Addressing Readership at The Belfast Telegraph

The Belfast Telegraph is the leading newspaper in Northern Ireland with almost 110,000 people buying the paper, and around 338,000 reading it, each day. It was founded as the first evening paper in Northern Ireland in 1870 by William and George Baird priced at one half penny, just a fifth of a penny in today’s decimal currency.

Expanding Circulation

While The Belfast Telegraph has a large and loyal readership, it also actively campaigns to expand its circulation with attractive incentives being offered for entering into a trial commitment to buy the paper at local newsagents or have it delivered. Carried out over the phone, this marketing exercise is simplified and streamlined by using QAS Names. As far as the telephone canvassing team is concerned, this software serves a dual purpose. It ensures that they have the correct name and address details for each person they telephone helping them comply with the Data Protection Act by avoiding placing calls to individuals who have specified that they are not willing to be contacted for marketing purposes.

Leonard Hill, Database Administrator at The Belfast Telegraph, is convinced that using QAS Names is a significant factor in the success of the ongoing circulation campaign: "Customers really respond positively to being addressed on a personal basis and if they do decide to participate it only takes a few moments to confirm their requirements and address details".

Achieving Data Integrity

QAS Names is a relatively recent addition to the range of QAS tools used by Belfast Telegraph Newspapers Ltd (BTNL). When he first encountered the QAS solution, Hill immediately recognised the benefits of being able to ensure that the address information added to electronic lists was completely correct and QAS Batch was purchased. It is used to clean and maintain address data, correct errors and eliminate duplicate records. QAS Pro was adopted for the company’s ad sales booking system so that properly formatted addresses could be recorded interactively.

Using QAS Pro means that a member of the telephone sales team only needs to ask for, and type in, the customer’s postcode and house name or number. The software supplies the rest of the details. This provides a system that is quick and efficient, which is obviously necessary when you consider the volume of calls involved. Last year, taking into account all BTNL’s publications, there were 257,000 ad sales resulting in a total of 622,500 inserts of line or semi-display adverts in the papers’ Classifieds sections.

Improving Efficiency

QAS Names is being used in a similar way with the more recently developed Windows-based Reader Holiday Booking System. QAS Names will not only return the full and valid address but will also return the names of residents residing at that address as they appear on the UK Electoral Register (edited version). According to Hill, "The operators love it as it enables them to avoid mistakes and to maintain a highly professional image and so do the customers as it makes placing bookings by phone so much quicker. As far as The Belfast Telegraph is concerned all the QAS software used improves efficiency and is indispensable to our continuing success."