According to a new report by the Online Publishers Association, online consumers trust the advertising on local newspapers, magazine, portal and television websites over other media sources and are much more likely to take action after viewing ads from these sources than they are from other media sources.
Trust seems to be one of the most important factors. Without a doubt, online newspapers lead in consumer confidence when it comes to trust. Over 55 percent of visitors who visit an online newspaper express a strong trust of the advertisement that is available there. But portal and television websites are not far behind.
That trust translates into success for advertisers who use local market websites because consumers who trust the source are much more likely to act on the advertisement. That results in higher sales and a more effective advertising campaign.
Beyond the actual advertisement is the question of satisfaction with the local content overall. In this arena local portals seem to hold an advantage. According to OPA reports, portals lead in user satisfaction among all local content visitors. Why portals users express a greater satisfaction isn’t quite as clear, but it may be because portals are usually privately owned and exist to service the community without being governed by a national media conglomerate, which is the case with most local newspaper and television websites.
Because portal content is not censored and governed by a preexisting corporate or political agenda, it has the freedom to service the community unencumbered and to provide content that is divorced from the restrictions placed on online media which are just part of a larger corporate media group.
And as media outlets continue to consolidate and the private ownership of media sources becomes fewer, it is likely that we will see trust in advertisement rise among portal users verse other local media sites such as newspapers and television.
So as your company decides how to spend its advertisement dollars, you need to consider local market media. When it comes to your overall online marketing strategy, the use if local media portals may just be the one factor you need to integrate to ensure an effective advertisement campaign into the future.