Stations target direct mail dollars.

 

A new online venture is partnering with local radio and TV stations to capture a slice of the $37 billion spent annually on direct mail advertising.  Launching July 6 in 20 markets, 10LocalCoupons.com uses a business model similar to one that founder Eric Strauss employed for RegionalHelpWanted.com.

Competing radio clusters and TV stations promote a local site — 10ToledoCoupons.com, for example — where consumers sign up to receive a weekly email that contains links to 10 coupons from local merchants.  Straus describes the venture as “direct mail coupons gone digital.” Coupons can be printed or sent to a subscriber’s cell phone. Participating radio stations are required to run 20 spots a week on a 24-hour Best Times Available basis. Half the radio spots target consumers, the other half target small businesses, who log in to the site to create a coupon and pay for it with their credit card.  Straus works with broadcast partners to arrive at an equitable revenue split.

“We’re going after the businesses that radio station sales people will never and should never call on: the dog groomers, the landscapers and plumbers,” he says. Initial radio clients include Curtis Media Group in Raleigh; Galaxy, Citadel and Clear Channel in Syracuse, NY; and Citadel and Saga in Portland, ME.  “As direct mail moves from print to digital, the money should no longer go to the big print houses,” Straus, a former station owner, says. “We’re getting multiple broadcasters in the same market to work together to create the dominant digital direct mail brand.”