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Regional daily posts ‘virtual bills’ in new sales drive

A regional daily is to publish ‘virtual bills’ highlighting its biggest stories on on Twitter as its editor claims traditional bills outside newsagents are no longer enough on their own.

The Northern Echo will post a twice-daily montage on Twitter featuring its top bills – once during the evening to pique interest in the following day’s paper and again first thing in the morning, in bid to drive traffic to the website and boost sales.

The Northern Echo has almost 10,000 followers on the social networking site, while editor Peter Barron himself has almost 7,000.

Peter Barron said the move reflected a need to “move with the times.”

“I see it as an additional way to promote newspaper sales. It’s not instead of traditional bills outside newsagents but complementary to what we’ve done for decades,” he told HTFP.

“I passed a bill outside of a newsagent’s shop which was out of date – and it made me think that it was time to move on. Traditional bills still have their place but Twitter gives you that direct relationship with existing readers and potential readers and means you can take greater control.  It’s a no-brainer.”

The Northern Echo will post the "Twitter bills" twice a day

In a comment piece explaining the move, he said while news bills still have their place outside newsagents, they did have their drawbacks.

“For a start, they are at the mercy of the newsagent. As in every profession, there are good and bad newsagents. Some keep the bills up to date, others don’t. How many times do you pass a newsagents and see a bill that’s out of date?” he said.

“We need to move on with the times and social media is the modern news bill, driving traffic to our website and encouraging people to buy the paper.

“With more than 60,000 Twitter followers tied up with The Northern Echo and its journalists, we’d be daft not to make the most of it.”

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  • February 8, 2013 at 9:17 am
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    I think this indicative of how badly organised newspapers are.

    Here we have the Northern Echo crowing about doing this!

    Why weren’t you doing 12-18 months ago!?

    No wonder newspaper sales are disintegrating

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  • February 8, 2013 at 12:04 pm
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    And next week we reveal what Peter Barron has for breakfast…

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