Interactive agency sets sights on target market

Springfield-based IntraPromote is what's known as an interactive agency, according to Doug Ausbury, chief executive officer and co-founder of the company with John Lustina, company chairman. Ausbury said what the company works primarily with medium- to large-size companies, helping to drive target market traffic to their Web sites.

He said providing that particular service is important, because one of the biggest mistakes companies make is to spend a lot of money developing a Web site or a Web page without thinking about a marketing strategy how they're going to get people to visit the site online.

"It used to be, you build a site and they will come. But now that there are 300 million Web pages on the Internet, that's no longer true," he said. "We saw that as an opportunity to focus on helping those people, once they got their sites, to help bring targeted visitors to them."

Ausbury said IntraPromote uses different methods to bring interested people to companies' Web sites, but he noted that the first thing the company usually recommends is search engine optimization. He said that entails getting clients' Web sites and pages included in search-engine listings so that people will find them when they're online conducting specific searches or queries.

He said client sites and pages are also placed in Web directories, such as Yahoo! and LookSmart, which enable interested parties to find them. Ausbury said search-engine optimization has been used for many of IntraPromote's clients, including lawoffice.com, art2art.com, a locally based company, and freeagent.com.

Another strategy Ausbury said IntraPromote uses to attract the target market to a site is contagion marketing, which is also called viral marketing, because it spreads so quickly online.

"We talk with the companies and find out who their target market is. Then, we turn our people loose to find where those groups congregate online, and then we communicate with those groups about our client's Web site," he said.

In addition to helping clients increase the number of interested visitors to their Web sites, Ausbury said the company also provides other services. He said IntraPromote also builds custom applications software for its clients, such as interactive screen savers that visitors to clients' sites can download for no charge. He noted that screen savers are an example of something available to interested parties during a contagion marketing campaign.

Ausbury said IntraPromote also offers online publicity work, such as online press releases, and help for clients to find online publications where stories about their businesses may be a good fit.

He added that while IntraPromote does offer printed releases and hard media kits for companies that request them, the main focus of the company is to work online.

Ausbury said IntraPromote is an interactive marketing agency, and it is very different from traditional off-line public relations firms. He said the biggest similarity between IntraPromote and off-line PR firms is the way the company's fees are structured IntraPromote works for a retainer and a monthly

"Everything else we do is handled differently," he said.

Ausbury said that in the company's first four months, its initial focus was on working with international start-up companies. He said while IntraPromote still works with international companies, the company also has a lot of business in the United States.

IntraPromote does work with some Springfield-area companies, and Ausbury said local interest is growing as word about the company spreads.

Ausbury said IntraPromote also offers Web development services, including creation of original content for companies' existing sites and pages.

Ausbury noted that he and IntraPromote co-founder Lustina have been surprised at how quickly the company is growing, reaching the level of a million-dollar company.

"We are really filling a need, as evidenced by our fast growth," Ausbury said.

Ausbury said IntraPromote has a team of about 20 people, located all over the world, that provides services for the company's clients. He said the company has four physical offices. Besides Ausbury's office in Springfield, the company has an office in Valparaiso, Ind., which is run by Lustina, an office in Bend Ore., which will be run by a recently hired executive vice president, and an office in Springfield, Ore.

"Just as the Internet allows you to do business with anybody around the world, our people are also virtual. We allow them to work in the environment that they choose," he said. "Location is not important to us. What is (important) is that they work in the environment they feel most comfortable in."

IntraPromote does not see clients in its physical offices, but people can find more information about the company at its Web address

IntraPromote.com,

Ausbury said.

IntraPromote has several projects on the board now, Ausbury said, including one with a well-known pharmaceutical company. He said his company recently delivered a proposal to the Internet marketing director for the George W. Bush campaign, and the company is waiting to hear whether its services will be used.