Three of the sweetest words in the advertising business, right? In case you missed it, Borrell & Associates just released its annual survey of 7,500+ businesses that details among other things, what local merchants are saying brings them the most new customers. Right after word of mouth ... they said that their website and social media ranked second and third as their top sources of new customers.

Think about it. Merchants are telling us loud and clear how we can help them. While some of them "have a guy or a gal for that," many of them are struggling to maintain a strong digital presence, lacking the time and/or skills to do it right. They are looking for someone they can trust to help them ... ideally someone they've known for years with a strong reputation in their local market. (Remind you of anyone?)

Osteen Publishing Company (Sumter, S.C.) has created the new Iris Digital Agency to help local businesses reinvigorate their digital strategy and meet the growing needs in the tri-county area that the newspaper serves. The agency is helping local merchants leverage their digital products to improve their presence through their website and social media.

Jack Osteen, editor and publisher of The Sumter Item, owned by Osteen Publishing, said that while the newspaper continues to serve as a strong marketing tool for local businesses and services, the newspaper wants to expand its services by serving as a one-stop shop for all its customers' marketing needs.

"We've always been very focused on producing results for our clients," he said. "The launch of Iris Digital ensures we'll be able to extend that tradition with a full suite of digital products that current and future clients really need."

SNPA's strategic partnership program helps member newspapers cut costs, grow revenue and access essential benchmarking data. Additional partnerships are in development to further expand the program.

If a newspaper takes advantage of any one of these services, the newspaper can save more money every year than it spends on SNPA dues. It quite literally pays to be a member of SNPA.

LEARN MORE about these special opportunities available only to members of SNPA.

During its meeting Monday at the News Industry Summit, the SNPA Board of Directors approved four new members: Guarantee Digital, HubCiti, McGrann Paper Corporation and NTVB Media.

Two companies that do business with newspapers have applied for membership in SNPA: Guarantee Digital and NTVB Media.