Local Media Turn To Digital Services

Are you a digital service vendor? Local media are moving onto your turf.

As media companies, especially print, experience continued downward pressure on their traditional revenue streams, they have started offering digital services to pick up the slack. Websites, reputation management, SEO, SEM, all the services you offer, are or will be offered by the local newspaper, radio, TV, cable and Yellow Pages sales staffs with the support of third party services providing the backend.

“The result is a big-money competition for local digital advertising dollars, with legacy publishers, national pureplays, small-town startups and local search providers jumping in with both feet. It’s too soon to say who will be the most successful, but one thing is certain: Digital marketing services will be a big part of the local media business for years to come.”
http://www.netnewscheck.com/article/27761/local-media-gets-wise-on-digital-services

The good news for you?

Most of these traditional sales teams have no idea what they are doing with digital services.

But that will change with training and time, especially as younger, more digital savvy workers come into the work force.

More here in a special report:
Part 1- http://www.netnewscheck.com/article/27761/local-media-gets-wise-on-digital-services
Part 2- http://www.netnewscheck.com/article/27793/real-dollars-fuel-digital-marketing-services

Why now? Here’s some history:

“Like online video, virtual communities and many other aspects of modern publishing, the concept of digital marketing services has been around for nearly 20 years. When local newspapers and TV stations launched their first websites in the late 1990s, many also hired teams of tech-savvy developers in hopes of providing Web design and other services to advertisers.

Those efforts were stymied, though, by financial and technological obstacles. It was expensive to maintain in-house development squads, Web publishing was still hard to streamline and too few local businesses were interested in the new services. But all that has changed in the last two years.”
http://www.netnewscheck.com/article/27761/local-media-gets-wise-on-digital-services

Here’s an idea…

Many of these stations have white label services available from their corporate office. (If you’ve ever worked in a large company, you know how that can go.)

And some of these media firms are set up where the traditional media rep turns over any leads or prospects for digital services to a separate unit of geeks who take over the sale.

You could be that geek!

You are much faster, smarter and have lots more digital services experience.

You might consider offering your services as a partner with local media. Many have long relationships with local SMBs. Could me a good consulting gig or lead source for you.

By the way, here is the potential market we are talking about:

“A report from Borrell Associates released in October concludes the average U.S. business spends $17,000, or 72%, of its online marketing budget on services. The total size of that online services pie, Borrell reports, is $390 billion.”
http://www.netnewscheck.com/article/27761/local-media-gets-wise-on-digital-services

Cha ching!