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Know Your Numbers

Part 1: What’s Your Newspapers True Reach

Ask a newspaper publisher how many people they reach and the first number comes to mind is circulation. That’s an important number — but today it’s only part of the story.

Readers are consuming local journalism in print, on your website, through an e-edition, in email newsletters, on Facebook and Instagram, and sometimes through video, apps or other digital products.

So here’s a question worth asking:

Do you know how many people your newspaper content really reaches? And just as importantly: Do you know where to find those numbers?

Over the next few weeks, CNA is going to help make that easier. We’ll look at a few basic measurements every newspaper should understand — website users and pageviews, newsletter subscribers and clicks, e-edition readers, social media reach and more. And we’ve created a simple Know Your Numbers worksheet to download and use as your guide. 

You don’t need to become a data analyst. You simply need to know which numbers matter, where to find them and how to connect it all to revenue. It matters because it gives your sales team something extremely valuable: the ability to clearly explain the reach and value of your local news media brand.

Start with two numbers:

  1. What is your current print circulation?
  2. How many individual users visited your website last month?

Write them down.  CNA created a simple Know Your Numbers worksheet to download and use as your guide.

Part 2:  Your Website Is More Than Pageviews

If a client asks how your website is performing, the first answer is often pageviews. Pageviews matter. But they don’t tell you how many people are actually visiting your site. One reader can generate multiple pageviews during a single visit, so if your goal is to understand your true digital audience, you need to look at a few numbers together.

The most useful are:

Users – the number of individual people visiting your website.

Sessions – the number of visits to your website.

Pageviews – the number of pages those visitors viewed.

Think of it this way: if one person visits your website three times in a month and reads five stories each time, that person creates one user, three sessions and 15 pageviews. That’s why pageviews alone can make your audience look larger than it really is.

For audience measurement, your best starting point is usually monthly users.

You can typically find this information in Google Analytics 4 or in the analytics dashboard provided by your website platform.

NUMBERS TO FIND

Log into your website analytics and record:

  1. Monthly users
  2.  Sessions
  3. Pageviews

Then compare them. You may be surprised by how much stronger your sales story becomes when you can say not only how much content is being consumed, but how many people are actually consuming it. CNA created a simple Know Your Numbers worksheet to download and use as your guide. 

Part 3:  Don’t Overlook Your Email and E-edition Audience

Some of your most valuable readers may be the ones choosing to have your content delivered directly to them. That makes email newsletters and e-editions especially important when you’re trying to understand your newspaper’s full audience. But once again, not every number means the same thing.

For email newsletters, start with:

Subscribers – the size of your email list.

Delivered emails – how many messages actually reached inboxes.

Unique clicks – how many individual recipients clicked on content or links.

Open rates can still be useful, but changes in email privacy settings have made them less reliable than they once were. Clicks are often a stronger indication that someone actively engaged with the message.

For e-editions, look for:

Unique users or readers – how many individual people accessed the edition.

Visits or sessions – how often readers returned.

Pages viewed or editions opened – how deeply they used the product.

These numbers are usually available through your email platform or e-edition provider’s analytics dashboard.

NUMBER TO FIND

Find and record:

  1. Your active email subscriber count
  2. Your average or most recent unique clicks
  3. Your monthly e-edition unique readers

If you can’t find those numbers, ask your vendor where they are located in the dashboard.

These are readers who have made an intentional choice to connect with your newspaper — and that makes them an important part of your audience story. CNA created a simple Know Your Numbers worksheet to download and use as your guide. 

Part 4:  Turn Audience Data Into a Sales Story

You’ve found your print circulation. You know your website users. You’ve checked your newsletter, e-edition and social media numbers.

Now what?

This is where audience measurement becomes a revenue tool. The goal is not to hand an advertiser a spreadsheet full of analytics. The goal is to confidently explain the reach and value of your newspaper across every platform.

For example, instead of saying:

“We have 7,500 circulation, 12,000 Facebook followers and 150,000 pageviews.”

Try building a clearer story:

“Our newspaper reaches local residents in print, online, through email and across social media. Last month, thousands of readers visited our website, our newsletters generated direct engagement and our social content reached audiences throughout the market.”

Then support that statement with your strongest numbers.

One important note: don’t simply add every platform together and call the result total audience. The same person may read the print edition, visit your website, open your newsletter and follow you on Facebook. Describe your numbers as audience across platforms rather than claiming one unduplicated total.

THIS WEEK’S CHALLENGE

Choose the five strongest audience numbers your sales team should know. Then write one sentence explaining what those numbers say about your newspaper’s reach.

Keep it simple. Keep it accurate. And make sure every salesperson knows how to explain what the numbers actually mean. Knowing your numbers isn’t just about reporting. It’s about proving the value of your local audience.

To help, download our Know Your Numbers worksheet to use as your guide. 

Local news commands big reach across Iowa and that reach is strongest when print and digital work together.