That's A Lot Of Stamps: Newspapers Love Direct Mail

New Communications Review collects a number of reports of interest to marketers in this blog post, and one of the facts that jumped out at me was the amount of money spent on postage by US newspapers.

 The nation’s daily newspapers are spending nearly $1 billion on postage for services from the U.S. Postal Service, according to a national survey by the Newspaper Association of America. The survey says that newspapers spent more than $972 million in 2006 compared with $901 million in 2004 and $700 million in 2002. “Collectively, daily newspapers are a leading customer of the U.S. Postal Service and many of our member newspapers are the largest mailers in their local markets,” said John F. Sturm, president and CEO of the Newspaper Association of America. “Along with door-to-door delivery, on-street boxes, specialty publications and digital transmission, mail is one of many different platforms newspapers use to guarantee an audience to their advertising customers.” Read the entire article here.

$972 million, which rounds to a nice even billion, and then we go off to gnash our teeth and beat at our breast when we think about what could be done with that billion dollars if it were used in internet communications.  As is clear from the quote -- this does not include door-to-door delivery, on-street boxes, or the internet (lovingly described as digital transmission).

$1 billion dollars spent on postage by the newspaper business.  It staggers the mind.  Of course, it's clear from the article that more is going on than delivering newspapers.  Direct mail advertising is a big piece of the puzzle, accounting for almost all of that money - $713 to $785 million sent as part of a package deal to non-subscribers.

In essence, the newspapers are a big Direct Mail conglomerate.

Newspapers co-opted Direct Mail because they had advertisers who had a need for a greater product than the print edition delivered.  It's a very smart move, and one that a person not in the industry wouldn't realize had happened.  We know about Money Mailer, but who knew that Gannett sends out brochures on affordable siding for your home?

What remains a mystery is why newspapers haven't made this jump in the online world.  They have an internet product in their digital versions of the newspaper, but all they add if their own ads on their own pages. It's just the online version of the double-truck ad that car dealers buy for Labor Day Sales.

I've long been a proponent of newspapers, or radio stations, or anyone with a client list of advertisers adding a significant piece to their advertising packages concerning internet and mobile ads. Done well, newspapers could upsell 15-20% to a standard ad package and co-opt an entire new piece of the advertising puzzle.  They could do for blog advertising what they've already done for Direct Mail Advertising - become the biggest customer in the local market.

$1 billion for postage.  How much to sell advertisements using new technologies?