The challenges of the past year have driven changes in nearly every aspect of society, and the corner of the world that produces bloodstock newsletters at auctions is no different.
Paper newsletters have understandably been restricted at most major Thoroughbred sales in the age of COVID-19 to minimize contacts, both in handing out papers to consignors and in those papers changing hands among readers. Over 70 percent of the Paulick Report's readership comes over mobile browsers, and anyone that's read a pdf file on a phone knows it's not much fun.
Something had to change with the PR Special, so we created the PR Back Ring.
The PR Back Ring is the Paulick Report's new bloodstock newsletter, released ahead of every major North American Thoroughbred auction. It offers a dynamic experience for bloodstock content, heavy on visual elements and statistics to appeal to readers on all platforms, especially mobile devices.
For readers, you can expect the same quality content you saw in the PR Special print newsletter, but without the restrictions of a pdf document. This means high-quality stories, bolstered with more photos, video, and statistics than ever before.
We will present each issue on its own landing page before major North American sales, with links to every story in that particular edition. Stories will be presented in a linear fashion, allowing readers to flip through articles as if they were reading a magazine, giving the familiar feeling of a paper newsletter on your phone, tablet, or computer.
The debut issue of the PR Back Ring, released ahead of this week's Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream sale, can be read here.
After clicking on a story, readers can navigate between the stories within the issues with the two red buttons at the top and bottom of each page.
For potential advertisers, the PR Back Ring offers several unique opportunities within the bloodstock newsletter realm.
Breaking away from the pdf format allows us to display more dynamic advertisements. If you're a consignor with multiple horses you want to promote, we can rotate banners to show different offerings at different times. If you're a bloodstock agent with a list of successful purchases too long to be contained by just one banner, you can post a gif to get them all out there. If you're a stallion operation with a video campaign you're looking to push, we can do that, too.
Online bidding has established a bigger presence than ever before, and it's doubtful that it will go away after life fully returns to normal. it's going to be important for bloodstock operations to get their message out beyond the confines of the sales grounds in an appealing package, and that's what we've aimed to do with the PR Back Ring.
With that being said, we understand that some readers and advertisers might be cautious to invest their time and money on something less traditional than the usual paper newsletters.
At sales where paper newsletters will be permitted, we intend to publish a short print newsletter to be distributed around the grounds, as we did with the PR Special before the pandemic. The copy will consist of short teasers for each story, along with a QR code driving readers to read the full story on the Back Ring website. Segment sponsors will get ad space next to their corresponding stories, and other spaces will be available for advertisers who want to stick with print.
The back ring is where every aspect of the bloodstock industry comes to a common point before the moment of truth. We hope the PR Back Ring will serve as that common point for readers heading into the sales.
Click here to read the debut issue of the PR Back Ring.
The post Introducing The PR Back Ring, The Paulick Report’s New Bloodstock Newsletter appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
