NEW YORK: A white paper relased by the Kelsey Group suggests that newspapers would be well advised to form online partnerships in order to stay competitive. The report notes that this strategy has worked in the past.
The report suggests that newspapers adapt their Web sites to attract customers who research products on the Web but then buy the items at a store. It suggested that newspapers take advantage of services that offer online coupons which can then be printed and redeemed in person at the point of purchase.
Michael Boland, a senior analyst at the research firm and one of the authors of the paper was quoted by MediaPost as saying that it was essential for newspapers to bring search technology to their sites.
"Right now, a lot of content and classified advertising is kind of buried," boland is quotes as saying. "There are a lot of interesting search technologies that can be used to bring search functionalities to a newspaper's Web site."
Boland also was quoted as saying that while newspaper advertising and classifieds have been traditionally based on leading offline conversions, new technologies are being developed to enable them to better reach new and existing customers online.
