There were a few ideas I wanted to check out in doing this.
- A lot of advertising these days is web borne. So if people surf the web, then they might find you. My own research into this, flawed as it is, has led me to believe that most Adwords are for companies with an international focus, or those who do business via the web in some fashion.
- Small businesses, particularly regional ones, rely strongly on display advertising. (which works I might add) Yellow pages, foot fall traffic, local signs and placards, and newspaper ads seem to form the backbone of this.
- Small businesses live in a very cut throat environment. A business environment that lives and dies on referrals and other trust based methods. Service and outstanding value for money is a must.
So I see a huge niche here. A niche that can be filled by something that is offline, gets a wide audience, is not intrusive, and engenders the good will of local businesses.
Local advertising is far and away the most neglected area in the current transformation of the advertising industry. Not only that, but I have recently come to believe that whether it is geographical, or industry horizontal, all advertising is essentially local.
This project has been 6 months in the planning, and the next local advertising project (online) is already underway.
Exciting times we are living in…I will let you know how it all goes.
