Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com • January 21, 2019 • Hartford Business Journal 11 FOCUS move from one part of their journey to another in a nonlinear fashion. They are narrowing and broadening their consideration set in unique and unpredictable moments, often turning to devices to get immediate answers. And when they do, they are expressing intent and reshaping the traditional marketing funnel along the way. That means that a mix of different marketing and advertising tactics matter at many different stages along the customer's journey. Lever- aging data to redefine the journey can help to better understand the customer experience and when to serve them content, ads, thought leadership, social posts or that next email in the queue. And the jour- ney must continue throughout the purchase stages and beyond when they become a customer to increase loyalty. We know that retaining exist- ing customers is far more productive than prospecting for new business, and your journeys can help create a plan, and measurement model, to do that. Finally, data can be used to better support the implementation of tech- nology, not technology to solve the data challenge. Combining quantita- tive and qualitative data can help you learn about your audience to rein- force or own what you do differently. The adoption of marketing tech- nology, such as client relationship management systems, and digital tactics, including programmatic or AI-driven, account-based marketing campaigns, can be premature if busi- nesses have not yet done the work to define a path their customers take to purchase and beyond. Kara Mitchell is a principal of client services at Avon advertising and communications firm Mintz + Hoke. Quality Construction Builds Repeat Customers www.borghesibuilding.com © 2011 BlueScope Buildings North America, Inc. All rights reserved. Butler Manufacturing™ is a division of BlueScope Buildings North America, Inc. 2155 East Main Street • Torrington, Connecticut 06790 Mozzicato Retail, Rocky Hill, CT | 2014 | Renovation — 6,000 sq. ft. Mozzicato Bakery/Retail, Plainville, CT 2010 | 4,700 sq. ft. Farmington Bank, Plainville, CT 2010 | 2,700 sq. ft. Contact us at 860-482-7613 or visit us on the web. A general agency of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual), Springfield, MA 01111- 0001. Not a subsidiary of MassMutual or its affiliated companies. Insurance products issued by MassMutual, Springfield, MA 01111, and its subsidiaries, C.M. Life Insurance Co. and MML Bay State Life Insurance Co., Enfield, CT 06082. Securities offered through MML Investors Services, LLC, Member SIPC and a MassMutual subsidiary. Supervisory Office: 330 Whitney Avenue, Suite 600, Holyoke, MA 01040. 413-539-2000. CRN202011-222361 Charter Oak Financial www.charteroakfinancial.com Our name has changed, but our commitment to you has not. At Charter Oak Insurance and Financial Services Co., we are committed to delivering the guidance you need to help reach your financial goals. And while our name has changed to Charter Oak Financial, our focus is still on you. To take a step toward building your financial future, contact us today. entering into commercial printing contracts with other newspapers. "There's tremendous value in the print advertising market, but it's not the only thing we're selling on the advertising end," he said. While digital advertising revenue at newspapers is growing, the growth has been too slow to offset the decline of print, experts say. Total U.S. newspaper advertising revenue peaked at $49.4 billion in 2005 and fell to $16.5 billion by 2017, according to Pew Research. Advertising revenue from Tribune Publish- ing's newspapers business segment fell 24 percent between 2015 and 2017, figures show. Tribune sold the Los Angeles Times and San Diego Union-Tribune in 2018 and bought the New York Daily News in 2017. Richard Hanley, a journalism professor at Quinnipiac University, said Connecticut's economy and the decline of brick-and-mortar retail, including stalwart print advertisers like Sears, have increased the financial pressure on local newspapers. Papers the Courant's size have it especially tough because they lack the scale that digital advertisers seek, he said. "Papers of that size are really caught in a trap, … too small for a regional or national following like the (New York) Times or the Washington Post or the Wall Street Journal, yet too big to fund through a dwindling pool of local advertising," he explained. Hanley said the Courant, like many newspapers, has made up for falling revenues largely by cutting its work- force "but there comes a point when cutting the workforce no longer works. Then what are you produc- ing?" he asked. Julien said Tribune doesn't release employment numbers at induvial papers, but over the last decade the Courant has closed its regional news bureaus and laid off dozens of journalists. HBJ reported in 2014 that Cou- rant newsroom staffing levels peaked in 1994 at 400 employees and dropped to 135 employees in 2009. Tri- bune Publish- ing offered the latest buyouts in November after the company reported a $4.2 million third-quarter loss. The Courant has not publicly disclosed how many of its employ- ees took the offer, but according to information posted on Connecticut media industry blog The Laurel, the list included Editorial Page Editor Carolyn Lumsden, Op-ed and Sunday Opinion Editor Peter Pach, as well as a listings editor, four reporters and two photographers. The downsizing comes as cross- state rival Hearst newspapers has been aggressively expanding its footprint in Connecticut and beef- ing up its reporting on politics, state government and high school sports. In the last year, Hearst has also hired Continued on next page >> The Hartford Courant calls 285 Broad St. home. HBJ PHOTO | JOE COOPER

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