Traditional media’s rush into digital marketing services as an incremental revenue source is in full swing, with Hearst LocalEdge, GateHouse Media’s Propel, Digital First’s AdTaxi and GannettLocal among those taking aggressive stakes in the opportunity. Now smaller publishers are seeking to capture the tailwind with consultative sales approaches of their own.

But the challenges are diffuse: targeting smaller businesses (micro SMBs) with a scalable offering, handling fulfillment and supporting the popular cross-platform sales mantra.

A cloud-based marketplace platform that has launched to satisfy these publisher concerns is AdStrix. The solution targets newspapers specifically with a coupon-based, trackable suite that spans online, mobile and print.

Yes, print, which AdStrix sees as an important touch point that can be tied to coupon calls to action (SMS short codes and QR codes, for instance). Interactive print is coupled with a digitized version in the publisher’s branded “business-to-consumer portal” (think: local marketplace) as well as a white-labeled, location-based mobile app.

The AdStrix team stresses a few key differentiators from the perspective of both the publisher partner and the SMB (which uses the company’s DIY interface to easily build its own campaigns). All campaigns connect to customized landing pages and are directly tied to calls to action through coupon codes. This enables analytics that extend beyond reach and traffic to isolate redemption recency and frequency. Customer segments can then be built to enable smarter re-targeting.

It’s a simple but potentially effective form of loyalty for SMBs whose database marketing is often unorganized, and whose campaigns often go untracked.

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