Friday, March 30, 2012 | Edited by Daniel Moores
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ILM Focuses on Ideas to Drive Local Advertising BIA/Kelsey's conference this week in Boston highlighted many aspects of Interactive Local Media. The presenters and audience included thought leaders from traditional and digital media. Most of the traditional media present were from newspaper and Yellow Pages, but the majority of attendees were from digital. Few from radio attended, yet there was a lot to learn. Projections BIA/Kelsey presented their estimates showing the overall local media market will grow a bit more slowly over the next five years at 1.7% compound annual growth rate. That will be less than the overall economy. Local video advertising, however, will be solid with 6.4% compound annual growth rate with Online video and Out-Of-Home video being the fastest growing segments. Projections included a steady shift from traditional media to digital media with digital's 16.0% share of all ad revenues in 2011 growing to 25.5% by 2016. The good news for radio is projections show radio's share of local media revenues also growing from 11.0% in 2011 to 11.7% in 2016. SMBs Need Help BIA/Kelsey research found Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) are planning to increase their social presence in 2012, even if only modestly. In Q4 2011, 40% of SMBs had a Facebook page. An additional 13% intend to add Facebook to their marketing efforts. A more interesting takeaway was the lack of social media updating by SMBs. 13% said they rarely update their pages. Only 10% said they update daily and another 24% update weekly. Consumers, on the other hand, check their Facebook pages several times a day and expect fresh content. This is an opportunity for creative stations to help advertisers keep pages updated. Certainly, radio sales professionals should consult advertisers on the need to keep pages updated. BIA/Kelsey found few SMB websites "ready for prime time." Only 34% have a phone number on their home page, only 25% have an email address on the home page, and only 34% have a form to collect customer email or other information. Further, SMB websites are seriously deficient in critical areas including basic information to support Search Engine Optimization (SEO). According to their research, a surprising 94% of SMBs rank zero in search for their business category and market. For example: If you were to search "Dallas carpet cleaning," most Dallas carpet cleaning firms would never show up. The implication for radio sales professionals is there is opportunity to make a few simple marketing recommendations to your clients and you will quickly raise your image as a marketing partner. Local Media Competitive Battleground Radio has always excelled at selling local advertising. Digital media have targeted local advertising using social, mobile and video, but have a difference of opinion as how to attack successfully. AOL's Patch network has gone through 5 or 6 versions to where Mark Josephson, AOL Local, SVP of Revenue, says they now have a model that is working. In a presentation he said Patch has great brand recognition so it is easy for their 1,500 salespeople in local communities across the U.S. to get appointments. He attributes their brand recognition for much of their sales success, saying the average SMB gets 2 to 3 sales reps calling per week to buy interactive advertising, yet Patch reps break through the clutter. With the size of their local sales force, they were able to partner with AmEx to present a program for Small Business Saturday where Patch reps made 100,000 sales calls on small businesses and presented a package that allowed them to advertise on Patch and tie into the AmEx national campaign. Josephson said Patch traffic tripled in 2011. Patch is now in communities that cover 10% of U.S. geography, but represent 25% of all consumer spending. Other local and hyperlocal sites gave tips on how they have become successful. According to Josh Fenton, Cofounder and CEO, GoLocal24 operates a local site in Providence (GoLocalProv.com), and is using a model of replacing the local newspaper that he calls overbuilt and unable to compete in digital with their high overhead. Fenton says: "70% of all fact-based content is coming from newspapers. If they no longer exist, somebody has to fill that void." And that is what they have done in Providence with news, weather, sports, and lifestyle elements. They are making extensive use of video, including a 5-minute daily video newscast that he says is attracting advertisers' television budgets, but with their authoritative approach to news reporting and breaking stories, 90% of their advertisers have moved budgets from print. He says unlike newspapers who generally wait for advertisers to use self-serve ad purchasing, their sales approach is consultative with advertisers and agencies. Next Up: NAB Show RAB will be presenting more on mobile, social and other local digital opportunities as well as ideas for on-air campaigns at the NAB Show in Las Vegas April 14–19, 2012. Get information and register at www.nabshow.com. (Source: John Potter, VP/Training, RAB) Click here to email to client Back to Radio Sales Today |
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