Media buyers have started receiving digital marketing proposals from newspaper publishers. We took a closer look at their offerings, and here are the main differences between what they offer and what your Audigy team can deliver.
The proposal includes language familiar to the digital marketer, such as SEO, social, and SEM. But upon closer inspection, we’ve found the main benefit of these packages is to the newspaper’s web presence. In effect, they appear to be utilizing advertising revenue to increase their main site’s web presence. With a digital copy of the advertiser’s print ad appearing on their site with a backlink to the advertiser’s site, they are implying that this serves as optimization for the advertiser’s site, when in fact it is optimization of their own site, with the advertiser overpaying simple association through backlinking. It is not the same as SEO for your website.
The program received and reviewed by Audigy media buyers lists the following features:
Unlimited Ad Optimization
This is explained above. Basically, the “ad” they mention here is a digital version of the advertiser’s ad in the newspaper. They optimize their site, and the advertiser’s site benefits only from a link to the newspaper site. When asked for more clarity on this, the newspaper rep responded, “They are located on the [name of newspaper]’s website. It’s not something someone is easily going to find, so please don’t count on traffic coming to the website from the ads themselves. They are placed on our website so that Google sees this when it’s searching for the best results to an inquiry. It helps you move up in the searches.”
There are no “paid search” or “online display” ads across the Google network, nor any other search engine platform. The mention of “ad” within these packages only refers to the print ad which has been digitized for inclusion on the newspaper’s website.
Four-Page Brochure Site
This is more like a four-page landing page. Something like this could confuse search engine web crawlers and, worse yet, potential patients.
12 Content Articles per Year
These are not added to your website but rather to the four-page brochure site, with a link to the advertiser’s website. As noted above, this can confuse and run counter to the digital efforts enacted for your main website. It’s best for your largest searchable body of content to be found on your business website.
5 Keywords Optimized
Again, this is optimization of the newspaper’s website, and perhaps the four-page brochure site, which could interfere with your own website’s optimization and any paid online advertising efforts.
20 Keywords Tracked
Audigy is currently working on adding this feature in-house, and it will actually benefit our Members’ websites — not the newspapers’. It basically will be used as a tool to determine performance of certain keywords. If the proposal notes only five keywords are optimized, we’re not quite certain of the purpose of tracking 20 keywords per advertiser.
Business Data Syndicated to Over 140 Sites
This is a standard offering within Audigy’s Digital AMP program.
Reputation Monitoring
This is a feature offered through Audigy.
Perhaps the most concerning part of the package is that the program is parceled out to several different vendors. There is a tremendous lack of transparency with these types of programs. Another issue with having multiple layers of vendor applications is that corrections and basic changes will take longer.
With Audigy you have one partner, specializing in your field, who shares your common goal. A vendor’s goal will always be to make the sale; Audigy’s goal is to see you and your business succeed.