How three publishers transformed their advertising strategies

Soccer America, Richland Source, and The Colorado Sun are quite different publications with unique business models. But, each had one thing in common — the need for strategic guidance to improve their advertising and sponsorship strategies. 

The background: Soccer America was founded in 1971 as a print publication. The team began publishing online in the mid-1990s and transitioned to a digital-only model in the summer of 2017 when they published their final print magazine. They live and breathe soccer stories in the United States and around the world. 

Richland Source is a for-profit digital publication founded in 2013 that serves the community of North Central Ohio. 

The Colorado Sun is a nonprofit publication based in Denver, Colorado, that serves the entire state of Colorado. 

Each publication was at a different stage in its advertising strategy. However, each received strategic guidance tailored to its unique needs and was able to drive significant results during the seven-week sprint of the Revenue Development Program’s Ads and Sponsorships Track. 

The bottom line: 

Richland Source sold out its newsletter sponsorships for six months for a total of about $12,000. Overall, the team saw their average weekly ad revenue jump by almost 60% during the sprint. 

Soccer America increased its average weekly revenue from direct-sold display ads on the site and in newsletters by 219%. 

The Colorado Sun increased its average weekly revenue from direct-sold display ads on the site and newsletters, as well as event sponsorships by nearly 175%. 

The big picture

Doug Murdock is Soccer America’s Director of Ad Sales, Marketing, and Social Media. He handles reader engagement strategy by managing tasks such as ad generation, scheduling and placement of newsletter banner ads and dedicated email blasts, and posting content to social media. 

Soccer America was exploring ways to reach new readers, so Murdock applied for the RDP to increase ad revenue and learn more about sponsorships, underwriting, and media kit optimization and customization. 

Sylvia Harmon is the Director of Sales and Community Partnerships at the Colorado Sun. The Sun has a team of 25, and Harmon’s job is to work with advertisers and find prospects to advertise to its readers. Her primary goal when applying for the RDP was to learn about incorporating more options for increasing revenue with the tools they already had access to.

Audrey Longstreth is the Director of Business Development at Source Media Properties, the home of Richland Source, Ashland Source, and Knox Pages. All revenue flows through her department. Richland Source has a robust mix of revenue streams, including memberships, advertising and marketing services, a newsroom partner program that drives support from local businesses, and a philanthropic side through its partnership with Ground Truth as a fiscal sponsor. Longstreth’s team includes two dedicated sales reps, a client support specialist, and a head of community investment who manage the aforementioned revenue buckets. She’s been in the role for three years, having previously served as an Account Executive with Richland Source for three years. 

While exploring more of a shared voice and targeted approach to their advertising strategy, Longstreth and her team adopted Broadstreet as Richland Source’s new advertising platform, which integrates with Newspack. Because they were in the process of making changes to their advertising strategy and rethinking aspects such as pricing and their value proposition, they applied for the RDP because the timing of the next Ads and Sponsorship Track cohort aligned. 

Getting to the next level: Each Revenue Development Program cohort starts with an initial sprint, marking the beginning of a year-long program. The sprint provides publishers with guidance they can use to establish clear goals and a strategy to reach them.

During the sprint, Longstreth, Harmon, and Murdock received support from the Newspack team, their Blue Engine Collaborative coaches, and other members of their cohorts who helped them refine their revenue growth strategies. 

Murdock and his team put the program’s lessons into action; they created sales collateral for both general use and with a focus on the 2026 World Cup, and they established a special ad pricing structure for the sport’s most anticipated moment. “We’re in production of a twice-weekly podcast in conjunction with a veteran broadcaster and content contributor. We’ve sent surveys to our paid subscribers and promotional list to collect demographic info and mainly to engage them and gauge their interest in subsets of soccer (e.g., U.S. national teams, MLS, NWSL, European leagues),” said Murdock. It’s been about three months since their sprint ended, and they continue to make changes based on their learnings. 

Longstreth and Harmon each found the exercises on building a strong value proposition helpful.

“It really helped us make this mindset shift in the way we are communicating to our customers,” said Longstreth.

Longstreth and her team completely updated their advertising page with new messaging. They also changed their approach to selling their newsletter, which was originally a product they sold to clients who didn’t have much of a budget. Now they sell it as their most valuable product. 

The Colorado Sun covers news for the entire state of Colorado. Most of its readers live in the state. During the value proposition exercises, Harmon realized their advertising sweet spot was Colorado companies that wanted to reach Colorado readers. “So, that’s helped us focus our story a bit more,” said Harmon. “It makes us unique compared to other entities.” 

Harmon and her team were in the process of organizing the Sun’s annual SunFest event when she had the idea to do a different kind of event for first-time homebuyers, using their new value proposition to attract local Colorado companies. During her RDP sprint, she also learned that Newspack offers an option to insert ads based on story tags. She thought, “People reading housing stories, they might be interested in investing in real estate or know someone who might be a first-time homebuyer.” 

The result: Harmon and her team had booked some advertising for the homebuyers event during the SunFest. But their learnings from the RPD and advice from their coach helped increase that advertising number by nearly 50% to $18,500 by making small adjustments to their sales strategy. Overall, they were able to increase their weekly average ad revenue during the sprint, compared to three months prior, by nearly 175% due to the strategic shifts they made based on learnings in the RDP.

Meanwhile, Richland Source saw inspiring results based on the changes they made to their newsletter ads and sponsorship strategy. “Our growth in newsletter purchases is a direct result of the RDP. We changed our entire approach to newsletters,” said Longstreth. “We started talking about it as our most valuable product. We had never done that before, and we were able to sell that instantly.” 

Longstreth and her team updated the available advertising options for newsletters, including the addition of a presenting sponsor ad at the top of the newsletter and three more ad positions that allow them to rotate different advertisers into the newsletters. After implementing these changes, they sold out Richland Source’s newsletter sponsorships for six months for a total of nearly $12,000.  

Based on the tactics Soccer America learned during their RDP sprint, Murdock and his team increased their weekly average revenue after the sprint, compared to three months prior, by 219%.

Working together to find solutions

Before the RDP, Longstreth felt that they were “missing the mark” on their advertising strategy, and the program helped them cross the finish line by honing in on their value proposition and helping them gain clarity around questions they had about how to price their products. 

“Being part of the RDP sprint was a great way of just spurring more ideas in my own head for working with clients. And a lot of the exercises they had us do, for instance, the one about value, I really loved it,” recalled Harmon. 

Murdock said, “I found the Ads/Sponsorships Track to be highly informative and extremely well-organized. Breakout sessions with smaller groups were helpful. The Goal Getter was the most useful tool because it distills and organizes projects very well, and is kinetic and evolving.” 

Regardless of the stage they were at with their advertising and sponsorship strategies, each of these publishers walked away from their RDP sprints with impressive results and tools they still use in their daily workflows. 

“What I love about the work of the Colorado Sun, Soccer America, and Richland Source teams is that it shows, resoundingly, that the RDP program can help any team, whether you are just starting with sponsorship/advertising or have a wealth of experience,” said RDP coach Ryan Tuck from Blue Engine Collaborative.

Tuck continued, “We coaches and the program meet you where you are, and we’re super excited to help you with your next incremental unlocks. Doug, Sylvia, Audrey, and their brilliant teammates show the wonderful results that await when you engage with a “test and learn” spirit of quickly experimenting, which is the core of the RDP program.”