Why Advertise in Newspaper Media
| In a fragmented media environment with channel proliferation, consumer control of media messages and advertiser demand for accountability, the most effective marketing vehicle may surprise you: newspaper media—in print, online and combined. | |
Why newspaper media? Because in a world where consumers are tuning out advertising right and left, independent research shows that newspapers are a destination—not a distraction—for advertising content. Here’s why.
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| In Print | |
| According to research by the Readership Institute at Northwestern University, advertising is one of the top five drivers of newspaper readership. That’s because consumers seek out the newspaper to make product buying decisions. Consider these findings from a recent shopping study by MORI Research: | |
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52 percent of consumers say newspapers are where they go to check out advertisements—five more than any other medium. |
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46 percent say newspapers are their “preferred’ medium to receive ad information; TV comes in fourth at 10 percent. |
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52 percent see newspaper ads as “valuable” in planning shopping; the Internet and direct mail are second at 13 percent each. |
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When asked where they would like to see advertising eliminated, only 10 percent said newspapers, compared to 34 percent for TV and 38 percent for the Internet. (Yankelovich, 2004)
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| Advertisers recognize that simple ad impressions are no longer enough to ensure ROI. They want consumers who are engaged and involved with the advertising message. Again, newspapers shine. According to a 2006 newspaper reader engagement study by Scarborough Research: | |
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72 percent of newspaper readers enjoy the newspaper reading experience, 64 percent would miss reading it if taken away and 54 percent say reading the paper is an absorbing activity. |
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More than half find the ads useful and only 19 percent find that ads are too intrusive (compared to 38 percent for TV). |
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40 percent say newspapers have trustworthy, believable ads (compared to 23 percent for TV and 18 percent for radio). |
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Nearly 80 percent have checked the sale ads and 73 percent have clipped a coupon. |
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Almost 80 percent have visited a store or showroom as a result of newspaper advertising and have bought something advertised. |
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Newspaper inserts are particularly engaging: 78 percent of readers use them to plan shopping, 86 percent saw items that made them go to the store and buy and 69 percent gave them to a family member or friend. |
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Even non-readers are engaged in the newspaper. According to the study, 31 percent of “non-readers” used the newspaper in some fashion over the past week, including checking sales in local stores, using a classified ad, checking movie listings or using a coupon.
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| Online | |
| Newspapers own 11 of the top 25 online news and information Web sites and, locally, they provide the dominant information site in most of the top 75 markets. | |
| More than a third of active Internet users—56 million adults—visited newspaper Web sites in May 2006, a 30 percent increase from the same period in 2005, according to Nielsen//NetRatings. Who are these newspaper Web site users: they tend to be younger, better educated and more active users than Internet users generally. In addition: | |
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91 percent recently shopped online. |
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89 percent recently bought online. |
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71 percent are only daily at work. |
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68 percent have broadband at home. |
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56 percent used the newspaper Web site at least once a day. |
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40 percent are under 35. |
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22 percent have incomes higher than $100,000 annually.
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For newspaper Web site users, the printed newspaper is still the primary source for local advertising but the newspaper Web site beats TV, radio and Yellow Pages as the next best source.
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And advertising on newspaper Web sites, like its print counterpart, is also a destination. According to the 2005 American Interactive Consumer Survey, more than 32% of newspaper Web site users were very interested in advertising content, behind only weather as an area of interest; more than 40% of young adults were very interested in advertising, behind weather and entertainment content.
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For those who research purchases on the Web and shop at local stores, 65 percent said ads on the local newspaper Web site influenced their purchase decision more this year than last according to the MORI Research Power Users Study 2006.
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| Combined | |
Newspapers’ readership continues to be strong and its total audience has expanded with the introduction of a variety of print and digital products. Newspapers—in print and online—are the number one local media brand.
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| Here are the facts: | |
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78 percent of adults (18+) in the top 50 markets read newspapers over the course of a week - totaling more than 116 million readers. |
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Nearly 70 percent of 18-34 year-olds (32 million) read a newspaper during the week and 21 million read a newspaper on Sunday. |
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Newspaper Web sites increase the reach of the print product by an average of 12 percent across the top 100 newspapers. With their Web sites, newspapers reach 16 percent more 18-24 year olds and 19 percent more 25-34 year olds. |
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In addition, 80 percent of Internet users read the printed newspaper, use the online newspaper or both in the course of the week. Almost two-thirds of newspaper Web site users say both the print and online product are convenient, depending on time of day. |
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Newspapers reach more 18-34 year olds on an average week day (37.4% of the top 50 markets) than an average half-hour of prime time TV (32.3%), early TV news (22%) and an average quarter hour of radio morning drive time (21%).
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| Newspapers also provide unique opportunities to reach broad or targeted audiences across multiple products in the local market. Using the traditional newspaper, niche and specialty, publications and a variety of Web sites, advertisers can reach more adults in a specific market than they could with other any other media. And the portfolio of products allows advertisers to target specific segments geographically, demographically or by interest.
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| (Source: NAA Value of Newspaper Media presentation, 2007) | |
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