Stratmark loyalty initiative targets newspaper subscribers

Stratmark launched “My Reader Rewards,” a program that allows newspaper subscribers to accumulate points with a periodical's advertisers, on March 9.

Debbie Snyder, VP of sales and marketing for the Dallas-based direct marketing agency, said that it is in negotiations with 14 media outlets to implement the program.

“We wanted to help newspapers obtain new subscribers and increase the retention of current subscribers,” she said. “So, by allowing subscribers to build equity in the program, and limiting eligibility for the rewards program to those who are current subscribers, we hope to achieve that.”

Stratmark's prior newspaper experience was on the media-buying side, Snyder said. Part of the company's goal is to increase the value of the print ads it places for clients, she said. Advertisers who take part in the program benefit from the newspaper's promotion of it, Snyder explained.

“We're hoping that this will augment the value that an advertiser receives from appearing in a newspaper,” she said. “It allows newspapers to show their advertisers quantifiable reports of how much traffic the program is driving to their store.”