Business owners and managers in the Warren County area now have a new local option for digital marketing.
The Southern Standard has partnered with Advanced Media Solutions, a new digital services provider, in order to offer businesses a variety of tools to help with digital marketing strategies. Tools such as online reputation management, local business listings, website and social media design and management, email and ad targeting by demographic and screen-responsive mobile sites are just a few of the new services available through the Southern Standard, with more services to be added in the future.
Local digital media expert Ashley Gillentine Wright recently joined the Southern Standard team as digital media coordinator and is serving as a liaison between businesses and the Advanced Media Solutions company.
 “Several of our print advertisers have asked about ways to market on an even larger, digital scale. They’re curious about digital marketing and supplementing their current print and online advertising with some out-of-the-box ideas,” said Wright. “We listened and went to work to add to our existing capabilities. We have partnered with state-of-the-art service providers to offer a full breadth of digital products and services that have never really been available locally.”
The Southern Standard has been expanding rapidly into the world of digital media in recent years. In addition to an online edition of the newspaper, we have also added a companion mobile site for those on the go. Additionally, our existing multimedia video section, which is available without a subscription, has received a boost in recent months as more viewers have discovered the videos through social media and sponsor involvement.
SouthernStandard.com has won several prestigious awards for best website, including the 2015 Best Website Award from the Tennessee Press Association. The Southern Standard has also won many other awards from the Tennessee Press Association, including the 2015 General Excellence Award for best all-around newspaper.
“We have a great newspaper, a great website and a great staff of individuals working to make such an excellent product,” said Standard publisher Pat Zechman. “We’ve been offering digital advertising options for some time now and the new digital services we’re adding will continue to expand our toolbox to better serve our customers.”
According to Wright, it’s all about reaching more customers at a lower cost to stay competitive in the business market these days. A strong digital presence helps assure a business will stay relevant and front-of-mind for customers. “To help meet that challenge, we’re trying to give our customers more ways to compete with the online big box stores of the world,” Zechman said.
The Southern Standard has been working to contact advertisers about the new digital services and even held a networking event at Topz in downtown McMinnville earlier to launch the service line.
Future digital service workshops will be offered in the months to come as more services become available. Local business owners and managers who want more information about the services offered can call Wright at 473-2191 or email awright@southernstandard.com.