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Digital Readiness: What does it mean and why is it important?

Technology is constantly changing and advancing. How many times a year do you see a commercial for the next generation of the iPhone? As technolo­gy progresses, the adop­tion of new technologies is uneven. For example, in a world of iPhone and androids, the flip phone still exists. For an individual to adapt to new technology they must learn how to use it and trust it. This is an example of digital readiness. Are people pre­pared to adapt to changes in technology and how will that adaption happen?

In the media world, the segment we are fo­cused on for digital readiness is our print sub­scribers. Print subscribers are some of our most habitual readers. Imagine thousands of people across our commu­nity spending their mornings reading the paper front to back with a cup of coffee. The ques­tion is, how many of those readers follow our news throughout the day with our digi­tal platforms? Did you know that our print subscriptions include access to our web­site, E-Paper, and mobile app? Our goal is to bridge the gap of print only readers and digital readers by helping our print readers become “digital ready.”

The first thing to consider for print subscrib­er digital readiness is to make sure this group of people are comfortable with navigating the digital space. The recommended place to start is introducing the group to our E-Paper. The E-Paper is a digital replica of the printed product and an effective tool for digital read­iness. We offer classes and webinars to teach people how to log-in and activate their digital subscriptions to use the E-Paper. The second thing to consider is building trust with our print subscribers to engage with our digital. Print readers place emphasis on the feeling of com­pletion. When you read the paper front to back, you are up to speed on all you need to know in news for the day. To gain trust with our readers digitally, we can show how our digital products can give that feeling of completion, and addi­tionally keep them up to date through­out the day.

Digital readiness is important be­cause we can focus on helping our print readers maximize their subscriptions and access all the content available to them. We can also learn more about those readers based on their digital habits, and create a better experience for them as a whole.

****This article was written by Associate Director of Audience Growth, Claire Linney******

The Post and Courier has a new home! Effective September 1, 2021, The Post and Courier’s business offices, newsroom, advertising, marketing, and customer service departments will move to our new location at 148 Williman Street, Charleston, SC.

This move reflects our growing business and incredible support from advertisers like you!

Read more about our exciting move here.

August was an important month for all of us at The Post and Courier. From moving to a brand new office to celebrating the legacy of Mitch Pugh’s time here while welcoming Autumn Phillips into the Executive Editor role, we also hit a major (digital) milestone. We are now have more than 20,000 digital subscribers, so we’d like to share how we got here.

As of January 2016, we had just 1,027 digital subscriptions. And, one year later, we started working with the Pointer Project. From the beginning, we focused on growing our digital audience, both as a new growth and to activate our print subscribers digitally.  Between 2017 and January of 2020, we grew only by about 2,000 digital subscribers a year. Then, we were about to see some big change coming our way.

In 2020 we had several major changes that helped accelerate our growth, the first was our participation in the Facebook Accelerator program. This gave us coaches and a cohort to learn from and share ideas. The second was the addition of Stephanie Dill, our Digital Marketing Manager, who came on board in February of 2020. In January of 2020, for reference, we reported 7,814 digital subscriptions.

With the addition of a dedicated marketing person, the digital subscriber team was able to create engaging and unique content, harness the strong journalism content to attract an audience, foster the subscriber relationships we already had plus create a retention campaign, and encourage new conversions by way of newsletters, social media, contests, and events. Once in place, the Digital Subscription Team has worked closely with various departments to monitor our digital subscription growth and to constantly work towards the goal of getting The Post and Courier in as many hands as possible across the state. Today, that number exceeds 20,000.

We gather potential subscribers in a number of ways. One of the highest converters is our free newsletters throughout each of our markets based on various news topics of interest and frequencies. Not only do we get a good idea of what our readers are interested in, we also have a chance to encourage a reader to become a paid subscriber. Our highest converting newsletters are historically Business, Food, and Politics. We also include opt-ins on every event we host as well as in recap emails to attendees based on the topic.

Another way we encourage new opt-ins (and, of course, subscriptions) is through contests. With a special focus on our expansion markets, a contest allows us to give away a memorable prize but also encourages opt-ins to various newsletters depending on what we’d like to promote by market. For example, just this summer we ran a very popular statewide contest for a Grilling Bundle which earned us a combined 2,865 opt-ins to our newsletters. By gathering as many opt-ins as possible, we fill our marketing funnels with potential subscribers and can target them based on what we know they enjoy.

In addition, refining our social media by providing tracking and costs as well as taking on our lead gen process to encourage signups to newsletters across South Carolina has been another huge boost to our opt-ins and overall conversions.

We worked to create an onboarding plan that both informs and invites new subscribers to make the most of their subscriptions. By knowing the endless access and various benefits from contests to subscriber-exclusive events, each subscriber is immediately aware and focused on the value they receive and why their support matters.

Combining these efforts with truly intriguing creativity and being flexible to make changes has been helpful to the overall process of attracting and retaining subscribers.

Our biggest (and most successful) project launched earlier this summer. In June, we started marketing the $4 for 4 campaign through ads, social media, and email blasts. This ongoing collaborative project with the Newsroom, Development, Customer Service and Marketing helped to offer new readers and those readers who had not yet subscribed an all-access glimpse at our award-winning coverage. This campaign continues to be a success and certainly helped to propel our digital subscriptions to 20k. To date, 5,077 people have subscribed from the offer with only 3% churned or due to expire so far.

Thanks in large part to our expansion markets, we have seen incredible subscription numbers across the state.

Now that we’ve exceeded 20,000 digital subscriptions, we continue to move forward. We look ahead to retaining our $4 for 4-month subscribers and continuing to grow our audience. This is no small feat and takes a true team effort from all of us at The Post and Courier.

*****This article was written by Subscriber and Donor Engagement Specialist, Mary Fox*****

The Post and Courier wins big at the South Carolina Press Association’s 39th Annual PALMY Awards!

Twenty-two PALMY Awards, the annual event that recognizes ad creative from across the state of South Carolina,  have been awarded to The Post and Courier for our designer’s work in several categories including Special Section or Magazine, Static Digital Ad, Rich Media Ad, Sponsored Content, and Newspaper Promotion!

Multiple pieces took first place in their respected categories. The advertisement “Run! Don’t Walk!” for Terrace Oaks by Krena Lanham and Beth Chaconas earned first place in the Gifts category. Robert Combs’s “Merry. Modern.” for Hausful scored first place in Rich Media.

Notably, major pieces like Learning and Remembering The Holocaust, earned Jason Clark and Krena Lanham first place in Special Section and Magazine, and “We the Women” earned first place, given to the entire Post and Courier staff!

Additionally, The Post and Courier’s Matt Crum and Lonn Bradley took a full sweep in the Video category winning First, Second, and Third places! Former Creative Manager, Julie Nocida, won first place for Understand SC, and Digital Marketing Graphic Designer, Meghan Davis, took home third place for her Email & Social Media Subscription Campaign designs in the Newspaper Promotion category.

Click here to view all 2021 PALMY winners!

The exhaustive end to a long-running investigative story came on Tuesday, May 25, at the Charleston Gaillard Center. “‘I am Omar,’” a captivating story told by reporter Jennifer Berry Hawes and photojournalist Gavin McIntyre, was put on full display to an audience of eager listeners. The Pulitzer Center funded Hawes and McIntyre on their pursuits throughout Senegal to track down the identity and origins of Omar Ibn Said, a Muslim man enslaved in the Carolinas.

Who is Omar?

Omar wrote his brief autobiography 190 years ago and left today’s readers with a chilling time capsule into what life entailed for a Muslim in the 1830s. His words were a tangle of two decades’ worth of slave stories and religious Quran readings. A quick read at 28 pages, but a deep dive into decades of hardships of a 37-year-old innocent relocated to the busiest slave port in America– Charleston, South Carolina.

With the help of knowledgeable local Imam Amadou Baîdy Sy, the journalists deciphered Omar’s Arabic words to uncover many of his life experiences. He was a skilled student with a strong religious backing, but his talents were wasted at the hands of “Johnson” and James Owen, his owners in Charleston and Fayetteville, North Carolina. He struggled with pulls towards both the Islamic religion and Evangelical Christianity, forcing him to reconcile with spiritual belonging in a new world. A multitude of names were used to describe him and his hardworking religiosity– “Moreau,” “Uncle Moro,” “Prince Moro,”– but his ties would always be rooted in “Omar.” The different identities and locations that Omar experienced throughout his lifetime left McIntyre and Hawes eager to sort through the findings and share their clarity with the masses.

Post and Courier Findings

McIntyre’s and Hawes’ months’ worth of dedicated investigative journalism warranted a platform to showcase their findings. The event highlighted the importance of the Post and Courier Public Service and Investigative Reporting Fund; visitors helped to fundraise for future stories that warrant additional research, thought, and digression. Attendees toured the evocative gallery of shots taken throughout Senegal, all of which were complemented by a descriptive audio component. The display preceded the captivating panel discussion that shared additional insights into the journalists’ quest to find the true identity of Omar. Post and Courier reporter Autumn Phillips provoked McIntyre and Hawes with both personally crafted and audience-based questions to get a glimpse into their journey.

Spoleto Festival Contribution

Tuesday’s event also gave Spoleto Festival USA the stirrings of the platform they have been seeking since 2020. Repeated performance delays due to Covid-19 have kept the public from learning about Omar’s life through an opera written by Grammy Award-winner Rhiannon

Giddens. Finally, viewers got a look at the powerful compositions that Omar’s autobiography inspired. Laquita Mitchell stunned the audience with an aria from Giddens’ Omar and was accompanied by a powerful piano melody from Diane Richardson.

The evening’s impressive attendance included Jonathan Green, renowned Charleston artist and creator of an Omar Ibn Said coloring book, Nigel Redden, General Director of Spoleto Festival USA, and PJ Browning, Publisher of The Post and Courier. All attendees were taken by a thrilling tale that had managed to influence the creations of various story-telling platforms.

While Tuesday’s event acted as the sigh of relief to a hard-sought story, the sense of finality was only temporary. The intrigue behind Omar and his past will always leave lingering questions in both the reporters’ and readers’ minds. To continue satisfying the public’s curiosity, a display of McIntyre’s photographs will be presented at the Charleston County Public Library this Wednesday, June 9. Details about Omar and his story will complement the photographs; the efforts to inform Charlestonians about a story that existed in their backyard warrants much more than a simple story. Hawes’ and McIntyre’s pursuits made great strides towards answering the question that has plagued locals, writers, composers, historians, tourists and more for ages: who was Omar Ibn Said? It will take continued determination and compassion for investigative journalism to ever approach the whole story.

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Want to contribute to the Post and Courier Public Service and Investigative Reporting Fund? Email Mary Fox at mfox@postandcourier.com to learn more. 

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Written by Claire Filaski 

As a proud sponsor, The Post and Courier had to opportunity to watch as history was made at the 103rd PGA Championship at The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort.

Energy and excitement built as Phil Mickelson inched his way to his historic title. At 6-under par two-time champion Mickelson became the oldest major winner of the Wanamaker Trophy at the age of 50.

About The Ocean Course at The PGA

The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort is an American icon and named one of the most difficult and expensive courses to play in the nation. The scenic green runs adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean, exposing players to the demanding and unpredictable ocean breeze.

Golf Digest ranked The Ocean Course as the #4 Public Golf Course in the United Sate and the 25^th among the 100 greatest U.S. Golf Courses.

The course was designed by, Alice Dye, known as the “First Lady” of golf architecture in the United States. Alice was an American amateur golfer and golf designer.

The 17^th Hole

As a sponsor of the 2021 PGA Championship, The Post and Courier and advertising partners had the opportunity to view the tournament direct from the top of the 17^th hole.

Advertisers within this particular initiative not only showcased their business to the extensive Post and Courier audience but also had the option to attend in the PGA Championship. 

The elevated seating allowed for a panorama view of the green, pond, and serene ocean, as well as a barrier between the many alligators that made an appearance in that same pond adjacent to the 17^th hole.

PGA Finale

You felt the excitement of a champion walking into the final day of the tournament. The crowd following Mickelson grew as the day went on. As he birdied at 17, at that moment fans rushed to watch that final shot with great anticipation.

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Are you a business owner? Want the opportunity to drive leads as if you are Phil Mickelson at the PGA Championship? Participate in opportunities like this while advertising in South Carolina’s most trusted and well-known media source.

Partner With Us.

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Original piece written by Post and Courier Events Coordinator Avery McIntosh.