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March 2007
Surveying readers is one of the most vital activities of any newspaper or magazine publisher. Conducting a readership survey will help you understand how well your publication is meeting the needs of your community. It can provide you with valuable information including demographics, readership patterns, and editorial subjects that will interest your readers. Once conducted, the results can provide a benchmark to measure future progress and will allow you to maximise your return on investment. Findings can also help convince advertisers to place an advert with you.
West Country Publications Ltd., owned by Daily Mail General Trust, one of the largest international media companies in the UK, uses Snap software to conduct a range of surveys including readership feedback. Snap is now one of the preferred survey software and outsourcing providers among DMGT companies with a collection of regional and national publications using its integrated solution and services.
Snap makes headline news
Roger Woodward, West County Publication’s Marketing Manager thinks the reason use Snap is because “…it is straightforward to learn and makes the production of professional looking, printed and e-mail surveys relatively quick.” The marketing team used Snap to conduct a successful readership survey in Devon Today magazine, after attending a one day training course. They were able to design, print, insert and analyse the results, all in-house. The survey was incentivised and a free-post mechanism was used to increase response rates. The findings were used by the Editorial working party to make various changes to the layout and contents of the publication. Other examples of the surveys they conduct in Snap are newspaper sales – cancellations, which is mailed to people cancelling home delivery and newspaper sales – perceptions of service. These types of surveys are used to improve service delivery thus increasing reader satisfaction.
The software is also used internally to find out employees’ views and opinions. Surveys such as training needs, the use of outlook and mobile computing are sent via email straight to the inbox of each employee and have proven to be extremely successful. Roger is a real advocate of research within the Newspaper society and thinks that surveys should be conducted more regularly so that the results remain relevant.
The good news is conducting email surveys within your organisation or customer database is now even easier with the introduction of Snap WebHost. Use this online survey management and analysis tool to publish web or email surveys and manage responses using invites, reminder schedules, logins and quotas.
For more information on Snap WebHost click here.