It is no secret where my allegiance lies when it comes to advertising. As a newspaper and magazine owner, I am a firm believer in print advertising. However, I am not so entrenched in my medium to not recognize the benefits of various types of marketing.
Most recently, I have embraced some Facebook marketing to boost subscriptions and engagement at our Bossier properties — with limited success.
This past weekend, however, I got into a discussion with a fellow newspaper owner about solving the “revenue” problem many of us in print media face. I was lamenting how many in the community take their local newspaper for granted, and how larger companies hire 20-somethings to run their marketing — pushing more and more budgets to digital because they have bought into the mantra that “newspapers are dead.”
He responded with a simple answer. Local sells. Local benefits. Local wins.
As much as people want to embrace Google and Facebook, etc. for their marketing, these entities have no ties to the local communities where they place the ads. In fact, they probably could care less.
You see, the benefit of local media (newspaper, radio, television, etc.) is they have a vested interest in the success of the community as a whole, and in particular, the businesses. They sponsor community events (and volunteer at them). They frequent the businesses they serve. They share the burden of making ends meet.
Local marketing is about more than just dollars and cents. It is about working together toward a common goal — mutual success. That’s worth thinking about and making an investment.
