DM Register - Are you an on-line reader or print? (Des Moines: townhomes, neighborhood)

[Lily0fthevalley]

HI All -

We're having to decide how to spend our advertising $ with the Des Moines Register. It's SO expensive!!! We're going to have to pick whether to pay for an ad on-line or in one Sunday paper.

Do you think most people these days read the Register on-line or the print format?

Do you read the Register at all? If so, what format do you use??

Yes, the Register has it's own statistics - but I wanted to hear (read) what you all have to say.

Thanks!

[Stavemaster]

I read it online to keep up with things back home, but living in California I'm probably not your target demographic.

Reading it online has become significantly less fun this last month now that they require logging in through facebook to make comments. I'd probably stop altogether if I knew of any better source for news in IA.

[DMRyan]

The Cedar Rapids Gazette is really not a bad paper. Still locally owned, great online content. Definitely Eastern Iowa-oriented, but there seems to be a fair share of stories from Des Moines and around the state as well.

[capitalcityguy]

Receive the daily at home each morning. I only check on-line if I"m aware of some breaking news that might be on there. We live in as small neighborhood (25 townhomes) and I've taken note of the paperboy driving through and I would estimate that 60 - 70% of homes get the newspaper. That said, if the demographics of my neighborhood dont' meet those of your target audience, this information is really not that useful.

[duster1979]

I glance at the headlines. In fact, todays headline was "Ape Trust in Crisis" and directly below the article was a picture of the new Martin Luther King memorial. The picture was above the fold and the caption for the picture was below the fold so at a glance it appeared that the MLK photo was related to the Ape Trust story. If Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton noticed it I'm sure they'll be on a plane to Des Moines this afternoon.

But to answer your question - now that we live in SE Iowa the only time I look at the Register is online, and only if I've heard about something happening in the Des Moines area and want to find more information. When we lived in the DSM area I read the print version cover-to-cover daily at work (being high-volume advertisers we had a free subscription) but probably never would have read it if I didn't have that access to it. I never remember going to the website.

What's your target demographic? I think most people my age and up will still pick up the Sunday paper and read it cover to cover, but the under-40 crowd is probably more likely to go online and browse the headlines looking for itmes that interest them.

And for what it's worth - not saying that I'm in the majority here - I very seldom notice the ads when I look at something online.

[Lily0fthevalley]

Well, hmmm, desired demographic is people interested in attending annual festivals at historic sites. Expected demographic is families with children under 13 and people over 50. Hoped for demographic is everyone who can be lured to a history related event with no alcohol!

(Our 46th annual Fall Festival historically gets between 2000 and 5000 people, and should be pretty fun. We don't do it for income - just cover our costs. If you want more info, please DM me!)

[duster1979]

If you buy an ad, go for the print.

But what you really need to do is look at it differently. You don't want them to do you a favor by selling you advertising; rather, you need to do them a favor by letting them do a story on your festival! Many papers want you to buy an ad before they write you up, but I'm guessing that they have a non-profit rate. They do have a section that lists upcoming events, I think it come out on Thursday, I used to read it frequently when looking for things to do on a weekend off.

Also, build a network of local newspapers and radio stations. Most of these have community calendars where they will list your event at no charge.

[Harpoon]

I get the Sunday Register only, and rarely view the dm register website. There are countless other outlets that I use to get news, including twitter.

[Lily0fthevalley]

Thanks for info and advice you guys!

Duster - I've been doing this for YEARS, and have never had to pay for PR in newspapers before. I send out PSAs and Press Releases, and even have written regular columns for local newspapers. This has always worked in the past.

But in 2011, it seems that newspapers are struggling financially so badly that they don't do community service anymore. I sent a round of PR to area newspapers for an event in June and got NO mention anywhere. In fact, one newspaper responded by sending their advertising rates. We are constandly being hounded for advertising - by the local paper, by other area papers, and by the DM Register. Even local radio is charging for what they used to do for free. I find it really shocking.

We do have a website and facebook page and put events on the free community events banners on local TV.

Given the current situation, we have to decide how, or if, to spend $ on newspaper advertising.

If you look at it from a historical perspective, it is sad - the central role newspapers used to play in communities has really changed. And the free social media function very differently and address a different sort of community than the geographic community. And for those of us who rely on the geographic community for support - these changes in communication patterns have created difficulties.

But that's a different conversation. Sorry, moderator!!

[El Rhino]

I'm a "I know someone else will bring it into work and leave it in the break room so I'll read it there" kind of guy.