When you embark upon a professional path or pursue a particular degree in school, you never know where it might lead. When I decided to specialize in marketing while working on my MBA, I never thought in a million years that I would eventually need to learn the features and functionalities of newspaper circulation systems.

Recently, I produced a new Circulation brochure for my company, which involved peeling back the layers on technology that before was very foreign to me. It turned out to be much more than I expected.

I know, you’re thinking, isn’t the printed newspaper going away? The answer is – not any time soon. Even if they did, these technology platforms are designed to handle partnerships and distribution patterns for a variety of different printed products. They also provide things like automated customer service communications, business analytics, postal data, PCI compliance and so much more.

Regardless, these systems are being further developed to handle increasingly more sophisticated data sets, segmentation and integration with other systems. Many newspapers are already powering their tablet subscriptions with their printed circulation systems. Start cross-pollinating these interactions and you have a much more holistic view of your audience.

It’s more than Circulation, it’s Audience Engagement.