The SNO Report: Have the Source app? Tell your readers.

You serve a vital role in keeping your school community informed. When you can’t do it in person, your website and social media pages become more important than ever. Beyond that, we have two mobile apps, the Student News Source for scholastic programs and the College News Source for college publications, to help you reach your readers where they are: on their phones.

Whether you’re already set up on the app or want to take advantage of our free extended trial, the next step once you’re on it is, of course, letting your readers know.

You need to train your readers to find you (and, from then on, their news) on the app. For them, it’s as easy as install, search, subscribe. But who’s going to download an app if they don’t know about it? Below, we’ve come up with a few ways for you to tell your readers you’re there.

• Campaign like crazy. Make a list of all the places, besides your website, where your readers are connected to you. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, email? Everything that makes your list gets a post about the app, and not just one post. Hit the trail hard.
• Talk about it. Tell the people you’re with in quarantine about the app. Then, spread the word virtually. Text your friends about it. Talk about it on your next Zoom call.
• Advertise. Use numerous visual cues to get your readers’ attention. Put an ad about the app on your website homepage and story pages. Put it on category pages, if you can. Use it as an image for a self-promotional post on social media. Use the ad at the top of this email or pick from the file folder sent to you when you sign up.
• Write a story about it. It’s OK to write a story about a change in your publication, like the fact that you’re on a mobile app. Write a story that tells your readers what to download and how to find you, and reminds them to subscribe.