Community Websites
Since August 2009, Fisher Interactive has launched more than 120 hyperlocal neighborhood and community Web sites with more than 1,600 advertisers, earning the company the Innovator of the Year award at the Borrell Local Online Advertising Conference. The hyperlocal product has been such a success it has been syndicated by media companies across the country.
These websites allow our audience to go beyond the region’s headlines and find the latest news in their community. The sites are the place for conversations to start and communities to connect on important topics and issues. Our community websites are designed to provide local residents with the best source of information about local news, events and personalities.
Our community websites are also a great opportunity for local businesses to reach local consumers. The goal for our advertisers is to get their business in front of customers living right in their neighborhood. We do this in many ways including offering a range of affordable advertising budgets, category exclusivity, coupons, video business profiles, newsletters and social networking.
This extensive network of web sites is the largest hyperlocal system in any one region in the country. The sites bring together valuable content from the stations’ and news websites. Using DataSphere Technologies’ new LocalNet service Fisher launched these sites in the Seattle, Portland, Eugene, Boise and Bakersfield markets.
To support its community websites, the TV stations restructured their newsrooms to effectively and efficiently capture and post community news on a real-time basis.
Local stories and breaking news that broadcast reporters cover on a daily basis are complemented with stories produced by a team of community web reporters and producers.
“As consumers are increasingly tapping into social and digital media platforms for their news and information, we are implementing our strategic plan and adapting initiatives and content offerings to match these changing industry dynamics,” explained Fisher’s President and CEO Colleen B. Brown. “We are using our rich broadcast heritage as the foundation for our ‘broadcast to broadband’ initiative in order to provide cost efficient relevant information to our audience and more targeted messaging for our advertisers.”
The sites were the first example of DataSphere Technologies’ LocalNet service, which provides TV broadcasters and other local media companies with the opportunity to take advantage of powerful existing brands and communication channels to build relevant and valuable online assets. LocalNet is a complete solution to address the local small business advertising market, including not only technology but also a seasoned, professional sales team. New clients can be up and running within weeks.
“Fisher Communications is a true leader in the extension of traditional media to the online world,” said Satbir Khanuja, CEO of DataSphere Technologies. “We were thrilled to be working closely with them. Our solution provides an exciting vision for companies seeking to grow their online revenue without a substantial technology or sales force investment.”
This latest collaboration between Fisher and DataSphere builds on Fisher’s earlier adoption of DataSphere’s Search and Discovery for Media. The original implementation resulted in an increase in search driven page views of more than 5 times and more than a 25% increase in gross Web site revenue within the first 3 months.
