PITTSFIELD — Berkshire Eagle this week launched Talon Media, a full-stack digital marketing agency that will become a division of New England Newspapers.
Think of Talon Media as a matchmaker for both local and national businesses to connect with carefully selected potential customers online.
This helps businesses define their target market and launch creative advertising campaigns in the digital world. At the same time, Talon Media's business clients will have access to a dashboard updated every 24 hours showing metrics from these campaigns.
Gary Lavalier, Berkshire Eagle's chief revenue officer, will become Talon Media's managing director, overseeing a force of 25 staff and expecting to grow the staff.
Gary Lavalier, Chief Revenue Officer, Berkshire Eagle;
While some businesses in Talon Media's customer base may choose to advertise in The Berkshire Eagle and its sister publications, this may not be the case for others and Talon Media's It is not a prerequisite or expectation of the company seeking the service.
“This is exactly what we call extended networking, or programmatic deployment,” Lavalliere said. “It doesn't really matter where it appears; it's just based on the ideal demographic that the customer is targeting.”
In some ways, Talon Media's mission is not new to Berkshire Eagle's advertising and business staff. For the past 10 years, his two divisions have worked with hundreds of companies in Berkshire County, the Tri-State area and beyond to develop advertising strategies on the Internet.
What is changing is the breadth, variety, and sophistication of online advertising options. As potential digital partners expand, including the addition of streaming TV, Talon Media will analyze and strategize for our clients.
“Our hope is to work with hundreds of clients on a regular basis,” he said. “Our goal is for them to really trust us to be their only digital solutions provider.”
By structuring these highly targeted campaigns, Talon Media is able to reach niche and alternative markets such as cannabis, tobacco, and casinos.
Talon Media's website features success stories, including a gym that gained 73 members in a competitive market and a one-month campaign that generated nearly 1,500 impressions on a ski resort lift ticket package. Published.
“We provide incredibly transparent reporting to our clients,” he said, adding that companies typically receive monthly reports showing the number of impressions and clicks. “We have a real live reporting dashboard. Clients can transparently see how their campaigns are performing.”
They will be able to see “on a 24-hour basis where they are targeting, which websites their ads are being served on, and what conversions are coming from these campaigns.” .
Over the past year, New England Newspapers launched BerkshiresWeek.com, a free entertainment website, and The B, a quarterly magazine.
Fredrick D. Rutberg, publisher and president of the Berkshire Eagle, explained how Talon Media fits into New England Newspapers' mission.
“News aggregation and distribution is an American industry under severe financial stress,” Rutberg said. “Anything we can do to reduce that stress is good for the companies that add it.”
Each effort contributes to making The Eagle “strong and stable,” he said.
For more information, visit Talonmediaagency.com or contact Lavariere at 413-496-6347.
