COVID WIN: $195,000 for small-market newspaper

Dec 1, 2020

The Pilot is a 10,000-circulation paper out of Southern Pines, North Carolina, publishing twice a week.
This year was The Pilot s 100th anniversary, and the COVID pandemic resulted in a year unlike any other.
This year’s Best of the Pines revenue increased 38% from the previous year. (Yes — even during COVID!) They generated $144,000 in revenue, 120,000 nominations, and more than 236,000 votes. It was so successful it spawned a spinoff campaign called People of the Pines in January.
They switched their concept to different monthly family-themed photo contests such as Grandparent’s Day and Back to School. The results were even better, and not only did Chick-fil-A continue sponsoring this year’s campaign, but they even signed on for another year.
The $15,000 Home Free for a Year contest attracted the targeted audience their sponsor wanted and, with email opt-ins and lead-gen questions, they drove 400 new hot leads. The real estate agency was so impressed that they signed on as the sponsor for 2021, too.
The quiz saved $2,100 in revenue, and with lead-gen questions and email opt-ins, they identified a list of hot leads of people who asked to be contacted about a personalized interior design consultation.
On top of their sponsorship investment, the sponsoring businesses provided a special coupon/offer to include with the thank-you email. They secured $1,500 from this campaign ($300 per advertiser) and generated fantastic leads for local businesses during an especially hard time.
This year, Pilot staff launched their birthday club campaign, and it has already tripled the email audience! They currently have three local sponsors (smoothie shop, pizza restaurant, gifts and decor store) and each provides a special coupon via email.

MEGAN BLACK 
Content Manager | Second Street

The Pilot is a 10,000-circulation paper out of Southern Pines, North Carolina, publishing twice a week. This year was their 100th anniversary, and the COVID pandemic resulted in a year unlike any other.

While they had originally planned on just running their Best of the Pines citywide ballot, they were inspired by other successes and decided to create an expanded plan.

BEST OF THE PINES (CITYWIDE BALLOT)

With the COVID-19 pandemic impacting nearly everything in the community, the Pilot staff was hesitant to run the Best of the Pines this year. It felt strange to ask these small community businesses to advertise when they literally didn’t know if they would still be in operation in a month.

In spite of their doubts and concerns, they set a goal of $130,000 in advertiser revenue and focused on industries like roofers, exterminators and plumbers — industries that weren’t seeing a dip with the pandemic.

Not only did they sell digital ballot ad spots, they also celebrated the Winners’ Phase by selling ad spots in their winners’ publication, as well as some other creative sponsorship options. In addition, they created a social-distanced event to celebrate all the winners with guests invited in specific 30-minute scheduled intervals.

This year’s Best of the Pines revenue increased 38% from the previous year. (Yes — even during COVID!) They generated $144,000 in revenue, 120,000 nominations, and more than 236,000 votes. It was so successful it spawned a spinoff campaign called People of the Pines in January.

MONTHLY PHOTO CONTESTS

For the last year, they’ve worked to lock in the local Chick-fil-A to run a Student Athlete of the Month photo contest. This really engaged local families, but once COVID hit, they needed to adapt.

They switched their concept to different monthly family-themed photo contests such as Grandparent’s Day and Back to School. The results were even better, and not only did Chick-fil-A continue sponsoring this year’s campaign, but they even signed on for another year.

HOME FREE FOR A YEAR SWEEPSTAKES

The Pilot capitalized on Second Street’s National Sweepstakes program to drive leads for a local realtor. This real estate agent had never spent with them before and sponsored the campaign for $3,000.

The $15,000 Home Free for a Year contest attracted the targeted audience their sponsor wanted and, with email opt-ins and lead-gen questions, they drove 400 new hot leads. The real estate agency was so impressed that they signed on as the sponsor for 2021, too.

QUIZ: HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT BOURBON?

Eloise Trading Company was going to sponsor their College Hoops campaign, but with COVID changing the season, they needed to pivot. They pitched a quiz about bourbon trivia with the prize of a $100 gift card.

The quiz saved their $2,100 in revenue, and with lead-gen questions and email opt-ins, they identified a list of hot leads of people who asked to be contacted about a personalized interior design consultation.

WHAT SHOULD YOU GET YOUR MOM FOR MOTHER’S DAY? QUIZ

This Mother’s Day quiz created a fantastic opportunity to drive exposure for advertisers during COVID-19. They secured five industry-exclusive sponsors for the campaign and crafted each of the quiz results to tie in with one of the advertisers.

On top of their sponsorship investment, the sponsoring businesses provided a special coupon/offer to include with the thank-you email. They secured $1,500 from this campaign ($300 per advertiser) and generated fantastic leads for local businesses during an especially hard time.

BIRTHDAY CLUB

This year, Pilot staff launched their birthday club campaign, and it has already tripled the email audience! They currently have three local sponsors (smoothie shop, pizza restaurant, gifts and decor store) and each provides a special coupon via email.

As local businesses continue to feel the effects of the pandemic, the ability to offer targeted exposure and qualified leads is incredibly important. We’re thrilled to have this unique tool to provide highly valuable results and ROI for our advertisers.

Megan Black is the content manager at Second Street, an audience engagement software platform used by over 4,000+ companies. megan@secondstreet.com