Mike Dragosavich, owner of Spotlight Media, found his way into publishing. Then, he diversified into marketing agency services. And now he’s getting into digital billboards! We asked him for his advice on how to diversify your publishing business and about why he’s pouring his resources into B2B marketing right now.
Billboards Are an Asset—Literally.
For Mike Dragosavich, most business decisions are bred out of necessity. Most recently, a desire for more assets and additional buying power landed him in the digital billboard space. He explains that the idea started after learning more about land development from Spotlight Media’s B2B work:
“You can get easements or a piece of land as a multiplier. [The digital billboards cost] $120,000 per side, then you can pay them off after 3-4 years. You have assets and you can borrow and diversify.”
Almost immediately after beginning the permitting process, Spotlight was contacted by another outdoor media company. Rather than compete, they struck a deal and he bought into their digital board company.
The outdoor deal is still young, and his team is still learning how to capitalize on digital billboards. Ultimately, Mike says, they want to use magazines as an advantage, but they don’t want magazines to be their only focus. He adds, “We don’t want to lean too much one way or another. We’re diversifying within our lanes.”
Expanding Into Consumer vs. B2B
So, if you want to diversify your publishing business, what factors should you consider? First and foremost, Mike advises to consider your target audiences:
“It’s really hard to expand into consumer. You’re competing against Google and a lot of impressions. Consumer is tricky right now, and we’re trying to figure out how to offer good consumer products. It’s something we’re working on.”
B2B, on the other hand, is a wide open market. “You’re not going to run billboards, or TV, or radio, and waste your money on the wrong audience. Consumer is where all the noise is.”
How to Stand Out to B2B Audiences
Timing is everything, and right now, there are thousands of B2B businesses with large marketing budgets and no holistic marketing plan in place. For Mike’s team at Spotlight, this makes for a great package sale.
It starts with a familiar print campaign. In Spotlight’s case, a 12 times per year print ad placement that highlights a company’s employee. This builds morale, and it is great for recruitment. Plus, colleagues and neighbors stop on these ads to see if they know the people being featured.
But print is just the beginning. The head shots included with the print ad can go on the website, which needs to be updated to stay current. The scope of that work may include videos to highlight value and benefits—especially with virtual tours and meetings now at an all-time high.
As you can see with this approach, a consultative approach is required. Which brings us to Mike’s next point:
“[B2C sales are] way different. Most of the time, they don’t have a marketing director who knows what’s going on...We’re selling them by showing them how we’re selling. If you show them examples, they’re buying success.”
Your B2B and B2C Channels Can Work Together
Spotlight recently announced a promotion where every CEO and business leader featured in their B2B magazine will receive a gift basket. But, they powered the promotion by tapping into B2C advertisers who wanted business from these CEOs.
Mike’s sales team identified all of the nice restaurants and stores in the Fargo area and hit them with a simple pitch: If you advertise with us, we’ll do partial cash and partial trade for gift cards. The gift cards then go into the gift basket—all but ensuring the businesses make it onto the radar of the area’s most affluent customers.
Pretty brilliant, huh?
Diversifying Your Publishing Business May Boil Down to B2B
Take it from Mike—a restaurateur, publisher, agency owner, and now, outdoor advertising business stakeholder. If you’re a consumer-focused publication, your potential in B2B offers plenty of opportunity to diversify your publishing business without having to stray from what you know best. And, if you cater to business audiences in a thoughtful, consultative manner, it can help you expand your marketing services offerings, too.