Picture a puzzling scenario: Your local business clients give you glowing reviews, they’re thrilled with their results, and they rate your services 8 out of 10 or higher. Then they leave anyway. Sound familiar?
Our recent survey of 500 US small business owners revealed this trend, but also what’s behind it. Though media and publishing companies have established themselves as trusted, credible sources within their local communities, their traditional services, such as website building, campaigns, and ad placements, are often one-off projects.
This type of relationship with their local advertisers makes it difficult for media and publishing companies to establish predictable revenue streams and causes them to constantly chase new clients in order to replace those that churned.
For media and publishing companies looking to gain a stronger and more sustainable hold on their local advertiser clients, these companies need to think outside the box and seize the opportunities within the market by implementing non-traditional digital solutions.
The full report dives deep into insights and strategic tips that will help your company create a unique offering that is not only desired by your local business clients, but also helps your media/publishing company become indispensable to their business operations.
The churn problem
Let’s start with what’s working. Through curating the right content, understanding their audiences, and establishing their authority and experience in all the right places, local media and publishing companies have a reputation for being credible and trustworthy sources for local business advertising.
Right now, about 75% of local businesses are partnering with media companies like yours, either regularly or from time to time. Most of them are genuinely pleased with the partnership, rating their satisfaction at an 8 out of 10 or higher, and 59% report that their media partner successfully boosted their brand exposure.
Despite all this positivity, 41% of local advertisers have switched from their previous media partner within just the last year or two. Most (43%) made that decision within the first 6-12 months of the relationship. This shows a critical window for media and publishing partners to prove ROI and justify their local business clients’ investment in their company.
Though media/publishing companies are obviously great at what they do, the quick and high churn rates make it clear that their value perception is low. So let’s better understand what your local businesses expect so that you can provide them with the solutions that will keep them around for the long term.
The current landscape
We looked into local advertisers’ top goals when they seek out media/publishing partners in the first place. Nearly half (49.8%) say they’re primarily hunting for new clients and leads. Brand awareness ranks second at 23.8%, while trust and credibility rounds out the top three at 13.2%. These stats show that lead delivery is your bread and butter, and perfecting processes should be a top priority.
In fact, this lead-focused mindset shapes their buying decisions. Currently, website building is their most popular purchase at 46%, with advertising space at 35% and paid social media ads at 34% following close behind. All three are strong channels for lead generation, however, they don’t promise loyalty.
These services, while still extremely valuable, tend to be one-and-done transactions. Often, once the project is completed, the local advertiser cuts their relationship with their publishing partner and might come back the next time they need those services. However, they don’t create the kind of ongoing relationship that keeps clients around or generates predictable recurring revenue.
Perhaps one of the main challenges lies in heightened expectations and very specific ideas about what success looks like. Local advertisers expect to see the value of their publishing partners’ services, paying close attention to the number of leads (37%), engagement rates (31%), and conversion rates (29%). They want concrete business outcomes, not fuzzy metrics about impressions or reach, and they want to see these results within three months.
There’s another twist in this story. When choosing a media partner, price has become the deciding factor for 29% of local businesses, even more important than your reach (24%) or even your hard-earned reputation (23%). In addition, their biggest frustration when working with media/publishing partners is high costs without proportional results.
Basically, local advertisers are telling us: “Show us the results. Quickly. And make sure it fits our budget.”
The lead delivery gap (aka the conversion killer)
Even when media/publishing partners successfully generate leads for local business clients, there’s often a crucial breakdown in the handoff. Currently, 55% of local businesses receive their leads via email.
Think about that for a moment. The plumber is under a sink. The salon owner is finishing a cut. The contractor is on-site. An email arrives, but it sits unopened for hours. Meanwhile, that hot lead has already called three other listings they found on Google and booked with someone else.
Though this traditional format of lead delivery might have worked in the past, it’s doing little to appease both parties today. When opportunities fall through the cracks for local advertisers, publishing partners lose their attribution, and ultimately, their clients.
What’s interesting though, is that local business owners rate their confidence in converting leads at an 8 out of 10. Yet converting those leads is actually their biggest marketing challenge, according to a previous survey we ran, indicating that the issue isn’t their conversion ability, it’s their slow response times. They’re confident they can seal the deal, but only if they can respond immediately.
Considering that, it makes sense that about 36% of local advertisers said they’d rather receive leads through dashboards or push notifications that notify them instantly and enable immediate action. Delivering leads via email is no longer enough for a media or publishing company looking to thrive. They need to think about more proactive and efficient ways to provide those leads and ensure conversions.
The local advertiser’s wish list
Survey responses also revealed something enlightening about local businesses’ willingness to consume complementary services from their publishing partners. It seems that their strong reputations carry over when local businesses think about running their overall business operations. When asked what they wish their media partners would provide, they didn’t ask for fancier ads or more sophisticated campaigns.
Nearly half (48%) wanted payment collection tools, 30% were interested in business coaching or consulting, and 29.6% wanted AI tools for business operations. Additionally, 42% rated business tools such as CRM systems, email and SMS marketing, and business dashboards as very valuable to their business. These results uncover immense untapped potential for media and publishing companies.
Local business owners are drowning in operational tasks: serving customers, chasing down payments, handling admin work, and somehow finding time to grow. They’re looking for someone to help them run their business more smoothly, not just advertise it better, and they want it all done in one place. With small business advertisers running such intricate operations, they need to consolidate their tech stack and processes under one roof, and they want their media/publishing partners to help them do that.
Any media/publishing company that facilitates this for their local business clients will successfully reduce churn and increase client loyalty. To further drive that point, 41% of local businesses expect to increase their media/publishing budget within the next year, if the services are valuable enough.
From vendor to partner
The traditional model that includes websites, ad campaigns, and social media management, creates transactional relationships that don’t always show tangible results or result in long-term business engagement.
Media and publishing companies need to find a way to become an inseparable part of their clients’ daily operations. When these companies help local businesses manage leads in real-time, collect payments efficiently, and streamline their workflows with AI and automations, they’re no longer just another vendor. They become an infrastructure their clients can’t afford to lose.
Publishers who pivot toward ongoing, essential services will enjoy lower churn, higher revenue per client, and a stronger competitive offering. Those who stick with traditional services risk being replaced by DIY platforms and SaaS solutions that are making traditional services increasingly commoditized.
How inTandem helps
inTandem by vcita solves this exact challenge for media and publishing companies by providing them with a white-label platform that empowers them to deliver powerful lead management and business tools to their local clients under their own brand. The platform creates a unique value proposition that encourages daily engagement, increases perceived value, and opens up new recurring revenue streams for media and publishing partners.
With inTandem Connect, a streamlined lead management system that works like a mini-CRM, media/publishing companies can showcase their undeniable value and assist their local business clients with converting more leads. It pulls together leads from every channel (website, social campaigns, ad placements, etc.) and alerts businesses instantly via push notifications, resulting in faster response times and more business for their clients.
The platform can also scale into a comprehensive business management suite featuring full CRM capabilities, payment processing, appointment scheduling, invoicing and billing systems, all encompassed by AI-powered automation that handles tasks like call answering, message responses, scheduling and more.
What makes inTandem particularly powerful is its flexibility. Media and publishing partners can integrate their existing services, preserve their brand identity, and provide the digital solution their local business clients are increasingly demanding. Through this new offering, these companies unlock new potential revenue streams through upsells, cross-sells, payment processing fees, and usage-based add-on pricing.
With inTandem, media and publishing companies can enhance their value proposition, expand their offerings, and embed themselves into their clients’ daily operations, increasing loyalty and reducing churn significantly.
Build stickier relationships with local advertisers
Local businesses still trust media and publishing companies. They’ve built credibility over years of showing up for their communities and delivering excellent service, but expectations have changed.
Trust alone won’t keep clients around anymore. Today’s local advertisers want faster results, all-around business support, and digital tools that integrate seamlessly into their daily routines.
By helping clients not just generate leads but also manage them effectively, collect payments smoothly, and operate more efficiently, media and publishing companies create multiple touchpoints that demonstrate value consistently and become the partner they can’t imagine working without.
Publishers who embrace this evolution won’t just reduce churn, they’ll transform short-term engagements into long-term partnerships that generate predictable, growing, and recurring revenue streams.
The complete inTandem SMB Advertiser Report for Media & Publishing Companies contains all the survey data, detailed analysis, and strategic recommendations you need to retain advertisers longer, prove value faster, and unlock new digital revenue opportunities.
