Online Daily News Platform YourNews Grows Its Affiliate Network with Mapline
The Company
YourNews set out to be an online, daily newspaper accessible for nationwide audiences by Zip Code.
YourNews, an online news platform, began as an idea in 2001. Today, it offers news to a nationwide audience by Zip Code. Readers can access newsworthy content by subject and geography, including city, county, state, region, and international locations.
The Goal
Sam Anthony, CEO and president of YourNews, set out to create an online daily newspaper in as many markets as possible. To achieve his goal and gain affiliates who could help serve news to a nationwide audience, Anthony needed to visualize his market data on a map.
The Challenge
Anthony needed a way to show advertisers and network affiliates the opportunities available with YourNews.
While newspapers may seem like an ordinary part of society, Anthony spotted a problem. He and many experts argue print journalism is no longer sustainable. Why?
The Silent Generation and baby boomers are loyal print newspaper readers. However, millions of older Americans die each year, and no one is stepping up to replace them as younger generations prefer to consume news digitally. At the same time, promoters who traditionally purchased ads in newspapers find it difficult to reach their intended audiences on the printed page. Many opt to advertise with online media platforms to engage younger news consumers.
The Silent Generation and baby boomers are loyal print newspaper readers. However, millions of older Americans die each year, and no one is stepping up to replace them as younger generations prefer to consume news digitally. At the same time, promoters who traditionally purchased ads in newspapers find it difficult to reach their intended audiences on the printed page. Many opt to advertise with online media platforms to engage younger news consumers.
To serve this growing necessity for online local news, Anthony needed to improve how he communicated the essential mission of YourNews with potential network affiliates and advertisers. He wanted a way to visualize his markets, improve his sales presentations, and simplify his data and information for clients—he just didn’t know it.
“I didn’t know I had a problem,” said Anthony. “I wasn’t looking for a solution—in fact, someone recommended Mapline to me. I tried it, and I realized it made life a lot easier. Mapline is the best thing I ever did for my business.”
“I didn’t know I had a problem,” said Anthony. “I wasn’t looking for a solution—in fact, someone recommended Mapline to me. I tried it, and I realized it made life a lot easier. Mapline is the best thing I ever did for my business.”
“Everyone knows print newspapers are going to be gone. What they don’t know is how the world is going to change and what’s going to replace them. Our online product is built to replace the daily newspaper in every market nationwide by Zip Code.”
The Solution
His Mapline Plus Plan lets Anthony plot affiliates within his markets, visualize boundaries, and help his clients stay competitive.
With Mapline, Anthony has a clear, visually appealing map to enhance presentations with prospective clients and organize his growing number of territories and affiliates. What started as a recommendation from a colleague turned into the key Anthony needed to transform his strategy and meet his business goals.
Now, he can map his markets and easily share visuals with clients, so they gain a better understanding of opportunities, competitor territories, and much more.
Now, he can map his markets and easily share visuals with clients, so they gain a better understanding of opportunities, competitor territories, and much more.
“I show potential affiliates the map to start, just to show them how many markets we’re in and how we’re expanding,” said Anthony. “And my advertisers have the ability to see all the current markets we’re in with local news and local promotion.”
Pins Help Visualize Network Affiliate Locations
According to Anthony, a picture is worth a thousand words. “When people see it, they believe it,” he said about his data visualizations. That’s why the entrepreneur relies on Mapline’s pin feature to mark his affiliate locations and alert him to markets that are still available to interested clients. Pins on a map not only make data more visually appealing but also reveal trends and insights that would be difficult to spot in an Excel spreadsheet.
In addition, Mapline’s labeling tool helps Anthony take data visualization to the next level. It allows him to add custom labels to pins with call letters belonging to his network affiliates.Creating County Boundaries Lays a Foundation for Growth
With boundary mapping, Anthony gains greater visibility into his geographic territories. For him, this means he always knows which affiliates have claimed certain counties or Zip Codes. And clients can share in this knowledge, too.
“Now I show potential clients my affiliate map and say, ‘Let me tell you how you fit in,’” said Anthony.
Mapline’s boundary mapping tool doesn’t stop there. It helps people like Anthony make smarter decisions by offering features that overlay or segment data and provides country-specific maps for international business.Color-Coded Boundaries Offer a Competitive Edge
Assigning colors to boundaries helps focus your attention when data gets overwhelming. Mapline’s custom color coded maps give users the ability to choose different colors to represent geographical boundaries.
Because Anthony adds pins and boundaries as his business grows, he needed a way to distinguish between available counties and counties in which competing network affiliates do business. Color coding those areas gave Anthony a way to help his clients stay one step ahead of the competition—and helped him tell a clearer story with his data.
“If you’re an advertiser, you want to know the markets I’m in. So, what am I going to do? Print out a spreadsheet? No, of course not. I’m going to use Mapline.”
The Results
Mapline has provided Anthony with powerful visuals that helped enhance his client relationships and expand his business.
When he started visualizing his data with Mapline, Anthony had a few pins across three or four counties. One year later, his pins total more than 65 and counting. He credits Mapline’s easy-to-use features and friendly customer support team for enhancing his communication with current affiliates and advertisers, as well as arming him with the powerful visuals to gain new clients. By growing his network, Anthony has been able to bring the local newspaper online for countless readers and solve a need in the evolving news market.
“I even added my affiliate coverage map to my email signature. Whenever I communicate with people via email, it’s always there so they can see it. The map makes everything real from my standpoint. And for me, that’s priceless.”
