We’ve long known that coupons provide real traction for SMB advertising. Nothing beats a customer walking through the door with a coupon in hand. But a lot of SMB website publishers haven’t really focused on them.

DataSphere, on the other hand, has had a coupons product for some time. But it only recently has really zeroed in on their potential as “an adjacent space” to normal SMB activities, along with events, notes SVP Gary Cowan.

Coupons are actually easier to pull off than daily deals because “they don’t require the level of investment from partners,” he says. “They’re accessible to a wider set of companies. And they target advertising in a similar way.”

DataSphere, which is now in 85 markets with more than 300 sales reps, has taken an approach that more closely resembles “closed loop optimization,” adds Cowan. “We’re now helping businesses provide better content, and to make better offers. We tell them what the difference is between making an offer that is 10 percent off and 30 percent off.”

While coupons don’t drive the same volume as deal publishers such as Groupon, they lead to higher profitability because they feature smaller discounts, and have no commissions. They also typically run for longer time periods than deals.

DataSphere has also been focusing on exposing the coupons across a larger network of relevant sites, including Coupons.com. “There is no reason not to publish a coupon on several sites,” says Cowan. “It all goes to help the SMB advertiser in the end, and if they see more value, they’re more likely to stick around.”

With TV station partners such as Gannett and Fisher Communications, Cowan says the focus is on leveraging DataSphere’s increasing scale to “continuously evolve and add services with clear and demonstrable value for small local advertisers.”

While this news has been out for a little while, we thought it was interesting that a company with powerful TV assets would initiate a deal with a company that provides high-quality, affordable video commercial content for local advertisers. After all, isn’t this what TV has been doing since the ’40s. What gives?

Anyone who’s ever sold or sold against TV operators knows the costs of commercial production can be a deal killer. TV sales executives try their hardest to find ways to bury the costs of production in their schedules, but that doesn’t always work. Other media reps also understand the process and sell against TV by scaring local advertisers about those production costs. It’s been going on forever. 

So, what’s new? TV stations are now involved in many more multiplatform selling opportunities than ever, and Fisher Communications is no exception. Video is a critical and highly seductive element in the minds of most advertisers and an enormously effective advertising tool whether used on air or online. Simply put, local production houses are not equipped to scale to meet the new demand for on-air and online video. The turnaround time and costs associated with doing local production are burdens for both the station and advertiser. The Fisher deal with SpotMixer allows their sales teams to put commercials together on their connected devices right in the showroom of the advertiser, if needed. 

For years, newspaper and radio reps have always been instructed about the power of the spec ad to close a deal. With this arrangement, TV and online reps working for Fisher have the same power at their disposal without costing the station thousands of dollars in time and effort, while providing a video that any business owner would be pleased to have carry his or her brand and identity.

Further, this lower cost option allows Fisher to extend the power of video to a lot of smaller local clients that might have had “video envy” over the years. Other local media companies have also been tying up with video providers over the past few years, but this is clearly local TV’s space to defend.

NBC’s local websites for its 10 owned and operated stations have effectively lowered the average age of users from 44 to 33, boosted the average time spent on site to 12 minutes, and grown its user base to 10 million unique visitors, according to NBC San Diego Director of Integrated Media Sean Monzet, who was speaking at San Diego Interactive Day yesterday.

Monzet says that NBC’s big strategic move a couple of years ago was to remake its sites from TV station promotional websites to NBC city sites, reflecting a broader mission. A number of verticals have since been launched, including The Feast (a dining/lifestyle site), The Goods (a group buying site launched last month) and The 20 (top special interest stories).

Local properties also are encouraged to build their own, unique content franchises. Soundiego, a local music site, was launched in early 2010 and features six bloggers. It is updated three to five times a day and is San Diego’s largest local music site, says Monzet. Other local verticals include PropZero (a politics site), a site for the San Diego Padres and a travel destination site called “Worth the Drive.”

Social media has played a big role in NBC’s growth. Twitter followers are up 300 percent and Facebook friends are up 100 percent since July 2010. “Everyone is on Twitter,” notes Monzet, who adds that staff members are awarded karate style “belts“ ranging from white to black for their prowess on Twitter. Each of the stations’ vertical sites has its own social media account, he adds.

On the hyperlocal front, the San Diego station has partnered with The Voice of San Diego, a local nonprofit news organization. The two organizations now produce a couple of weekly segments, and are working to cover specific stories and topics, says Monzet. The arrangement has gotten national attention. Under terms of the FCC’s agreement earlier this year allowing NBC and Comcast to merge, every NBC owned and operated station is required to develop similar arrangements.

A considerable amount of the debate on the reclamation of the TV spectrum cites several studies that seem to unrealistically estimate the net proceeds of a spectrum auction. For example, the most recent anonymously authored study offered by CTIA and CEA suggests a $33 billion to $34 billion value to the Federal Treasury will result from the auction. However, this estimate seems dramatically off because the price of spectrum has to decrease with the greater amount of supply that will be available, an economic fact not taken into account by this study. In fact, it actually uses a higher price than listed in an earlier CEA study even though a recent sale of spectrum clearly suggests more reasonable pricing. Without realistic revenue estimates, everyone is still unsure of what the proceeds of this auction would generate.

Most revenue estimates of the sale of this reclaimed spectrum assume that everyone will be allowed to (and probably will) participate in the auction. This begs the question, will the FCC bar companies that own a certain amount of spectrum from the auction in order to best serve the interests of competition? Additionally, AT&T, if allowed to acquire T-Mobile and all of that spectrum, may not be as active a bidder. Finally, with the present or expected owner concentration of wireless spectrum, will there really be many companies with enough financing to enter into this marketplace on widespread basis? The answers to any of these questions could seriously affect the levels of revenues generated by this auction.

This discussion then bleeds into the concern that the CEA/CTIA, like many others, understates the amounts that broadcasters will receive in the incentive auction. The FCC has stated that this auction will be truly voluntary. (As a side note, Alan Frank cautioned everyone when he said at the session, “I was in the Army, I know what voluntary really means.”) In a voluntary incentive auction, television broadcasters will not just ask for the value of their operations (sometimes referred to as their enterprise value). Instead, they could take the value of their spectrum (as possibly estimated by a third-party valuation firm), and combine that number with the powerful knowledge that their participation is necessary for the sale of this spectrum. That analysis could result in much higher revenues going to individual local television broadcasters. Given the number of large markets that are in hot demand, and the number of local television stations that have to participate in those markets to clear up enough spectrum, the total amounts earned by local television stations could be substantially higher than the total enterprise value of these stations. Hence, the net proceeds earned by these auctions will be noticeably less than what has been suggested.

With so many questions on the table, everyone is turning to the FCC for answers, but for now the FCC says it is focused on securing the rights to hold an incentive auction and that all questions will be answered in time. Consequently, all questions will continue to be carefully examined until the start gun goes off.

As Social Local Media — BIA/Kelsey’s newest advisory service — marches toward its Feb. 23 launch and Feb. 24 free webinar, we’re using social media channels to present data to our audience and learn more about your challenges, successes and needs in social strategy.

Now, we thought we’d change it up by breaking out the social local media ecosystem into some key segments and offering some tidbits on the penetration and struggles of each. Hence, “industry flash … by the numbers.”

Broadcast: Radio & TV

- Generally, local radio stations lag well behind TV in their use of social media. Only 27 percent operate a Twitter account, and startlingly, just 1 percent have their own Facebook page (source: RTNDA).

- Local TV has shown a greater propensity to adopt social tools, but the results are uneven. While 77 percent are incorporating Twitter into their newsrooms, only 20 percent are active on Facebook (source: RTNDA).

So, the question for both is: Where are radio and TV stations missing key opportunities to use social media to connect with their audiences, market their brands and enrich their content? What are next steps that each can take?

Internet Yellow Pages (IYPs) vs. Online Local Search

A “quick and dirty” content analysis of major domestic directory publishers (AT&T, Dex, Yellowbook, Superpages) uncovered some eyebrow-raising stats and practices:

- On Facebook, IYPs averaged 5,045 fans, or “likes.” Of the more than 20,000 “likes” discovered, more than 56 percent came from SuperPages (11,400+, which has elevated its fan total by more than 9,000 since November. By comparison, Yelp has more than 31,000 “likes” by itself. Of course, sites such as LivingSocial (3+ million active users) elevate “social buzz” to an entirely different level.

- On Twitter, IYPs aren’t nearly as “in the game.” Among the four brands sampled, the average follower count is about 1,500. Again, Superpages dominates, accounting for 71 percent (3,160 of nearly 4,500). Yelp’s Twitter count: 40,000 on the main site, with many of its 100+ city accounts attracting thousands, too. Citysearch also employs this local approach with similar results. Superpages is the only IYP trying this.

What opportunities in social are publishers missing? How can they get more active?

Let us know on our Twitter feed (@BIAKelsey), our Facebook page, or in our LinkedIn Group…or post a comment directly to the blog. You can also E-mail us (webinarsATbia.com). We’ll address your recommendations and questions on the free SLM webinar- Thursday, Feb. 24, at 1 p.m. ET.

If the first two decades of the local Internet were primarily about on-boarding traffic, then CBS Local Digital Media President Ezra Kucharz foresees that the next decade will be about “opening doors to consumers, getting them the information they want, and getting them to transact.”

This philosophy drives CBS Local’s digital philosophy across its 28 owned-and-operated TV stations and 39 radio properties. Four consumer desires undergird this strategy: robust content (news, sports, local info, weather and traffic), business listings, local deals and answers to local questions. Kucharz shared with the ILM:10 audience that CBS Local will launch a Local Answers platform in January that will address queries as diverse as “who do the Yankees play?” and “who’s a trusted plumber?”

Like so many others who see deals as the hottest inferno of opportunity in the red-hot local ecosystem, Kucharz is also a believer. He spearheaded CBS’ deals launch four months ago and calls local deals “the best way for SMB to get local consumers in the door right now.” He also stresses that business listings must include “rich experiences” that exceed mere links within a directory.

Of course, none of these insights is necessarily new, so what positions CBS Local to capitalize where others may fail?

According to Kucharz, the network’s well-etched brand advantages with its local business partners distinguish it. SMBs encounter several problems in moving their message and money online, from an aversion to complex digital buying to a lack of creative to a general lack of coherent strategy. CBS’ formula to leverage its assets is “the reach of traditional media + the targeting of online media + mobile media = results for SMBs.”

To generate even greater brand and platform synergies, CBS Local is in the process of rolling up its various properties in major markets under a larger banner. In New York, for instance, three radio and one TV have been fused into CBS New York. This approach will scale to its 24 major metros in 2011. The bundled effects (both in revenue and traffic) of rolling up individual properties into an aggregated brand have produced “1 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 7″ benefits.

TBD.com, the Washington, D.C., hyperlocal news site branding the online operations of Allbritton Communication’ WJLA-TV and Newschannel 8 under the TBD umbrella, is tabling its local ad network, citing limited advertiser interest.

The site currently has agreements with more than 200 blogs and local sites (up from 120 at launch in August) to link to their work from TBD’s home page. As an extension of this hub-and-spoke strategy, which blends original content with outside linking, TBD formed the ad network so that its sales force could leverage the reach of these content partners for bigger and more targeted buys.

Former TBD General Manager Jim Brady told BIA/Kelsey in September that the hope was that advertisers would see added value in delivering messages to wider audiences, but at geo- and contextually targeted levels (local sports teams or Fairfax County families, for example). At the time, three purely digital sellers were brought on-board to complement Allbritton’s 20-plus member TV sales force.

Early takers were the MLS soccer team D.C. United and the Washington Opera. But according to Steve Buttry, TBD’s director of community engagement, “the advertising aspect of the network has not taken off as effectively as the traffic and linking relationship.” TBD will now consider alternative approaches.

Brady resigned his post in early November after philosophical disagreements with management over future content directions for the site.

TBD is not alone in experimenting with community ad networks. Recently, KING-TV in Seattle, in conjunction with the Seattle Times, developed an online ad network in which the TV and newspaper sales teams market to mid-market clients and agencies across a swath of 28 western Washington blogs. It is part of Belo’s beLOCAL Ad Network, a division of belocalmedia.com.

Roku Channel Store

With cable subscriptions declining and a host of nonlinear, IP-connected devices emerging to offer new, incremental revenue possibilities, the time has come for local TV to get serious about an OTT strategy. To capitalize on this opportunity at a market level, local operators should be asking, “what does an effective OTT strategy entail?” and “what steps can be taken today?”

Roku, an OTT set-top box provider with an open application environment and channel store for content developers to build on, is probing these same questions and thinks it may have the answer. Partnerships, curated content, revised workflow and advertising are all part of the solution.

Roku’s channel store already features a growing swath of audio and video content, including Netflix, Hulu Plus, MLB.TV, the NHL, Pandora and Roku Newscaster, which culls together a cross-section of news from national outlets. While sports and entertainment/drama are particularly appealing, Jim Funk, Roku’s VP of business development, told BIA/Kelsey that customers of the channel store have demonstrated “lots of interest in local stations.”

Read the rest of this post.

Local media brands continue to look for ways to populate their sites with local bloggers and Twitterers. In return, they provide them with a bigger platform.

The latest to jump into the game is NBC Universal, which paidContent reports has developed “The 20” to highlight selected Twitterers in all 10 of the markets where it has owned and operated stations. The effort, which is expected to zero in on politics, sports, culture, education and crime, complements NBCU’s The Feast, which focuses on Eat, Play and Shop content, and relies on NBC writers and aggregated content from the Web. NBC will periodically adjust its list of Twitterers.

The 20 launches after New Year’s in Washington, D.C., New York and San Diego and will roll out in the remaining markets throughout 2011.

NBCU VP Greg Gittrich is speaking on the Progressive Traditional Media panel at ILM:10 next week, alongside Peter Weinberger of Advance Internet and Stephen Weis of Hearst Newspapers.

Group buying platform LivingSocial has taken another important step in differentiating itself as more than just another deal a day, building on its recent acquisition of social adventures company UrbanEscapes to unveil LivingSocial Espcapes. The new travel-focused offering segments getaways into three distinct categories: urban (in town), nearby and destination.

Escapes works much like LivingSocial’s standard daily deals, with substantial savings for buyers (usually 50 percent or more) and a tipping point that must be met for a deal to go live. E-mail subscribers receive a weekly alert, and because these are more ambitious purchases that require longer planning, LivingSocial is keeping deals active for seven days. Deals can be capped.

Thus far, Escapes seems to be off to a hot start. For example, a “Culinary Adventure in Virginia Wine Country” sold out — 435 at 55 percent savings — in just three days.

This is just the latest diversification for Washington, D.C.-based LivingSocial, which also now serves daily deals at a sub-metro level in certain market, creating better geotargeting for participating businesses and more locally relevant offers for potential buyers.

Meanwhile, TV station group Belo has jumped in the deal-a-day game, working with white label provider Tippr to introduce a group discount site across its local TV properties — Yollar.com. Consumers can sign up for deals-and-discounts e-mail alerts through the Yollar destination site, Belo station sites or dedicated Yollar Facebook pages.

The site was already live in selected Belo markets, including its Dallas/Ft. Worth headquarters, but is now launching in four additional markets: Boise, Charlotte, Hampton/Norfolk (VA) and Portland.

This is just the latest initiative from the TV company to seek out new ways to connect with local advertisers. In several markets, most notably Seattle, it has also hatched beLOCAL Ad Network, part of belocalmedia.com, to aggregate local media (traditional and community bloggers/contributors) to create a more attractive scaled buy for mid-market clients and regional agencies.

Finally, AOL has taken its deals platform — WOW! — live in three cities: Boston, Philadelphia and Washington. Though AOL isn’t exactly new to the DOD game, it is banking on inherent advantages in brand awareness and distribution, while potentially piggybacking on its content assets (highly trafficked portal home page, a growing fleet of blogs that now includes TechCrunch, 500 community Patch sites) to limit upfront costs and reach previously untapped deal-a-day segments.

Its broad content portfolio and deep e-mail database also open the possibility of national deals, similar to the one Groupon and Gap partnered on in August. This would run against the grain of most deal a days, which are SMB-focused, bottom-up and usually DMA-specific.