Newspaper and media company McClatchy is testing a self-service advertising platform with plans to deploy it to its newspapers and other media across the country next year.
McClatchy Ad Manager is targeted at small and medium-sized businesses, allowing them to create ad campaigns for print or online and to choose local, regional or national reach.
Ad Manager is currently available in three of McClatchy’s South Carolina markets: Columbia, Myrtle Beach and Hilton Head, said Jane Howard, senior vice president of advertising, via email. “This is new technology we have invested in to grow our business and serve a wider range of customer needs.”
Sacramento-based McClatchy's media properties are in 30 markets in the U.S. They include The Sacramento Bee, the Charlotte Observer, The Kansas City Star, the Miami Herald and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
The Ad Manager dashboard allows advertisers to load their own ad to the platform or to build out an ad using templates. The user chooses the size, format and duration of the campaign, and they pay for the ad or the advertising campaign on the site.
The ads can be in print or online at McClatchy sites, and also placed in Google Search, Facebook and Instagram. For online ads, they can be placed nearly immediately.
McClatchy Ad Manager is built on technology from Stockholm-based DanAds, which has built platforms for publishers including The Washington Post and Bloomberg Media as well as Tripadvisor, Roku Inc. (Nasdaq: ROKU) and Philips, McClatchy said, in a news release.
“By utilizing this centralized marketplace, small- and medium-sized businesses can fully harness the power of local marketing that also speaks to a national audience,” Howard said. “Self-service is just one more way for customers to work with us and purchase both print and digital advertising from one platform.”
The technology platform will roll out to all McClatchy properties early next year, she said. McClatchy internal account executives will continue to work with customers in need of a consultative marketing solution like they do today, Howard said.
McClatchy is adding technology to increase its reach beyond its print newspapers. In January, the company signed a multiyear contract with New York-based Taboola.com Ltd. (Nasdaq: TBLA) that will provide online and smartphone readers with personalized content using artificial intelligence.
McClatchy media outlets reach more than 75 million unique readers monthly.
In August 2020, a New York bankruptcy court approved the sale of most assets of McClatchy to New Jersey hedge fund Chatham Asset Management LLC. Sacramento-based McClatchy filed for bankruptcy in February 2020, listing assets of $946.5 million and liabilities of $1.6 billion.
