Case Study

The Bangor Daily News experimented with QR codes in print. Here’s what it learned.

How a QR code trial helped Bangor Daily News uncover key insights about its subscribers

By Kirsten Staples

March 19, 2025

This case study is part of the Beyond Print Toolkit, a guide created by The Lenfest Institute for Journalism and the American Press Institute to help guide publishers away from print-centric revenue models toward a sustainable digital future. 

To aid in its long-term sustainability, the Bangor Daily News launched a six-week project aimed at converting single-copy newspaper buyers and home delivery subscribers into digital users. This was done using a QR code to grant temporarily free access to the publication’s digital products. 

 

Overview:

In early 2024, with support from The Lenfest Institute for Journalism, The Bangor Daily News launched an experiment to convert single copy print readers to digital subscribers. The BDN added a QR code that would give readers complimentary access to the publication’s digital products for a single day and was also provided via a URL link for users wanting to access the code on a desktop. The QR code prompted users to register for an account, which helped to identify previously anonymous readers, as well as introduce them to digital offerings.  

The main initiative of this project was aimed at helping Bangor Daily News to better understand its single copy customers and to create a pathway for home delivery customers to become familiar with the digital product. By making digital subscriptions more easily accessible, the BDN hoped to reduce print frequency and broaden revenue streams across digital and print subscriptions.  

There was not significant uptake on the QR code offers, but the BDN learned a lot about its audience from the experiment and used it as an opportunity to upgrade its customer service portals. 

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Why this matters:

Through the implementation of the QR code, the BDN hoped to identify single-copy readers and home delivery subscribers who were not yet engaged with digital products and  

This project was an attempt to assist in bridging the gap between print and digital readership. The information gathered during the experiment could be used to help encourage digital subscriptions and retain loyal readers, not only supporting audience growth but also retention.  

Strategy:

Upon scanning the QR code and registering their account, readers received a guided tutorial on navigating the e-edition, website, and app, emphasizing the benefits of becoming a digital subscriber. 

“By doing so, we aim[ed] to further remove any potential obstacles that may impede the digital readers’ experience, ensuring a seamless and positive transition. This approach will not only empower our readers, but also safeguard the long-term viability of our organization,” said Jo Easton, BDN director of development. 

Team involved: 

The BDN created a cross-functional team across audience, circulation, marketing, and print operations to implement the experiment.  

The team worked closely with the Pulse Marketing Agency, the BDN’s sister marketing agency. 

Results:

The project saw less engagement than expected, Easton said. Thirty-five percent of readers who redeemed the free offer already had digital access through an existing digital or print subscription.  

The BDN team inferred from the results that single copy readers were not interested in utilizing the QR codes. 

“We are not planning to continue the promotion for single copy print readers,” Easton said.  

However, the BDN is planning to continue to offer and enhance the support materials it created for the project.  

Support materials Support materials

“We will monitor engagement metrics for the reader resources page to understand which content is useful (and not useful) and potentially introduce a pop up on the page to ask users if the content was helpful, and if not, ask what they need. Insights gathered will help us continue to improve training resources,” said Easton. 

What it learned: 

“Sometimes, the value of an experiment is in learning what doesn’t work,” Easton said. “Even though the concept we tested underperformed, the project itself provided a valuable opportunity to work across departments as a ‘mini publisher’ team, developing common metrics and ways of working. And we can all use the occasional reminder that it’s OK to decide something doesn’t work, or isn’t helpful enough, or takes energy away from larger levers,” Easton said.  

Easton identified three key takeaways from this project: 

• Limited impact of print-only offers: Placing QR code offers in print without additional marketing led to lower-than-expected conversions, highlighting the need for stronger promotion across digital platforms in future efforts. 

• QR codes grab attention, but not always engagement: While QR codes effectively caught reader-interest, over 40 percent of users did not engage via mobile and instead access the promotion via the desktop URL suggesting that alternative access methods may be necessary. 

• Avoid Friday promotions: Despite similar single-copy sales on Thursdays and Fridays, engagement was significantly lower on Fridays, indicating that promotions on other days may be more effective. 

Next steps: 

While the BDN did not continue the QR code promotion, it focused instead in 2024 on upgrading the core products, such as changing the e-edition platform, introducing a customer service management ticketing system, and replacing its paywall and login system with a more affordable and efficient platform, which has been more effective at gaining and retaining subscribers.  

How to implement this strategy:

Easton wouldn’t recommend other news organizations replicate the QR code project unless they “zig where we zagged and get different results,” but by tackling this initiative the BDN started a new project to make digital product training for its readers more user-friendly. While the QR code strategy did not meet conversion goals, the initiative provided valuable insights on strategy. The findings have helped to refine the publication’s approach, setting clearer goals for future digital transition efforts. 

Added resources :

• Support materials the Bangor Daily News created for the project
• Beyond Print Toolkit: User experience
• Beyond Print Toolkit: Public communications

Organization overview:

• Organization:  Bangor Daily News 

• Owner:  Bangor Publishing Company 

• Target audience:  Bangor, Maine and surrounding areas 

• Digital Subscribers:  11,000 digital subscribers 

• Print Subscribers: 10,000 print subscribers 

• Print status:  Digital frequency is daily and print is five days a week