How reading the ads clues me in to all the fun stuff going on

When I travel to a new city, the first thing I do is listen to the radio stations. I’ve probably heard nearly every song before, but the commercials are all new to me.

When I check in to my hotel, after marveling at the view (if I’m lucky enough to have a view), I turn on the local TV station. If I can find one, I grab a local newspaper.

These have always been tried and true sources of local information. I scan their local news and read the ads.

The local ads, just like the news, tell me what’s going on in a community. They serve as informative content that, at a glance, tells me about fun things happening in the area.

Most times I’ll see or hear an ad for an event, and then pack up friends and family in the car and drive over to that event feeling as if I’ve got some kind of insider information just because I saw the ad or read a promoted post on a blog.

I don’t know why I’m this way. Maybe it’s because I’m a media guy. Maybe it’s because I like to explore the community and try new things.

I do the same in my own community. I’m always scanning and searching for things to do right here in Prince William and Stafford counties. That’s why I’ll never understand when people say “I never read the ads.”

I get that some, if not most advertising is disruptive. TV ads that interrupt your favorite show, or pop-ups on your computer screen that try to sell you online poker chips.

Technology continues to evolve, and online popup ads become less frequent. As users continue to choose streaming over cable and broadcast TV, podcasts over terrestrial and satellite radio, marketers face a mounting challenge on where and how to reach local readers and tell them about what’s happening in their communities.

On Potomac Local, you won’t find an ad for online poker, or for an event taking place hundreds of miles away, or product or service that is not offered by a local business.

There is great value in local advertising, and we plan to integrate more local advertising into the content on our website. We’ll continue to mark news and news and ads as advertising, just as we’ve always done.

Right now, the owner of a party store in Woodbridge can post a message directly to her store’s Facebook page, and a portion of that message appears in her ad on Potomac Local. A political candidate might send out a Tweet on Twitter and choose that Tweet to appear in their ad on our site.

Soon, it will be just as easy for a restaurant owner in Manassas to take a photo with his iPhone of the half-price hamburger lunch special, or of the live band playing on the patio, and post that photo directly to his ad space our Potomac Local.

We think these types of advertising tools are invaluable to local shop owners. And it’s also an added value as many of our advertisers already see a higher than average click-through rates on their ads.

Marketing should be fast, and easy, and — believe it or not — fun. It’s the same way many of us like to get our news.