President’s report: C.N.A. exceeds Iowa sales goal by $1 million in 2020
Becky Maxwell
2020 INA Services Company President
Albia—Monroe County News
The mission of the INA Services Company is to advance the economic well-being of Iowa newspaper enterprises primarily through, research, promotion, and advertising sales. INA Services Company does business under the branded name Customized Newspaper Advertising, CNA. The team at CNA, is driven to increase sales, manage expenses and provide excellent customer service to members and clients. The team works as an extension of your sales staff as a member newspaper of the Iowa Newspaper Association.
In 2020, Customized Newspaper Advertising ended the year with total gross sales of $7,953,938. This number includes sales into Iowa, Wisconsin, and other states’ newspapers, digital advertising, classified and small space display network advertising. This is 11% higher than 2019!
Display advertising, defined as advertising that is placed by CNA staff into print or digital newspaper products across the state or country totaled $7,223,469. This includes more than $4.2 million sent specifically to Iowa newspapers, which was $1 million over the 2020 budget!
Iowa newspapers received more than $1.5 million in political and advocacy advertising this past year. This activity was driven by the Iowa Caucus and the national political cycle of 2020. In addition to the success in political advertising, Iowa newspapers had many wins in other categories of display advertising including sales from the Iowa Department of Public Health, Iowa Gambling Program, and the Iowa Governor’s Office COVID-19 campaign. CNA also continued its partnership with Wisconsin Newspaper Association and works as their sales arm increasing commission for CNA.
CNA commissioned a customized statewide Iowa readership survey with Coda Ventures in 2020. This statewide survey was used this fall by the CNA staff to present to political prospects. The compiled study will be available to member newspapers through our www.inanews.com.
CNA continues to focus on the classified and small space newspaper networks in Iowa, Michigan, and Wisconsin. The newspaper networks primary supports the association and the efforts of the CNA display department. Commission retained or revenue generated from the networks in 2020 was $511,789 or 40% below budget. This decline was primarily due to the closures of COVID-19. Sales into the newspaper networks are traditionally from three categories including recruitment, entertainment/ events, and home improvement. These three categories suffered many losses as events were cancelled and companies put hiring on hold. More than $100,000 in event advertising was cancelled in 2020.
More than 250 Iowa newspapers participate in either the classified or small space display networks. If your newspaper is interested in joining your colleagues in these programs, visit www.inanews.com/inadownloads