print subscription offers. The agency deployed a number of optimization techniques to maximize performance in the search engines, including:

Keyword re-segmentation: iMarketing reviewed and re-segmented The Wall Street Journal’s existing keywords to align more closely with how consumers search for business news. Key “themes” were introduced, and used to break up and expand the keyword universe into more actionable segments. This included creating more focused ad copy, as well as developing new landing pages with copy matching the keyword phrases. Additional keywords and targeted article headlines were added to the landing pages to increase keyword density, and create a more relevant experience for the searcher. This had the added effect of increasing the Google quality score, further increasing campaign efficiency.

Boosted average ad placement by two positions while decreasing costs per click (CPC) by 5% and increased click-through rate (CTR) by 8%

{TIP: search engines reward relevance created by using keyword segments on your landing pages with better placements and lower costs per click}

Keyword search queries: To find the right audience, iMarketing analyzed typical search queries to track different variations of appropriate keywords, and to better understand how users were finding and reacting to The Wall Street Journal’s ads. This included studying exact consumer phrase usage with search query tools, and utilizing keyword match types (including exact, phrase and broad matches) to reduce cost per click and increase efficiency. The additional keywords found via these deep queries were placed into their own ad groups within the campaign, in order to qualify the results.

Increased orders at a lower cost per order (CPO) of 33% under target

Competitor bidding: iMarketing reviewed competitors’ keywords and created different variations of those competitor terms for The Wall Street Journal. Campaigns were built with ad copy to specifically sell The Wall Street Journal to the competitor audience. This worked to draw traffic away from the competition, generate immediate targeted exposure and solicit new orders in the most cost-effective way possible.

Increased order volume while maintaining cost per acquisition (CPA) that was 21% under target

{TIP: competitor bidding can be effective in adding incremental orders that might otherwise be lost to competitors}

Offer testing: iMarketing worked with The Wall Street Journal team to develop a set of custom subscription offers for search, featuring varying price points, premiums and subscription lengths. iMarketing tested these variants across multiple keyword sets, to determine the best offers to use for particular keyword searches.

Increased conversion rates by 37%

Affiliate Marketing

To complement paid search efforts, iMarketing implemented an affiliate marketing program for The Wall Street Journal, working with affiliate partners to attract a wider audience across the Internet. iMarketing leveraged its database of affiliate partners to distribute subscription offers on thousands of third-party Web sites. Using its proprietary offer monitoring service, iMarketing ensured lead quality and maintained brand equity throughout the process.

iMarketing also worked with the affiliate base to test different combinations of offers and landing pages suited for the affiliate channel. This increased conversion rates by ensuring that The Wall Street Journal was featuring the best possible offers, and creating a consistent customer experience. iMarketing leveraged its years of experience in pioneering affiliate management to build a set of affiliate best practices, enabling an affiliate landscape mutually beneficial to both The Wall Street Journal and its affiliate marketing partners.

Increased affiliate-driven orders by 62.5% while reducing cost per order (CPO) by 19.9%

{TIP: don’t cannibalize your own efforts – control your affiliates’ bid prices to increase order volume at a fair price, and take control of the competitive search landscape}

Email Marketing

To drive additional sales volume, iMarketing tapped into its network of specialized email publishers to provide a series of cost-per-action (CPA) campaigns. Leveraging its own proven relationships, the agency was able to quickly launch and execute a comprehensive performance-based marketing strategy for The Wall Street Journal, delivering subscription offers directly to well-qualified, opt-in lists of prospective subscribers. By working with reputable sources that are in strict compliance with CAN-SPAM, iMarketing was able to exceed sales goals while simultaneously protecting The Wall Street Journal’s brand.

Steadily increased volume at a rate of 250% per month, while driving an additional 12.3% of order volume via email marketing for the year

iMarketing’s successful multi-channel strategy coordination and optimization garnered extraordinary results.

In an environment where many publishers saw print subscriptions decline, iMarketing helped The Wall Street Journal increase its total number of orders by 36.5%, and continued to see growth even when subscription rates increased.