A new way to advertise local businesses?

Feb 05 2010

On our Gravity Free Radio broadcast this week, we met Michael Tavani of the Atlanta startup ScoutMob. What makes ScoutMob unique is that 1) they ONLY feature local Atlanta businesses, 2) they feature small businesses almost exclusively, 3) that they feature only ONE business per day by way of offering a deep discount on the goods/services that business offers, distributed via email, web and iPhone, and 4) they make their money based on performance — the business will pay based on how many customers redeem the ScoutMob offer at their location.

Could it be? A traditional direct advertising model that is targeted, available to small business and has analytics built right into the platform? Watch this space; ScoutMob may very well be the start of an important trend in small business marketing and perhaps a renewed relevance for more traditional advertising in local markets.

You can listen to Tuesday’s episode of GFR below. The interview with Michael from ScoutMob starts about halfway through. But don’t be too hasty to fast forward through the first half — we were talking with Amy Pedersen of Slimpressions, a truly homegrown Atlanta-area business.