New online opportunities from local councils set to benefit local business

Dorset & Hampshire based IMS Group are set to announce a range of exciting new opportunities from local councils including Bournemouth Borough Council over the coming few months. The publishing & advertising solutions company best known for working alongside Bournemouth Borough Council to produce the resident’s BH Life magazine are now spearheading the council’s own drive to offer council owned assets to local and national businesses for advertising.

Many councils across the UK are now facing more challenges to keep the books balanced, whilst also continuing to invest in local services and are now looking at new ways to generate much needed revenue in order to keep demands on local tax payers as low as possible. Bournemouth Borough Council are not the first council to explore the possibilities of offering their digital and physical assets up for advertising, with many councils across the country already successfully helping local businesses to promote themselves cost-effectively on their websites and on council owned property.

With Bournemouth Borough Council shortly to announce that their website will be accepting advertising, IMS Group have been selected as the sole contractor to help promote this and many other opportunities to local business, including media and advertising agencies.

“We’ve been working with the council to develop these opportunities for a number of months”

Interest, especially locally for the new online opportunities is expected to be strong according to Group Director, Jason Harris: “We’ve been working with the council to develop these opportunities for a number of months now and have conducted various soft testing in the marketplace to establish if there is an appetite for advertising on the council’s website, and the answer has been a resounding ‘YES!’, so since the turn of the year, we’ve been helping the council to develop their strategy.

The result is a host of very attractive advertising propositions that offer targeted advertising to local residents whilst enabling businesses to tap into the added benefit of linking directly from a .gov.uk website.” Government and local government websites have long been considered ‘the holy grail’ for online marketers and advertisers with popular search engines such as Google appearing to favour websites that have links from government websites.

The online opportunities available offer advertisers the opportunity to advertise on specific pages of the council’s website where their prospective customers may be frequenting.

“The opportunities are almost endless. With over 2,000 pages available”

Jason explains: “The opportunities are almost endless. With over 2,000 pages available, there are very few businesses who couldn’t find an appropriate page to reach their target audience from. For example, the council’s website contains pages detailing how someone getting married might want to use council facilities or the beach for their forthcoming big day – this page would be an ideal place for a wedding services company or a florist to advertise for instance and helps them offer their at the point of need. Similar opportunites are available for businesses in most sectors.”

the site has enjoyed increasing visitor numbers

Following the launch of Bournemouth Borough Council’s new website in April, the site has enjoyed increasing visitor numbers and with the council due to introduce various enhancements over the coming year, the site is expected to attract many more unique visitors, which will undoubtedly be music to an advertisers ears.

With opportunities starting at just £99 per month*, demand is expected to be high and there will be particular positions which will sell-out quickly so interested parties are encouraged to contact IMS Group on 01202 611 100 to express interest at the earliest opportunity.

To view the council’s website, visit: www.bournemouth.gov.uk

*Price quoted based on a 12 month contract