Firm Creates Niche for Clients With Small Ad Budgets

There’s no doubt that the advertising industry has taken a hit over the last 20 years and has had the difficult job of recreating itself. To its credit, it has found a foothold through the millennium’s new favourite buzzword: branding. It’s more than a slogan (although the words may be interchangeable), but rather something short and snappy that symbolizes an organization, such as “Where’s the Beef?” “Just Do It” or “Don’t Leave Home Without It.”

While these Fortune 500 companies have deep pockets to spend on promotional advertising, be it a national ad campaign or a one-time, million dollar Super Bowl ad, your average business does not.

So what’s a fledgling business with a small budget to do? Well, if you’re smart, you consider matte releases like those written and produced by Washington D.C.-based NewsUSA, a boutique content marketing firm.

For those unfamiliar with this rarely used but effective strategy, a matte story is a pre-formatted feature article that print and online editors can use when they don’t have enough copy to fill space.

“When companies don’t have million-dollar budgets, how do you show investors and your sales team what you’re doing? This is where NewsUSA comes in,” said Rick Smith, founder and CEO of NewsUSA.

For a small fee, Smith said a client is guaranteed somewhere between 1,000-1,400 placements per story with media outlets in all 50 states. Clients are sent tear sheets and screenshots to prove the placements. Currently, Smith said NewsUSA guarantees to place its clients’ content on television sites and hundreds of digital and print newspapers.

Smith said NewsUSA will write and format the content around the message the client wants to get across and provide images for client approval.

“Everything is a competition,” he said. “For clients who have small budgets but want to get their message nationwide, what are the options?”

In terms of mass marketing to the consumer for that amount of money, “you don’t,” Smith said.

In this way, Smith said he believes he’s created a nice niche for people who are trying to do something, but may not have a big media budget.

“It’s not surprising that clients who have even a modest budget will spend it with us,” he continued. “We’re a pretty attractive alternative.”