Viral Marketing for Newspapers?

Not long ago, I stopped getting a number of e-newsletters and began subscribing to RSS feeds of business and news topics which interest me. Often these feeds are aggregated sources of news and I'll occasionally come across an article that I think I want to read, but it's behind a sign up page. Such was the case last night when I was catching up on the headlines and wanted to read an article on Credit Card Marketing that appeared in the LA Times.

After I finished the article, it occurred to me that newspapers should leverage this approach to drive subscriber leads.

Newspaper publishers should consider creating affiliate-type programs that provide tiered compensation for individuals or organizations that drive online sign ups. Perhaps a small fee for the lead, and a larger fee if the individual subscribes to the newspaper within 60-days. Given that published article links are spread by bloggers, as well as news aggregators, it seems like an excellent way to help drive site traffic and potentially subscribers. Plus, those who are going to take the time to sign up and read an initial article are likely to return to the site to read other articles.

I'm sure some newspaper publishers would argue that many access their online services in this manner are not good subscription candidates, because they're often not in the circulation area. Yet, I believe they would agree that the increased number of individuals at their website can support higher revenue opportunities online advertising. Either way, publishers win.

If you've done this or know of any such programs, I'd like to hear about your experiences.

Technorati Tags: Innovation Viral Marketing