Tribune Co. is getting into consulting with its digital department spinning up a business designed to educate local companies about internet advertising. What makes this especially interesting to the LR Faithful is that the unit, 435 Digital Services, is an outgrowth of the Chicago Tribune’s “Chicago Now” blog network. Writes Chicago Business:
“When Chicago Now began working with small and mid-sized businesses it found that many client-owners knew they needed social media advertising – such as a presence on Facebook – and understood the importance of search engine optimization to help maximize exposure on the Internet, but few knew how to execute on those needs…”
The more you can educate potential advertisers about the value of online buys, the better off your business will be. And once you educate them, you know who they’ll want to spend their money with. It’s an important win-win. We have been pushing this concept for years now – smart, local media companies need to help small- to medium-sized merchants understand the real value of the internet and social media. Selling by the CPM is an abject failure; people don’t see the ads they want, the site can’t generate enough views and merchants get little return. The way to sell is through education and development of joint solutions.