by inbndmarketing | Aug 31, 2016 | Uncategorized
Here Come the Holidays!
Lancaster County is always buzzing with excitement around the holidays. Whether it be because of the all-out décor from local residents and businesses or great shopping, the spirit of the season is always felt.
It’s probably hard to think ahead to the holidays when the sun is still shining and it’s 80+ degrees, but now is the time to do so. Summer is winding down which means the holidays are near. When you hear “holidays” you usually relate that to shopping, sales and promotions.
As any type of retail related business has discovered, holidays are the perfect opportunities to run sales, promotions and to advertise what it is they’re selling. Another thing businesses should have discovered by now is that today’s consumers expect to receive more special offers and deals during holiday seasons. This is truly the time for marketers to showcase what they have to offer and get those consumers in their doors.
It’s important that you’re in tune with the interests and needs of your consumers. You need to know who they are, where they are and how they purchase. How can marketers take advantage of the holiday seasons to increase their revenues? Here are some tips.
Local Internet Marketing
Think about when your customers are most likely to shop. Timing is key; if your ads are reaching local consumers when they’re most likely to shop, your business is going to be top of mind.
Consider creating a special landing page for your digital ads. A good landing page will tell consumers what to do, make it an easy process, and encourage consumers to submit some contact information. You’ll be able to test offers and get valuable contact information for your database.
Reach Shoppers in the Moment
A newer digital technology, called geo-fencing, is an affordable way to ensure delivery of your marketing messages to the right people, at the right time, and in the right place. Geo-fencing boosts your ads to customer’s mobile devices when they’re physically near your store. This will give them that extra oomph to walk through your door if they’re already close by. 
According to a study done by Placecast, 53% of participating shoppers have visited a specific retailer after receiving a location-based alert and 50% who stopped by a store, prompted by an alert, said the visit was unplanned.
Take Advantage of Newspaper
Nothing drives foot traffic like a strong print campaign. Encouraging in-store visits through print, with special offers, can be quite effective for getting more traffic through your doors.
Two of LNP’S most popular advertising packages are “Holiday Showcase” and “Holiday Gifts and Lifestyle.” These special sections allow marketers in Lancaster County to promote their business and services, while giving the consumers the coupons and deals they’re looking for. Small Business Saturday is also a great option for promoting your small business and local shopping during the holidays. Some of Lancaster’s most popular holiday destinations rely on our special holiday sections to drive business in the fourth quarter.
Are you ready to take your seasonal marketing efforts to the next level? Want to find out which options will help you drive the most people to your business this holiday season? Contact us to learn more about all the special advertising opportunities that are available to help your business during the holidays in Lancaster County.
LNP Media Group is committed to delivering exceptional experiences to our audiences, our customers, our vendors and our employees throughout Lancaster County and Central Pennsylvania. We provide value to our marketing and advertising partners by building effective and innovative solutions and by delivering exemplary customer experiences.
LNP Media Group is a division of Steinman Communications, one of the largest and most experienced communications companies in the Mid-Atlantic. Steinman Communications is an innovative, multi-channel communications company that delivers high quality news, information and entertainment to diverse audiences.
by inbndmarketing | Aug 25, 2016 | Insights
How to Leverage the Power of your Database
Building databases is a lot of work. Businesses spend years gathering emails from newsletters, customer cards, trade shows, email campaigns, sales calls and more.
- Businesses work hard to build a meaningful list of customers and another list full of prospects. With so much time and expertise invested in databases, smart businesses want to leverage this valuable data.
- The challenge is timing. While it’s tempting to bombard clients and prospects with emails, overexposure may result in opt-outs, spam complaints, or even lost business.
Wouldn’t it be great if you could use these databases to reach customers and prospects in ways that fit seamlessly into the ways they already look for information?
Conversely, no matter how much time a business spends building a database, they’re always missing a large percentage of prospects.
- The great news is that today’s technology allows you to exponentially grow your databases in a few simple steps. That means businesses can reach hundreds of other people, exactly like their best customers or prospects, without spending weeks to find them, and at a small fraction of the cost of purchased lists.
Thanks to the powerful tools built by tech giants Google and Facebook, businesses of every size now have access to sophisticated tools that help businesses reach hard-to-find customers and prospects simply by leveraging the power of existing email databases.
Google and Facebook Tools Leverage your Marketing Database
Here’s how it works:
- Google or Facebook have deep data analytics that will match your business’s email database to their billions of users. Once your emails lists are uploaded into Google or Facebook, individual addresses are hashed and anonymized to protect privacy.
- Good and Facebook are usually able to match about 30-60% of emails, so your list is going to be smaller once it’s uploaded. But that’s okay, because LNP Media Group can compensate for those losses by creating “lookalike” prospect lists that look, act, and behave just like your customer or prospect list.
It’s Easy to Create an Online Customer Database
Google’s email database tool is called Customer Match. It allows advertisers to send ads to their own database exclusively, providing super-targeted reach and minimizing waste. Your database is proprietary, so one else can access your database. Facebook calls this feature “Custom Audiences.”
Similar Audiences and Lookalike Audiences Make Audience Expansion Easy
The Google Display Network helps expand upon your list by allowing advertisers to send ads to “Similar Audiences” — audiences that share similar interests, activities and characteristics with your database:
- You’re able to increase your targeted reach from hundreds to millions. Both Google and Facebook allow you to refine your campaign’s reach with geographic qualifiers, ensuring businesses can limit campaigns to their geographic market area, whether that’s Lancaster City, Central PA, or larger.
- Facebook calls these “Lookalike Audiences”.
Build Databases of Website or Webpage Visitors
You can also create custom audiences of website visitors:
- Both Google and Facebook allow advertisers to add a tracking code to websites or webpages. The code tracks activity and builds databases of visitors. You will not be able to identify visitors individually, but you will be able to send Google or Facebook advertising to them.
Combine Website Audiences with Audience Expansion to Get Even More Targeted Reach
Maybe your website is new. Or you haven’t had high visitor numbers in the past. No worries. Google and Facebook both allow you to create “Similar Audiences” or “Lookalike Audiences” based on site traffic. That means you can expand a visitor database of a few hundred into a few hundred thousand.
Databases are Really Expensive Right? Wrong.
When you work with LNP Media Group, we’ll create online databases like the ones described here as a part of your digital marketing plan. In fact, creating databases on Google and Facebook is so inexpensive, it’s easily one of the most affordable ways, in any media or format, to expand targeted reach.
Digital marketing is a simple concept, but not always so simple to execute successfully. To find out which options work best for your audience needs and your budget, contact us today and we’ll create a plan that works for your business.
LNP Media Group is committed to delivering exceptional experiences to our audiences, our customers, our vendors and our employees throughout Lancaster County and Central Pennsylvania. We provide value to our marketing and advertising partners by building effective and innovative solutions and by delivering exemplary customer experiences.
by inbndmarketing | Aug 17, 2016 | Uncategorized
New trends mean you need new strategies
What’s new in grocery shopping? What’s new in how people find and consume food? Last year Bloomberg reported that Americans are now spending more on dining out than on groceries. In fact, according to the US Department of Commerce, sales in restaurants are now exceeding sales in grocery stores for the first time since this kind of data started to be collected in 1992.
Source: Bloomberg Markets
Millennials seem to be leading this shift. 29% of this grab-and-go generation report that they often purchase food and drink while on the run, compared with 19% of consumers overall. While you might think Millennials are running to fancy fast-casual destinations like Panera or Chipotle, the leading category for on the go eating may surprise you; it’s the convenience store.
In this part of the country, we have access to two of the most progressive convenience chains in the country – Wawa and Sheetz. These two chains are leading the industry in progressive menu development, healthy offerings, affordable made-to-order foods and enjoyable eat-in dining areas. Both offer a variety of healthy grab-and-go options that include low-fat yogurt, cheese and fruit, hummus and pitas and even quinoa salad. No wonder they’ve made such an impact on the eating habits of young and old alike.
If you want to attract more food shoppers to your restaurant, grocery store, market or convenience store, here are a few tips to make you more attractive to this time-pressed, grab-and-go generation.
GIVE THEM A REASON TO WALK IN THE DOOR
Why should consumers come to your store over others? Do you have better produce? Bulk bargains? More organic? Whatever your specialty is, promote it over and over again. Offer coupons that highlight the things that make you special. Announce arrivals of limited-time offerings like Rainer cherries or the first local pumpkins. While coupons and flyers are important, make sure you save room to give attention to the things that make you really special.
MAKE MINE TO GO
While many food marketers have caught on to the need for ready-to-eat options, fewer understand that to get more of the grab-and-go market, food must be packaged and presented differently. Are your foods easy to eat in a car? On a park bench? At an office desk? Is it neat to eat? Easy to clean up? Will it leave a smell? Think through all the types of considerations the folks at Wawa and Sheetz are using when they decide which items to promote.
BUILD BRAND AWARENESS
No matter who you are, or how long you’ve been in the area, you’ll need to continually promote your name and location(s). If you don’t, other names and stores will replace yours in your customers’ minds. Pay attention to signage. Advertise a lot. Get your name, brand and logo out there in as many ways as you can. One of the biggest events of the year, the Taste of Home cooking event, is a great way to get into the hands of over 1,000 enthusiastic home cooks. Sponsorships are very limited, so contact us now to find out how you can participate.
GET LOCAL RESEARCH ON WHAT GROCERY SHOPPERS WANT
If you want to know more about what shoppers in Lancaster County want from a grocery store, check out 5 Surprising Ways to Grow Grocery Sales, first posted in June.
No matter how you’re selling food, or who your target market is, LNP Media Group can help you find smart ways to increase your visibility and attract more shoppers. Contact us to find out more.
LNP Media Group is committed to delivering exceptional experiences to our audiences, our customers, our vendors and our employees throughout Lancaster County and Central Pennsylvania. We provide value to our marketing and advertising partners by building effective and innovative solutions and by delivering exemplary customer experiences.
LNP Media Group is a division of Steinman Communications, one of the largest and most experienced communications companies in the Mid-Atlantic. Steinman Communications is an innovative, multi-channel communications company that delivers high quality news, information and entertainment to diverse audiences.
by inbndmarketing | Aug 10, 2016 | Uncategorized
How to Drive Visitors to Your Lancaster County Business
Everyone in Lancaster County knows that tourism is vital to our local economy. Tourism attracts visitors not only from neighboring states, but also brings guest to our area from Europe, the Far East and India. While the Amish and Plain People’s way of life is a major draw, visitors are also searching for good food, exciting entertainment, comfortable accommodations and interesting shopping experiences. Most tourists find loads of marketing that drives activities associated with the Amish. However, our area’s restaurants, shops, lodging and entertainments have not always done as good of a job of marketing to travelers.
Lititz, PA is known for being one of the coolest small towns and for its unique shopping.
If visitors aren’t aware of your unique offerings, you’re leaving a substantial sum of money on the table. According to research done for Discover Lancaster, over 8 million people visited Lancaster County last year. They spent almost $2 billion in 2015, making tourism one of the fuels that drives the Lancaster County economy. In 2015, tourism industry employment was 8.2% greater than in 2011, representing more than 1,200 new jobs.
Every tourism marketer knows that if business is close to a big tourist attraction, good signage and smart merchandising may be enough to keep you profitable. But, what if you’re not next to an Amish farm? What if no one around you is selling quilts or jam? Without the staples of traditional Lancaster County tourism, you may find you’re not getting your share of the billions visitors spend each year. You will have to work harder and market smarter to ensure tourists spend their dollars at your business.
USE THE RIGHT SEARCH TERMS
Travelers can quickly get overwhelmed when planning a trip. Increasingly people are going online to get the answers to their travel questions. It’s no surprise to tourism veterans that people start thinking about trips weeks, even months ahead. Google research shows that 37% of travelers think about vacation planning at least once a month; 17% think about it at least once a week. When these travelers are ready to start mapping out itineraries, they go online. Expedia reports that the average person visits 38 sites when planning a trip. If you want Lancaster County tourists to consider your business, you need to be easy to find and rank high on relevant searches. Smart SEO strategies combined with paid search campaigns will ensure your best customers find you at the right time.
When travelers get hungry, they search for nearby restaurants. The right mobile marketing strategies will ensure you show up to the right tourists at the right moment.
REACH TRAVELERS IN THE MOMENT
In the past year, conversion rates have grown 88% on mobile travel sites. Reaching travelers on their phones, at moments when they’re in Lancaster County, can have a significant impact on your bottom line. LNP Media Group offers a wide range of mobile marketing strategies, including geo-fenced ads that only appear on phones when the visitors are close to your business.
TAP INTO STAYCATIONS
One of the hottest trends in vacations is staying home. “Staycations” give hard-working folks in Lancaster County a chance to rest up or catch up on home improvements. A recent AAA survey found that only 35 percent of Americans are planning on traveling more than 50 miles from their home this year for their family vacation. While staycationers may want to spend more time in their backyard, they’re still open to having fun eating out, visiting local shops or catching the latest play. Make sure your business is a well-known destination for locals as well as out-of-town visitors. You’ll not only attract staycationers, you’ll get more local business all year long.
DON’T FORGET ABOUT TOURISM GUIDES
Visiting Lancaster is a great guide for tourists that features the areas attractions.
Printed tourism guides are still a staple for visitors to Lancaster County. Each year visitors pick up millions of guides. One of the best is Visiting Lancaster, published by LNP Media Group and distributed to thousands of visitors each year in hotel rooms and at tourist information centers. Our guide mixes compelling content on area attractions with well curated ads.
Ready to step up your tourist marketing efforts? Contact us to find out how LNP Media Group can help your Lancaster County business attract more visitors here and abroad.
LNP Media Group is committed to delivering exceptional experiences to our audiences, our customers, our vendors and our employees throughout Lancaster County and Central Pennsylvania. We provide value to our marketing and advertising partners by building effective and innovative solutions and by delivering exemplary customer experiences.
LNP Media Group is a division of Steinman Communications, one of the largest and most experienced communications companies in the Mid-Atlantic. Steinman Communications is an innovative, multi-channel communications company that delivers high quality news, information and entertainment to diverse audiences.
by inbndmarketing | Aug 3, 2016 | Insights
Five Key Commitments Make the Difference
In conversations with neighbors, friends, and business associates, our colleagues at LNP Media Group are often asked about the future of LNP, Lancaster County’s daily newspaper.
Given the rapidly changing media environment for newspapers in particular, we focus on ensuring a vital, vibrant future that matches our nearly 225+ year legacy. The press reports regularly on news organizations that are laying off staff, reducing original content, and eliminating days on which they print. Some communities are without a daily newspaper and others are without a paper completely.
LNP is committed to being the source of news and information for every resident of Lancaster County and being the means by which every business in Lancaster County can reach their target customers. LNP’s commitment is evident in so many ways.
Meaningful Content
LNP Media Group, with Lancaster County’s daily newspaper (LNP) and a premier website for news and information (LancasterOnline.com), strives to deliver thorough and valuable content in a way that is informative, helpful and entertaining:
- Our staff of professional journalists works tirelessly to discover and report what is important and meaningful to residents of the county.
- No other news organization covers our community as in depth as we do, and no other news organization highlights issues that prompt community conversation as we do.
We are immensely proud of the work we do and industry leaders recognize the excellence of our efforts. The LNP staff has won more than two dozen awards from the Pennsylvania News Media Association and the Associated Press Managing Editors organization. LancasterOnline has won several awards for excellence in digital platforms, including best overall digital experience at the 2016 America East Conference.
Connecting Audiences to Advertisers
LNP has the largest core circulation of any newspaper in Central Pennsylvania and has the fourth largest circulation in the state. We have a diverse audience of engaged readers that is appealing to businesses in Lancaster and beyond:
- Our advertising clients know the power of print advertising and see the results when their ads appear regularly in LNP Media products.
- Advertising clients also reach new local customers and raise awareness of their businesses via LancasterOnline, our digital voice.
- LancasterOnline is the county’s most widely read online news source. Our team also provides digital marketing tools and services to our clients, including paid search advertising, social media advertising, media-rich email marketing, and geotargeted mobile advertising.
Community Impact
Stories we publish have a profound impact on the quality of life in Lancaster County. From reporting that explains the importance of transparency in government to articles that illustrate the scourge of heroin across our county, we strive to investigate and develop stories that help our readers understand issues that matter to all of us:
- Our reporting has helped open wildlife preserves to the public and prompted changes in a local school district that both saved money and re-established the arts and music programs.
Local Ownership
Unlike many nearby newspapers owned by large media organizations that make staffing and editorial decisions from afar, LNP Media Group is committed to fostering the vitality of Lancaster County due to its local ownership by the Steinman family:
- We are headquartered in downtown Lancaster and are directed by members of the Steinman family. LNP, LancasterOnline, and all of the other publications produced by LNP Media Group operate under the guidance of people who live and work right here in Lancaster County.
- The Steinman family has also dedicated a significant portion of LNP’s earnings to fund The Steinman Foundation, one of the largest private foundations in Lancaster County. In the last 65 years, the foundation and its predecessors have given more than $80 million to causes dedicated to improving the quality of life in Lancaster County.
A Legacy of Innovation
Some dismiss LNP Media Group as a legacy media organization that does not reflect today’s innovation and creativity. We’ve seen extraordinary technological changes and embraced them. We’ve been nimble throughout all 44 U.S. presidencies, 2 world wars, The Great Depression, and several recessions. We’ve adapted, grown and thrived since 1794. The ability to innovate to meet advertiser’s needs and exceed readers’ expectations establishes that change and adaptation are core elements of our DNA.
So back to the question, “What’s the future for Lancaster County’s daily newspaper?”
The answer is that LNP Media Group is deeply committed to our newspaper audience. We are also committed to evolving and growing as a news organization to ensure that we are able to anticipate the changing needs of our audience of readers and the advertising customers we serve. While the news business is changing fast, we are optimistic. We have faith in the bright future of Lancaster and we know we will continue to be part of it.
LNP Media Group is committed to delivering exceptional experiences to our audiences, our customers, our vendors and our employees throughout Lancaster County and Central Pennsylvania. We provide value to our marketing and advertising partners by building effective and innovative solutions and by delivering exemplary customer experiences.
