It's true that many national newspapers have suffered in sales since the advent of online news and social media, in fact it's safe to say that majority have taken a knock. Yet instead of accepting this as fait accompli, Soccer Laduma has chosen to rewrite the script.
"I think too many people in the industry are listening to and even chiming in on the 'Newspaper is dead' mantra. It's an easy out for publications that are not willing to constantly relook the content they are putting out and, more importantly, listening to their readers," says Soccer Laduma's Head of Editorial, Clint Roper.
The year's second quarter ABC's reinforces this statement, as Soccer Laduma sees their sales remain steady year-on-year in comparison to 2014's Q2 numbers.
Click here to download ABC Circulation Comparison: April - June Q2 2014/2015 or view online
What's more is the newspaper does not have a subscription base and no bulk deals are done to aid its distribution.
With that in mind, it's no surprise that Soccer Laduma is the number one single copy sales newspaper in South Africa. The publication continues to be the leading single copy seller nationally and the gap is widening.
Distributors Allied Publishing's Managing Director Paul Peters commented, "Soccer Laduma's editorial fully understand what their readers want and therefore makes selling Soccer Laduma a pleasure. They will soon be the largest selling publication in South Africa. It already is the largest selling single copy publication."
ABC Single Copy Sales: April - June Q2 2014/2015
Of this success, Roper continues saying, "We are trying to create a network of content platforms that work well on their own but work so much better if consumed together. So your newspaper read is great on it's own, but works even better if you go and get the additional fresh and exclusive content we've put on the website, if you view an infographic on Facebook or if you watch the extra insight on SLTV. Added to that don't rule out the attention to detail on distribution."
Soccer Laduma are offering advertisers the same kind of loyalty that they so highly appreciate from their faithful audience. Advertisers are able to tap into this market, not only via their ever growing, ever evolving newspaper offering, but also on their highly interactive digital platforms.
"Newspapers need to realise that it's not so much about reporting news anymore, as a weekly it's impossible to compete with instant media, social media, TV, radio. The focus has to be on storytelling. We have to become better storytellers again to be able to demand a newspaper audience's attention," concludes Roper.
For more information on advertising with Soccer Laduma, email advertising@snl24.com/soccerladuma.
