Don't cut back on marketing research warns newspapers

An interesting piece of research comes by way of Reynolds Journalism institute which looks at what happens when newspapers cut back on investment in marketing.

Amongst its findings

1.A one percent cut in newsroom expenditures led to a .44 percent drop in revenue. A one percent cut in the ad sales force led to a revenue drop of .24 percent. A one percent cut in the distribution force led to a .08 percent drop in revenue.

2.he bigger the cuts, the impact on revenues gets progressively worse

3.Newsroom cuts are the most costly on profits. A 5 percent cut in news expenses led to a 1 percent drop in profits, while a 5 percent cut in advertising department budgets led to a .3 percent cut in profits.

Not surprisingly then that the reports recommendations

advised that newsrooms should be the last department cut. When cutting costs, newsroom cuts are by far the most damaging to revenues – and the longer the reductions occur, the greater the acceleration of damage.