One year ago, we were in the midst of the pandemic and Stephanie Theisen, our VP of Sales and Marketing, and I were working through ways we could still help clients generate leads, stay connected to their prospects and customers and how we were going to adjust from planned, in-person events, to a virtual setting. During this process we had to assess what our client’s goals were. Then, we needed to find ways to provide different opportunities that helped them during a time of immense change.
Enter the solution
After much discussion and assessments and demos of several virtual software options, we chose a partnership with Second Street, a promotions platform, to help our clients navigate their challenges. We chose Second Street as a partner because their capabilities allowed us to build better promotions for our clients, with a focus on lead generation and creating engaging content. The team at Second Street was essential, as well, and something we seek in partnerships. We want our partners to be dedicated to serving our clients and the Second Street team does a fantastic job providing resources, sharing successes and ideas across markets and industries, as well as training our teams to ensure we are providing our clients with the best options to meet their goals.
AN AWARD WINNING PARTNERSHIP
One year later, just two weeks ago, as I entered my office, I was greeted by several tiny boxes, stacked upon my desk. Inside were awards given to Leighton Media for producing some of the most successful promotional campaigns for clients through Second Street in 2020.
For me, the awards represent our leadership team’s willingness to invest, even during uncertain times, if it’s well thought out and puts our clients and community first. These awards also represent the importance of pivoting in the face of adversity.
At Leighton Media, our way of serving our broadcast markets includes doing our very best, in all circumstances, to help local, small businesses connect to their consumers and generate meaningful leads and opportunities.
Our partnership with Second Street was a calculated risk with a big reward. Thank you, Second Street, for the following awards:
- 2020 Best Advertiser Showcase – Alexandria, MN: Virtual Home and Garden Show
- Overview: We converted a Home & Garden Show into a virtual event. Each local business had a virtual booth and visitors could learn more, have a chance to win prizes from the client and the client had an opportunity to collect leads and consumer insights. Overall, we had more than 40 businesses participate and over 2,000 leads generated! With the absence of an opportunity to meet people in person and generate leads, we still found a way to help our local clients connect with consumers in market for their products/services.
- 2020 Best Sponsored Campaign - Saint Cloud, MN: Pro Football Pick ‘Ems
- Overview: A 6-month long contest when sports were finally returning, was a fantastic way for a local client to connect to consumers. This fun campaign allowed our client to make picks alongside our on-air talent and the community could join in and see how they stacked up against these local VIPs (Very Important Pickers!). The promotion provided our client with brand awareness, a social connection to the community through a fun contest, and they had an opportunity to capture leads and insights from each participant.
- 2020 Best Small Market Program - Alexandria, MN
- Overview: Our team in Alexandria, MN has found so many creative ways to connect clients to our local community. Creating the Virtual Home Show was a big undertaking, but so valuable for the community and local businesses, but they didn’t stop there. They created campaigns to highlight local community heroes, graduating seniors, and numerous other campaigns to engage the community and connect sponsors to consumers in the market.