Outlook Sunny and 84 Degrees for Local Advertising

Writing by Brick Marketing on Tuesday, 8 of July , 2008 at 11:32 am

The ultimate prize for any local internet advertiser is a site with thousands of thousands of hit’s a day, with 90% of the incoming traffic voluntarily entering their zip code upon entry to the site. No scrapping for ISPs that can be highly unreliable to pinpoint a user’s exact location. No begging the user for a hint as to where they are located…just precise, immediate and voluntary giving of their zip code.

Internet Advertising gold, people, and it isn’t just a platinum-lined cloud in an ad-exec’s dream world, it’s real. What site is it? What is the URL of this ad-utopia?

Lean closer. We’ll whisper it.

The Weather Channel at www.weather.com. Heck, you’ve probably already gone there this morning to check the beach forecast. And did we mention that they have a healthy mobile traffic, too?

The weather channel has been overlooked by some advertising companies who mistakenly believe that only ‘weather nerds’ go there. That’s a mistake. Business people, housewives, sports fans…. The weather channel is a great common denominator across the advertising board. Everyone wants to know the weather, and the URL is the easiest thing in the world to remember. The catch is, to know your weather, you have to type in your zip code when you get there. Something that we all dutifully do.

At that point there are numerous ads from local businesses targeted to exactly that area, exactly that zip code.

Clickz.com reported on NBC’s buyout of the (previously) privately owned Weather Channel, which encompasses its TV, Online, ad Mobile businesses.

NBC Universal’s joint acquisition of The Weather Channel properties in conjunction with Bain Capital and The Blackstone Group will result in a stronger local online business for NBC. In addition to the dominant cable television network, The Weather Channel’s properties include its well-trafficked weather.com site and mobile offerings.

This is bold and intelligent move for NBC’s Local Advertising business and I expect to see it grow exponentially.

                      Category: Local Online Advertising