How Retention Strategies Work at the Las

Chris Blaser is a senior executive with over 30 years of experience in the newspaper industry. As the vice president of audience and circulation at the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Chris Blaser implements churn and retention strategies to keep the journal profitable and readers happy. These strategies include targeting the right audience, improving customer service, and improving the integration process.

Customer churn is the number of customers who leave a business, while retention is the number of customers that return. Companies must minimize customer churn and maximize retention to stay afloat.

To help maximize retention, the Review-Journal targets the right audience by a range of initiatives, including partnering with Starbucks. Through its free wi-fi network, local Starbucks’ customers have free digital access to the newspaper, putting it in front of people who are more likely to value its content and subscribe.

To improve customer service, the Review-Journal implemented an inbound customer self-service feature that makes it easier for subscribers to make payments and report non-deliveries.

Subscribers need to experience a smooth transition during digital product updates. Glitches in software can be frustrating. The Review-Journal improved its integration process when switching its outdated e-edition with an updated optical distribution network. The transition was seamless, and subscribers reported a much smoother reading experience.

The Danger of Churn and How Personalization Can Reduce It

The vice president of audience and circulation at the Las Vegas Review-Journal in Las Vegas, Nevada, Chris Blaser spearheads efforts to boost audience retention and revenue for this local daily newspaper. As part of his focus on retention, Chris Blaser endeavors to reduce potential damage from churn.

A company’s churn rate shows the rate at which its customers or subscribers discontinue engagement or cancel subscriptions over a given period of time. Although attracting new subscribers is great, companies that fail to keep them will continually court failure.

Independent industry resources such as MarketingProfs and Smart Insights have released a range of tips to help subscription-based businesses limit churn. Reinforcing feelings of connection is key. Wise companies should reach out to their subscribers regularly in personalized ways. This outreach is particularly important for new subscribers who have yet to solidify a comfortable relationship with a company. It may also be beneficial to give new subscribers a small gift to welcome them and demonstrate appreciation. In order to better personalize subscriber interactions, companies will want to consider segmenting their customer bases. It makes little sense to reach out to long-term subscribers and newcomers with the same methods and campaigns.

Chris Blaser and Others Named GWAA Lifetime Members

The recipient of a bachelor's degree in business administration from Central Washington University, Chris Blaser is an experienced newspaper sales and marketing executive who has served as vice president of audience and circulation at the Las Vegas Review-Journal since 2016. To stay engaged with the latest industry practices, Chris Blaser holds membership with the Great Western Audience Alliance (GWAA), which provides professional development opportunities and other resources to its members.

The GWAA Annual Business Meeting took place virtually for the first time in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The virtual ceremony featured the appointment of new president Maria Ravera in addition to the announcement of five new lifetime members, one of whom was Chris Blaser. In the GWAA News Fall 2020 edition, he was referred to as a "strong GWAA supporter and inspiration to his peers and to the people who work for him." The article also praised his abilities as a mentor.

The other four individuals granted GWAA lifetime membership were Jeff Ferrazzano, Craig Webber, Gary Reach, and John Pisa. Ferrazzano is the owner of The Ultimate Print Source, while Webber served two stints as president of the Cal Western Circulation Managers Association, which merged with Northwest International Circulation Executives in 2019 to form the GWAA. Reach and Pisa are regarded for their contributions to telemarketing programs that have supported the newspaper industry since the 1970s.