Post on 15-Jan-2016
GATEHOUSE MEDIA VENTURES UPDATE
June 2012
Gatehouse Media Ventures: Why We Formed Ito Accelerate the new business development activities
o Focus on “disruptive” innovation
o Create a VC-like funding and management structure
o Provide the best incubation environment
o Generate material growth both “organically” in the
new businesses and in collaboration with the
GateHouse newspapers
Criteria for the Businesses We Build
o In the center of long-term, sustained growth
industries
o No more than one-step away from the transaction
o Direct connection to our existing GateHouse value
proposition / assets
o Reasonably near-term cash flow generation and
capital requirements
Propel Marketing: Background
Customer facing solutions: email, reputation and presence management, websites, social marketing, calendaring/appointment-setting
Performance-based commerce: pay-per-click, deals, couponingOnline/ digital media: mobile, social, online directories, online display, digital outdoor
Advertising & Marketing Spend By U.S. SMBs
Source: 2011 BIA Kelsey
$ Bi
llion
s
$22.4
$40.2
Propel Marketing: Local Market Demand
o Frequently mentioned in customer surveys by the publishers
as a top priority (i.e., digital marketing solutions)
o But most SMBs either don’t know where to start, or have had
a poor experience before
o Low current penetration, particular in areas like mobile web
sites and social marketing
o Almost uncapped upside: huge latent demand and available
share from other media
Propel Marketing: What the Customers NeedWhat the SMB wants How Propel Delivers It
1. “Show me why I need it”
• Simplifies complex marketing options • Consultative sales, educational seminars; ongoing in-person contact
2. “Pick and execute the right components for me”
• Expertise in digital marketing for SMBs• Product bundles that align with SMBs’ objectives and capabilities
3. “Save me time doing it”
• Automated interfaces with vendors; integrated workflow
• Customer-facing campaign managers
4. “Save me money doing it”
• Large volume discounts from the integrated vendors• Automated workflows and elimination of redundant data entry
5. “Show me the results” and “demonstrate the ROI”
• Ongoing education for the SMB about what success means
• Integrated reporting dashboard with real-time data• Live interaction with Propel client managers
6. “Make me feel comfortable throughout the process”
• Tied to the trusted newspaper brands• Transparent performance through integrated reporting
• Dedicated campaign and client managers
The Market Size
• In the GateHouse markets we do business with approximately 300,000 businesses
• In those markets there are approximately 2 million businesses
Propel Marketing – more than an idea…
o Building full team of digital marketing experts
o Integration of multiple internal and external
services
o High volume of low-value transactions
o Highly-efficient, centralized technology-driven product support and distribution
o Easy to do business with
Customer SegmentationSmall Large Small Small Medium Medium
Characteristics No or poor websiteNo mobile presenceNo Google places
Website, No mobile presencelimited or no social
Dedicated mktgLead-focused, ROI
Use outside agencyBranding
Business Types Small home contractorsHair, skin careSmall restaurantCar repair
Large home contractorsInsurance AgentsMD, chiro, dentistReal estate agentSmall retailLarge restaurant
Smaller car dealerSmall banksOutpatient clinicsAttorneysLarge retailReal estate broker
Multi-location car dealersRegional banksHospitalsRegional retail
# of employees <5 5-20 20-500 500+
Spend/month $100-200 $200-500 $350-1,000 $1,000+
Products Website creationMobile siteSERSocial setup
Mobile siteWebsite upgradeSocial setup, mgt liteSERIdentity MgtRep Monitoring
Mobile site, call trackSocial mgt liteSEMOnline media, Audience ext, re-targetRep monitor, identity
Social mgtSEMSEOAudience ext, re-target
Goals of the Propel Marketing Organization
o Create a full service digital
marketing team
o Offer high impact & timely
products
o Provide high-quality customer
service and products
o Evolve products– customer
driven
o Implement turn key service offering for partnerso Time & Expense Savings
o Leverage technology to create efficient delivery, communication and reporting
Current Product Offering - Overview
o Initial focus on providing full range of
solutions to SMBs
o Ability to best aggregate results into one
place for reps and customers
o Only white labeled solutions with single
sign on capabilities
o Set foundation of products/services and
build upon initial offerings
o Goal: Propel Marketing portfolio will have
solutions to match customers needs
regardless of their digital marketing
stage – one size doesn’t fit all!
o Create product packages to help with early
sales activities
o Expand offerings and improve process
PropelRep – Reputation Monitoring
PropelList – Business Listing Cleansingo Provide businesses with the ability to verify and
manage the accuracy of their business information on the web focusing on submission and updates to major search and directory sites.
o Why: Accurate and complete business listings are an important first step in online marketing. More than 40% of online listings are inaccurate, incomplete, or missing.
o What we do:o Submit listing information to all major
search engines and directories.o Listing data updated any time and provided to
top data providers for future releases to directories (Acxiom, InfoUSA etc.)
o Save our clients the time and effort of validating listings on hundreds of different sites.
o Verify listings to provide better placement to stand out from competition.
PropelWeb – Desktop Website Creation
Only 13% of websites contain a phone number on the homepage
Only 25% have an email address or contact forms 36% of SMB sites are single pages
PropelWeb – Mobile Website Creation
PropelWeb – Mobile Website Creation
95% of smartphone users have searched for local info!
+ 90% of these users took action within 24 hours+ 61% called a local business after searching+ 59% visited in person
PropelWeb – Mobile Website Creation
• 57% of users say they won’t recommend a business with a poorly-designed mobile site
• 40% have turned to a competitor’s site after a bad mobile experience
PropelSocial – Creation & ConversationsFacebook Twitte
r
PropelSearch – Search Engine Marketing
PropelOptimize – Search Engine Optimization
PropelTrack – Call Trackingo Robust call tracking solutions to provide complete
activity reporting from any advertising medium for complete measurement of effectiveness.
o Why: SMBs have varying level of expectations but are looking for ways to quantify the results of their investments. Phone call tracking provides SMBs the ability to generate unique local or toll-free numbers to be used on their sites or in any of their advertising campaigns (social, search, print, radio, direct mail etc.) 65% of businesses still rate phone call leads as one of the highest quality leads they can get.
o What we do:o Create unique local or toll-free call tracking
numbers that are provided to businesses that ring to their local number(s).
o Track and record all public call information.o Provide call detail and recordings within the Propel
business dashboard.
PropelTrack – Reverse Proxy & JavaScript Rewrite
PropelLocal
PropelDisplay
o Same display networks as core GHS units
o PropelRetargeting – remarket to users across the web
after they’ve visited a customers website - DataXU and
Google Ad Network
o Direct buying services available – guaranteed
placement/inventory
o Utilize PropelTrack solutions with all display campaigns
PropelDashboard
Future Propel Offerings
o Social Media Management Tool – DIFM & DIY
o Email Marketing Management
o Email Marketing – 3rd party distribution lists/targeting
o Desktop and Mobile Site Content Management System for
SMBs
o Single sign-on for each customer to manage all services
within the Propel Dashboard
Organizational Structureo Sales Channels:
o Direct sales channel
o GHS regional sales channel
o 3rd party partner sales channel
o Operations:
o Marketing Implementation Specialists
o Ops/Development/Specialty
o Client Services
o Process:
o SFDC – Partner Portal – centralized system for all
processed requests
o Various sales channels don’t dramatically change
fulfillment process
Organizational Fulfillment Process
Early Findingso Good success with service oriented businesses – top
YP categories
o Important to create packages that have a natural
progression for upsell opportunities
o Managing customer expectations early:
o Results
o Timing
o Search budget – customized for
client/geography/category
o Must be SMEs – can’t make this up
o Mobile presence opportunity – requires education
o Ongoing training & education – customer and SMEs
o Good results for early campaigns – clicks, calls,
emails and engagement
How to go to marketSmall Large Small Small Medium Medium
Characteristics No or poor websiteNo mobile presenceNo Google places
Website, No mobile presencelimited or no social
Dedicated mktgLead-focused, ROI
Use outside agencyBranding
Business Types Small home contractorsHair, skin careSmall restaurantCar repair
Large home contractorsInsurance AgentsMD, chiro, dentistReal estate agentSmall retailLarge restaurant
Smaller car dealerSmall banksOutpatient clinicsAttorneysLarge retailReal estate broker
Multi-location car dealersRegional banksHospitalsRegional retail
# of employees <5 5-20 20-500 500+
Spend/month $100-200 $200-500 $350-1,000 $1,000+
Products Website creationMobile siteSERSocial setup
Mobile siteWebsite upgradeSocial setup, mgt liteSERIdentity MgtRep Monitoring
Mobile site, call trackSocial mgt liteSEMOnline media, Audience ext, re-targetRep monitor, identity
Social mgtSEMSEOAudience ext, re-target
Wedge Website, SER, Social setup
Site upgrade, mobile, social DIY/DIFM Lite
Rep monitor, Social DIFM Lite
Audience extension, targeting, Social Mgt
Sales Coverage SureWestPM - Telesales
SureWestPM - Telesales
SureWestPM – Field Reps
SureWestPM – Field Reps
What Propel Means for People in this Room
o Access to the entire product and delivery portfolio
through a single sales interface; training; customer
support and delivery
o Robust sales operations infrastructure including lead
generationo Upgrade from current product set
• Better and broader set of products
• One point of contact
• Better reporting
• Better marginsNext Steps:
oRapid deployment across GateHouse Media
oWave 1 – week of July 16th – details to be finalized
Appendix
PropelRep – Reputation Monitoring
o Ability for businesses to monitor and manage information and mentions about their business across the web including social sites (Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare etc.), review sites like Yelp, Yahoo and Google, content sites including news and blogs, and any other smaller sites that publish content mentioning the particular business.
o Why: Monitoring your business reputation will ensure you’re aware of what others are saying about your business across the web and allow you to communicate with them. It gives business owners control over their reputation. Reputation management is equally important as the mobile web continues to grow at explosive rates, giving business owners the tools to protect their brand(s) and be alerted if others attempt to impersonate them on the web.
o What we do:o Perform comprehensive, initial search for mentions of the
business across the web and provide a comprehensive report of identity status and mentions to date.
o Offer real-time ongoing monitoring with customizable alerts (i.e. negative review posted on Yelp, blog mentions, etc.)
o Include competitive benchmarking for web presence and mentions across the web
o Surface a daily verification report within a Propel dashboard displaying their business listing’s presence
PropelWeb – Desktop Website Creationo Ability for businesses who either don’t have a website, or who
are not satisfied with their existing website to create a cost and effort-effective solution that will be visible to potential customers searching for their products and services online.
o Why: With more 20% of searches on Google being local, all SMB’s need to have a presence on both desktop and the mobile web. A large amount of SMB’s that have sites today aren’t properly using them or have only a splash page. A recent sample showed that out of 500k SMB websites, only 13% have a phone number on their homepage, 24% have an email address and/or contact form and 36% of the sites are single page sites.*
o What we do:o Provide various size templated website solutions (1, 3, 5,
10 page and custom development options)o Copywriting/content creation and design process plan for
customerso Design and social media integrationo Proper SEO structureo Call Trackingo Hosting, domain and consultation services
PropelWeb – Mobile Website Creationo Ability to create a mobile website for customers that
have an existing desktop only site.
o Mirror the look, color scheme and content of the
existing website.
o Create a better user experience when visiting the
businesses website on a mobile device.
o Integrate current analytics
o Ability to make content updates/changes – DIFM (Do it
for me)
o Competitive product offering and pricing
o Scalable Solution
PropelSearch – Search Engine Marketing
o Placement of geographical and keyword-targeted ads across the major search engines targeting users who are searching for the SMBs product or service that is located in the area.
o Why: Online search continues to grow and saw overall growth of 9% YOY for September which exceeded 19.3 billion searches in 2011. SEM provides customers with the ability to target the user based on their location and what they’re searching for at that exact moment. It provides customers with a targeted platform with an auction based pricing model. It’s predicted that 26% of the digital advertising budgets will be spent on search.
o What we do:o Interview SMBs about their target audience and messageo Create multiple creative copy formats and keyword sets to
generate the lowest CPMo Daily to weekly optimization of the campaigns based on
performance goals (clicks, CPC, CPA)o Provide full reporting including leads (calls or email
submissions) generated from the reverse proxy site
PropelOptimize – Search Engine Optimizationo Process of content, site architecture and linking practice to improve the SMB’s ranking in the large search engines. The goal is to put the business where their customers are searching.
o Why: With 3% of traffic from search engines coming from paid search and 97% from organic search it’s important for businesses to be found towards the top of the first page of the search results. SEO is a longer-term strategy and investment that pays dividends on long-term traffic and leads for an SMB. If they’re not listed when a users is searching for their product or service it’s a missed opportunity.
o What we do:o Interview SMB to gain insight into their current
business strategyo Create SEO plan including content updates/generation,
site code adjustments, link building, blogs, article submissions etc.
PropelTrack – Proxy & JavaScript RewritesTechnology that provides Propel the ability to track complete responses from any online marketing campaign including calls, traffic and contact form submissions without requiring the SMB to make any changes to their existing sites and campaigns.
Why: With many types of advertising online, it’s beyond the click to the customer website. Traditionally after the click to the customer site, we’re unable to measure activity which hurts perceived results by SMBs. By using this technology we’re able to create a mirror of the customer’s site and replace existing contact information with our local tracking numbers and email forms. This site is then linked to from all campaigns to provide comprehensive reporting/results.
What we do:o Create a proxy rewrite for customers running almost
any marketing solution with Propel.o Apply proper tracking information and numbers to siteo Provide full reporting
PropelLocal
o Claim business profiles on the major search engines and other platforms: Google Places, Yahoo/Bing, Yelp, etc. Providing the SMB with free exposure targeting users searching for them directly.
o Why: 97% of consumers search for local businesses online, according to Google. In order to best represent themselves when appearing in search, SMBs should provide as much information about their business products/services etc. in order to stand out in search result pages locally.
o What we do:o Claim business listings on Google, Yahoo and Yelp
and create an enhanced profile for the SMB.o Add links, photos, videos, special offers and
detailed company information including hours of operation, categories, keywords etc.
o Post live updateso Allow the business owner to respond to reviews
PropelDashboardo Provide a one-stop-shop for viewing and
downloading comprehensive analytics and reporting tools across all Propel products.
o Why: SMBs don’t have time to be sifting through pages and pages of reports and logging into different systems in order to see how their marketing dollars are working for them. A centralized dashboard containing reporting for SEM, web analytics, call tracking, reputation management and all other Propel products creates an easy-to-use administration area for SMBs to access data.
o What we do:o Connect all third-party vendors into
one Propel-branded dashboardo Allow for both internal and client-
level accesso Surface reporting and analytics for
all products purchased through Propel