Help me help you – online

Kaity Holtman

Isn’t it funny how people in the news and advertising business are the worst about telling their customers about the products they offer to current as well as potential customers.

Self-promotion isn’t exactly our strong suit.

But sometimes, I just want to climb up to the top of the courthouse and shout to the whole county that we are what you’re looking for — no matter what it is you’re looking for.

Having worked on both the advertising and the advertiser sides of marketing, I’ve learned something that is helpful, and exhausting, at the same time: how people consume media and information is not “an age thing,” it is individual preference, over and over again.

We can’t make the blanket statement that young people are all online and retired people are all in print. I see proof every week that this is not true.

While there might be trends in how certain demographics collect news, it’s not a one-media-fits-all for each age or gender or career or status.

Some people consume all their news online or on their phone; some read the newspaper; some listen to the radio or watch TV.

I would guess the most accurate statement would be that everyone prefers multiple methods, and it’s our job to be in as many of those places as we can to be considered the No. 1 news source in Nodaway County.

So, in hopes of bringing more awareness to our products, I thought I’d discuss how we are in many of those places.

First and foremost, our print product hits mailboxes five days a week. That means news is news when it’s news.

Our reporting team works hard to put together pages of local news with state and national briefs, plus sports, opinion pieces, classified ads, display advertising, entertainment, public records and more in a neat, tidy, easy-to-read package every time we print.

Our website, maryvilledailyforum.com, expands our scope of possibilities and gives us a virtually unlimited reach.

Every month, our web traffic has continued to increase to the point where last month boasts more than 180,000 page views, which means an average of 6,500 page views and 3,700 visitors daily. (Visitors are unique to different devices. Page views, on the other hand, are how many pages each visitor clicks on.)

Those visitors access the website from devices of all kinds, and can even utilize our mobile web app.

Every day we put the digital version of our print publication on our website. Print and online subscribers can view these pages exactly how they appear in print, with the added benefit of reading them on the go, on whatever device they choose. That became very popular with “snow birds” headed south for the winter.

The Post also lives there as an e-edition for weeks after it’s printed, to give our advertisers a longer lifespan for their promotions.

While we are limited to usually one or two photos per story in print, we have the capability to put entire photo galleries online. Ballgames, festivals, parades, and a lot of other events offer the opportunity to take hundreds of photos, and to be able to share those with our online readers is rewarding.

We also offer an events calendar where users can submit their nonprofit events with all the details they wish to provide. Then other readers can search through events to get those details.

Breaking news is truly breaking news on maryvilledailyforum.com. The moment disaster or big announcements come our way, they go online so the community can be informed immediately.

While some articles or features are print-only, most news also goes online, which is easily shared via social media.

With unlimited possibilities online, we’re already taking advantage of polls, photo galleries, PDF flyers, featured photos, e-editions, forms to submit news, special sections and more.

But we have more exciting things coming down the pipeline, that’s a promise.

What I want to know from our readers is what you most need from us. How can we help you utilize our services more effectively? What would you like to see on our website? How can we become your No. 1 news source?

Email me at [email protected], or give me a call at the office to provide your feedback.