Saturday, May 01, 2010

Bend Bulletin: Creative Circulation Growth

Editor & Publisher reports that the Bend Bulletin has increased its circulation 34% in just one year. Not it's readers, but its circulation.

Starting this year the Audit Bureau of Circulations will combine print circulation and e-circulation. The Bend Bulletin has offered an e-edition since 2005, but its subscription strategy changed in 2008.

Previously a print subscription went for $10.50/month and the e-edition subscription for $8.00/month. But, the Bend Bulletin now offers both subscriptions for only $0.50/month more than the print subscription alone.

A lot of subscribers thought that was a good price for the convenience of having both editions and signed on for the extra $0.50/month. If $8.00/month is way overpriced for a non-print edition, $0.50/month was an attractive deal if you wanted the print edition anyway.

Now that ABC is accepting e-circulation as part of the circulation total, the Bend Bulletin's circulation jumped a third in a year. The daily (Monday-Friday) circulation increased from 32,682 in March 2009 to 43,895 in 2010.

Not a bad day's work without having to gain new readers.

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