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When considering where to communicate your message, selection of the right medium is important. In the 1960s, it was all the rage after Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan theorized that “the medium is the message.”
His adage is still apropos. In other words, the medium becomes the message, and it’s an influence on how your message is received.
For information and advertising, consumers apparently trust their local newspaper Web sites over any others, according to a comScore marketing study released February 2010.
It showed a 57 percent of respondents preferred newspaper sites for trusted content – local information and ads.
Sales conversion rate
Here’s another stunning statistic: The sales conversion rate was a whopping 82 percent.
In essence, the survey revealed that the advertisers’ selection of the medium in which to advertise is the most important consideration – not the creative.
Forty percent “…agreed that their opinion of online advertising is influenced by the type of website on which the ad appears.”
That’s why I list reputation and content among the nine tips to evaluate online advertising options.
This was especially true for reaching upscale consumers. Sixty-three percent of high-income households and 60 percent of college-educated shoppers trusted newspaper sites more than others.
True, the study was funded by the Newspaper Association of America (NAA), but again it was conducted by the authoritative comScore.
All content
In fact, comScore reports newspaper sites were the No. 1 preference for all types of content, including classified ads.
Thirty-six percent of the 3,050 respondents said newspaper sites were trusted for ads compared to 23 percent who preferred television station Web sites, and 12 percent for portals.
No. 1 newspaper rankings also included:
- Local information – 29 percent
- Local sports – 27 percent
- Local entertainment – 26 percent
- Local classifieds – 39 percent
The criterion for ads: timeliness, credibility and relevance.
In essence, the survey revealed that the advertisers’ selection of the medium in which to advertise is the most important consideration – not the creative.
Across the board
Incidentally, the results favoring newspaper sites were true for all ages. In the 18-34 demographic, newspaper sites beat television 35 percent to 22 percent. The spread was even greater between newspapers and portals, 35 percent to 11 percent.
That’s heartening news for traditional journalists who have long worried about the trends in declining newspaper readerships, especially among the young.
NAA has 2,000 member newspapers nationwide.
No surprises here, but I disagree with the findings in one regard. Any media Web site with a strong local news image will equal the clout of a newspaper site.
Two tenets
The study is confirmation for me as a business-performance consultant. I’ve long advised clients about two basic tenets in marketing and sales success:
- First impressions are important.
- The medium success is synonymous with the message.
In other words, news and public affairs usually attract the most civic-minded consumers with above-average net worth. But I would include radio and TV sites with newspapers in this regard.
And remember the adage, “Birds of a feather, flock together.” If you publish a site, be selective to whom you try to sell ads.
If you’re an advertiser, check the quality of the other advertisers before you buy.
From the Coach’s Corner, more suggested reading:
How to Overcome Churning Headaches in Subscriptions – Trending in B2C and B2B, the subscription economy with monthly fees has taken over commerce. However, many companies are experiencing losses from churning in subscriptions. Here are some solutions.
E-commerce: Strategies to Pick the Right Digital Partner – True, if you don’t have the necessary expertise, e-commerce services can be expensive. So to maximize value for profitable sales, it’s imperative to choose the right digital agency as a partner. Here’s how.
E-commerce: Shipping Practices for Customer Satisfaction – Conversions for customer satisfaction are paramount in E-commerce, which is built on the concept of prompt service. If you want to attract and keep customers, you must use best practices in shipping.
Free Vital Email-Marketing Tools (or Have Free Trial Periods) – Whatever your business, whether it’s B2B or B2C, email marketing is a cost-effective way of targeting your prospects and connecting with your current and past customers. For important email marketing tools that are either free or have gratis trial options, here is a list.
SEO and Other Web Tricks to Boost Your WordPress Site – Everything hinges on how you set up your WordPress site. Critical decisions must be made. The success of your site depends on it.
“Advertising is fundamentally persuasion and persuasion happens to be not a science, but an art.”
-William Bernbach
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