Value of Viral Traffic: A Case Study

1. August, 2015
Jim Bernard, SVP Digital
Value of Viral Traffic: A Case Study

2. 2|
UniqueVisitorGrowth
“The unique visitor number tells one story quite well—and begs another.
What is the business value of that traffic increase? How’s it doing in
monetizing those new readers?”
Ken Doctor, Is the Washington Post closing in on the Times?
http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/media/2015/08/8573545/washington-post-closing-times

3. 3|
Eagle/Lion Case Study

4. 4|
• Eagle

5. 5|
The Eagle
• Dramatic picture of Eagle in local veterans cemetery was covered by
staff columnist and then caught viral attention twice. The first wave was
on publishing in 2011 and the second was independent viral activity on
Facebook in 2015.
• Three or four assets: stories, follow up stories, one photo
• Reach: 1M visitors for 1.5m pv total
• Round 1 (2011) -- 300k visitors for 500k pv
• Round 2 (2015) -- 700k visitors for 1M pv

6. 6|
0
200,000
400,000
600,000
800,000
1,000,000
Jun-11 Dec-11 Jun-12 Dec-12 Jun-13 Dec-13 Jun-14 Dec-14 Jun-15
PageViews
Total Facebook
FB 51K, 16%
FB 633K, 70%

7. 7|
• Lion

8. 8|
The Lion
• Local (to us) dentist and game hunter kills famous lion in Zimbabwe and
outrage explodes including local protests. Over the course of a week
the story evolves.
• Dozens of assets: articles, photo galleries, videos, “Google bombs”
• Reach: 800k visitors on 1.5M pageviews

9. 9|
Entry on Story
97% 77%
Non - Minnesota
99% 92%
Facebook
75% 7%
Google
37%3%

10. 10|
Handset
74% 34%
Non-Subscriber
1% 92%

11. 11|
RelativeincrementaladvertisingvalueofLionandEagle
Indexedto“normal”advertisingvalueof100
83
97
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100

12. 12|
9
82
-
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
RelativeincrementalcirculationvalueofLionandEagle
Indexedto“normal”circulationvalueof100

13. 13|
140
All device
Average
Index 100
20
110
REVENUE PER VISIT
350
340
Sub All device
Average 280
350
REVENUE PER SUBSCRIBER VISIT
160
270
Non Sub All device
Average 70
100
350
REVENUE PER NON-SUBSCRIBER VISIT
10
70
Relative visit value of ST traffic
Indexed to average visit value of 100, June 2015

14. 14|
Observations
• Not all traffic is created equal: we should invest where we create the
most business value.
• Subscriber engagement and handset monitization are foundation layers
and impact both viral and core revenue potential.
• Non-core viral audience is less profitable but still incrementally helpful.
• Facebook is a handset game, so all solutions (aud growth, FB instant,
etc) should be seen in the light of handset revenue (which is poor).

15. 15|
Subscriptions and ad services are driving digital revenue
Display revenue under pressure due to less inventory, lower yield;
growth coming from direct consumer and marketing services.
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 ROY
Display Ads Adv Services Circulation

16. 16|16|
Jim Bernard
SVP, Digital
Jim.bernard@startribune.com
@bernardjim