Through various partnerships with Bell, Pattison, Stingray, and Corus over the years, GetintheLoop has had a close relationship with radio. Radio execs at stations across BC and Alberta found GetintheLoop was complimentary to broadcast and offered a way to add measurability as they could direct their listeners to the platform to engage with local businesses.
Today, GetintheLoop has developed its own audience and is represented by nearly 100 local franchise owners across Canada from all backgrounds and walks of life including two former radio account executives in Edmonton and Moose Jaw.
With years of experience in marketing and sales, including time at Touch Broadcasting in Edmonton, where he set sales records, Robbie joined GetintheLoop as a local franchise owner in Edmonton and St. Albert in May of this year. While a province away, in Moose Jaw Saskatchewan, Dodie did two tours of duty with Golden West Radio before joining GetintheLoop in the summer of 2019.
GetintheLoop's repeatable system and platform empower entrepreneurs from all backgrounds to be successful GetintheLoop Local owners. But as Robbie notes, “It goes a long way to having marketing and advertising experience, in general. I've been involved in print and radio and web and social media, so I mean, that's just been my world for a long time.”
Robbie adds, “I mean, you're doing the same thing, you know, you're talking to a business about helping to market them, right? And advertising, no matter what medium it works, right? The fact is, that radio still does work. It has its place”.
Remarkably, for as different and complementary radio and GetintheLoop are, the two mediums share many similarities. In the same way that radio has an audience of listeners and advertisers, GetintheLoop has registered members and local business partners who buy a monthly subscription to post offers and reach local consumers. As with radio, GetintheLoop shares the goal of connecting both sides of the marketplace and helping local businesses grow.
Many of the tactics to build audience and engagement are the same including contesting, community involvement, and more.
dodie reflects on her time in radio
“I enjoyed my time with GoldenWest. Even though it was short, I did go back a second time, and I almost went back a third time, but GetintheLoop came into my life, thank goodness.”
Dodie explains, “With radio, I’d say, ‘okay, so what do you want? Give me some information for copy’, and I’d go back to the station the send it back to the client. A week later I’d come back and ask ‘what do you think’? And they’d say, ‘oh, no, it doesn't work, change this or that’. Where with GetintheLoop, I've got it built out on the spot. If I don't do it there with them, I send it to them by the end of the day. You know, I love going into a partner, and they're like, ‘OK, so how long is this gonna take’? I'm like, ‘Oh, just give me a few minutes. Okay’?”
While radio requires a full team of on-air talent, producers, creative writers, and promotions staff to serve their customers, GetintheLoop is lightweight, quick to set up, and as a result, less costly than radio. Dodie adds, “so when a partner signs up, I don't even leave there until I have their information and I've taken pictures because I am excited to share them on my social media too”.
FOR ROBBIE, THE DIFFERENCE IS ENTREPRENEURIAL
“I think there are a lot of similarities, but the difference would be the entrepreneurial end of things, where you have that freedom. At GetintheLoop, you're kind of under a company structure, but don't have the politics. You don't have all of this structure in the sense of like, okay, you're gonna be here from this time to this time, and you can kinda have that freedom”.
GetintheLoop provides the opportunity for you to be in business for yourself, but not by yourself. Unlike traditional media, GetintheLoop’s business model is a sustainably priced monthly subscription which means you’re not constantly reselling and there are no receivables nor bad debts or clawbacks. Robbie concludes, “and I think for people that are entrepreneurial, they want to run their own business. It's a very attractive proposition”.
Robbie offers, “I was looking, at this stage of my life, to start a media consulting agency. So when I came across GetintheLoop, it was exactly what I was looking at doing because I was looking at specializing, specifically at digital media, social media, marketing, digital marketing”.
With international digital companies like Google and Facebook taking the biggest slice of the local advertising pie now, GetintheLoop fills the void as Canada’s only nation-wide digital platform connecting local businesses to local consumers. Dodie observes, “Local advertisers are losing their local voice...closures of papers, even radio stations”. With local franchise owners in over 92 communities curating and developing each market, GetintheLoop is quickly becoming the Canadian-made local solution.
Starting a GetintheLoop franchise is turnkey. Robbie adds, “when GetintheLoop came along, it was like, okay, this is great. The platform’s already been built. I don't have to start from scratch. You know, they've already got an established base, the materials, pamphlets, and logos. And I could do what I love”.
With a GetintheLoop franchise, you get to leverage your media and marketing skills and connections. Robbie maintains, “if you've developed those relationships or you're developing relationships, that's the key to any business, specifically, marketing and advertising because people buy from who they like and they trust. And if they trust you and they like you, they're gonna buy from you”.
Dodie comments “You know, radio, I think, is a tougher sale now than it's ever been. And if you could sell radio in a day and age like today, I'm pretty sure you could sell a product like this.”
GetintheLoop Local offers work-life balance and flexibility and the opportunity to write your own paycheque while building a business and helping the community.
