“Old media” like newspapers, broadcast television advertising and nonprofit appeals are moving in the right direction by forming alliances with social media, mobile and other emerging platforms.
Our latest “Game Changers” review of important news developments looks at recent changes that are impacting both old and new media in a positive way. Here are four transformations worth keeping an eye on.
The New York Times and Paid Content
The New York Times announced last week that it will begin charging for online content starting in January 2011. The Wall Street Journal, Consumer Reports and a handful of other publications already charge for some or all of their content. PM Digital’s Chris Paradysz predicted in a prior blog post that this would become a trend in 2010 – the NY Times move announced this week supports that. As a long-time reader of the NY Times, I have watched the steady shrinkage of the paper. Some of this has been due to cost-cutting and, more recently, fewer advertisements. Circulation is down, too. Surely the NY Times needs a new business model to withstand these circumstances. Should the paper ever wither away and shut down, it would be a real loss of quality content. I support the Times’ new fee structure and definitely plan on paying for it.
Text Donations and the Evolution of Payment
Texted donations brought millions of dollars in aid for Haiti. American Red Cross’ 90999 and UNICEF’s 20222 raised considerable sums though this method. Based on the amount of individual donations received through texting, it appears that the simplicity and speed millions experienced in making their donations this way is appealing. Another success driver is ease of advertising, which was done widely on TV. Also notable is that the 90%+ abandon rates typically seen with website donations were not a factor with the texting method.
Last week was a busy one in the search world. 
Most online marketers are comfortable with the measurement and metrics behind traditional click-based programs like paid search. Less rigorously measured and discussed is activity from social media sites like user-generated links and comments placed on sites like Twitter, Facebook and StumbleUpon. While social media as a channel presents unique challenges to measurement, there are several tactics marketers can take to start measuring the impact of social media on their business.