Learning Zone Xpress goes digital with marketing on Owatonna

OWATONNA — Learning Zone Xpress is going high-tech to reach customers — a move that entails tweeting, YouTube, blogging and even a radio show.

The company, which produces educational materials, is struggling to find new markets in a brutal economy said owner Melanie Nelson. The problem is that traditional means of advertising no longer work.

In the past, Learning Zone Xpress has used a color catalog, sent out by snail mail to prospective customers. The company is moving away from that model, however.

“Our direct mail sales have been so poor,” Nelson said. “It’s no longer effective.”

Nelson believes that Americans are distracted from traditional advertising because of a general information overload. If they want something they just Google it.

Americans also have less time — they don’t want to leaf through a 500-page catalog at a leisurely pace.

So instead the company is working the Internet, especially new social networking sites. Their strategy is partly inspired by General Mills which is marketing its gluten free line through the Internet alone.

“There’s no conventional advertising. It’s all social network marketing,” Nelson said. “They give out free cereal to bloggers and the bloggers create the buzz. That’s what we’re finding too.”

Learning Zone Xpress has embraced the Web wholeheartedly. The company hired an Internet specialist, Nelson herself has a blog and the company now has a fan club on Twitter — a micro-blog site where writers post little blasts of information in 140 characters or less.

Learning Zone Xpress also has its own YouTube channel where teachers can sample some of their educational videos, featuring such titles as “Cash, Credit and Your Future” or “The Best Choices at Fast Food Restaurants.”

“That’s a really neat opportunity for people to visit and see what kind of products we have,” Nelson said.

The online marketing push is low cost in terms of time and money.

“We’re all logging in two to three hours a week, not an insurmountable amount of time, and it costs almost nothing,” Nelson said.

The company hopes to grow their business through the Internet by 50 percent on the Internet alone.

Learning Zone Xpress is also hoping to gain national exposure through an online radio show by Rae Pica, a New Hampshire child development expert with the BAM Radio Network. Pica does a show once a week about raising healthy kids.

Now parents can access shows through the Learning Zone Xpress Web site. Pica said the arrangement was a win-win, which should drive traffic to both BAM and Learning Zone Xpress’ site.

Clare Kennedy can be reached at 444-2376.

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Member Opinions: By: L080100 on 8/3/09 This article makes it sound as if technology is some new and exciting thing! Like it's some new idea for a company to have a website and twitter account..... The article doesn't mention their website, doesn't give their twitter name, and doesn't mention their FaceBook profile. If the article is largely about the company embracing technology, why the heck do they not include the information in the article? Web Site: http://www.learningzonexpress.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/LZXpress Facebook: Learning ZoneXpress And since the online comment's don't allow links, the facebook link would be painful to copy/paste here. You can log into face book and search "Learning ZoneXpress" and find their profile.
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