It’s old news by this point: The traditional print landscape has changed and publishers everywhere have been impacted by the shift. From the decline of direct selling in favor of online alternatives to dips in circulation earnings, it’s more important than ever to prioritize digital revenue.
But what if I told you selling digital didn’t have to be painful?
Implementing a digital-first strategy can be easy to talk about but difficult to do. Let’s rip the bandaid off with a few quick ways a partnership with Vendasta can make things a little more painless.
With the diverse product offering available through Vendasta’s Marketplace, you can sell and scale digital revenue easier than you think. Plus, with our fulfillment services we can deliver the work with an expert team while keeping it all under your trusted name.
Here’s a concrete example. On the Local Marketing Trends podcast, digital monetization expert Todd Handy discusses findings in Borrell Associates’ 2022 Annual Benchmarking Report that highlight that — among the top digital sellers — social media and reputation management solutions rank 4th overall.
Given the essential nature of these solutions, the ranking surprised host Corey Elliott.
“Part of it is that social media [and reputation] management take a lot of work,” says Handy. “It includes having staff responding to comments, giving answers, providing directions, engaging and that takes a lot of staffing — especially in the age of the Great Resignation.”
Vendasta’s Marketing Services allow you to reduce staffing requirements and alleviate pressure from in-house teams, so they can get back to selling and we can fulfill for you.
Because people are great. But the cost of managing people? Painful.
WATCH: Cracking the Digital Revenue Code with Todd Handy
According to Gordon Borrell, digital advertising revenue accounts for 65 percent of all advertising revenue. Big, right? Consider that this number is due to rise to 90 percent in the next 10 years.
The good news? There’s a lot of obtainable digital revenue for agencies and media companies in local markets — to the tune of tens of millions, according to Borrell.
Vendasta can help you sell advertising to local markets with ease. With our pay-per-click (PPC) and digital advertising solutions, you can create, manage and monitor online advertising for your local business clients — painlessly.
Plus, you can create easy automations or have a hand with fulfillment.
If the word “automations” just invoked a visceral reaction, we get it. The good news is that you don’t need to be a tech whiz or dedicate yourself to the full-time job of keeping up with growing complexity if you’re in a partnership with Vendasta.
Automation is baked into the Vendasta ecosystem to create efficient, repeatable processes that work smarter, so you don’t have to work harder. What’s more, our integrated platform makes it easy to consolidate and streamline for both you and your clients.
“I like being able to offer a suite of apps that de-frankensteins our clients’ tech stacks,” says Vendasta partner Joseph Palmer, Oklahoma regional manager at Bott Radio Network.
And you don’t have to “de-frankenstein” alone.
Given the unique aspects of news media in particular, we work very closely with our publisher partners to ensure they grasp all tech concepts, strategies, new marketing trends and more to scale their business successfully — and without stress.
Speaking of our partners Bott Radio Network, they initially came on board with the goal of introducing and sustaining digital revenue growth and providing solutions to complement their traditional media offering. Publishers often come to us with similar needs.
The results? Bott Radio Network tacked on $118K in digital revenue with Vendasta, among other big wins. Publishers stand to benefit from the same.
The point is, digital selling doesn’t have to mean a complete overhaul. Think of it more like an expansion of what you’re already doing.
Innovate your offerings and generate more revenue by adding digital solutions to your traditional advertising sales. Vendasta’s unique data-driven products and services help you sell, scale and diversify your revenue streams. There’s something for everyone and many unique opportunities for publishers.
Because trying to hammer a nail with a screwdriver might be a little painful, ensure you have a full range of tools to offer your clients.
In fact, with a wider range of tools, you can fix more problems and cater to new business. At the same time, you gain an edge at nurturing and developing your valued relationships with long-standing clients (making sure they don’t get restless and seek something new elsewhere)!
It’s simple. You generate additional revenue and expand your reach by being able to solve more problems for more people.
In fact, data shows that selling one product has a retention rate of only 30 percent after two years, and selling just one more product increases retention by 20 percent, while selling four products shows a retention rate of 80 percent.
When it comes to long-standing business, help reduce the ambiguity of digital expansion and create commission-worthy value by bundling products into tailored packages to take them to the next level.
Whether it’s a set of foundational solutions to solve essential problems, or something a little more niche, pick and choose what you need and only pay for what you sell.
It’s essential that the modern sales team also understands how diversifying revenue streams and expanding beyond traditional offerings are the key to a bright future.
Vendasta offers the training, resources and 24/7 support, along with powerful sales intelligence and prospecting tools. Sales reps are set up for success and have all they need to become data-driven, social-selling whizzes.
Bottom line? Digital selling doesn’t need to be a sore spot.
There’s no better time to be in local media. Coming out of the pandemic years, there’s a sharper focus on and deeper appetite for digital selling initiatives. With local media on track to take back market share from the likes of Google and Facebook for the first time in 15 years, Borrell and other experts are excited for the future.
And you should be, too.
Vendasta works with publishers, broadcasters and more to create a repeatable path to growth, turning success into a process. Build trust and expertise while expanding your offering through our curated Marketplace.
Questions? To claim a free assessment and demo, contact our pain-reliever Morgan Klinger: http://calendarhero.to/KlingerPublisher
