Study Provides Vital Lessons for Web Sites Seeking Profits

 

For information and advertising, consumers apparently trust their local newspaper Web sites over any others, according to a new comScore marketing study. It shows 57 percent of respondents prefer newspaper sites for trusted content – local information and ads.

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.”

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 the study was conducted by the authoritative comScore. It was conducted in Nov. 2009 and released in Feb. 2010.

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 criterions for ads: timeliness, credibility and relevance.

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.

To see the study – Site Matters: The Value of Local Newspaper Web Sites.

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. 

The study is welcome news for me as a business-performance consultant. I’ve long advised clients about two basic tenants 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.” For Web sites, be selective to whom you sell ads. If you’re an advertiser, check the quality of the other advertisers before you buy.

From the Coach’s Corner, in 2009 I wrote about the importance of developing trust with consumers in my case study of a failed financial institution, Venture Bank, in Washington state.

My thesis: Eclectic branding does not work when you want someone to trust you with their money. 

The moral: Somehow, smart consumers inherently know that when branding doesn’t convey trust and value, it’s a reflection of poor management decisions.

See: “Marketing: Why One Bank Fails, Another Succeeds.”