Editorial: Why Newspapers Are a Better Ad Buy posted: 6/28/2012

Editorial: Why Newspapers Are a Better Ad Buy
posted: 6/28/2012

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by: Jeff Fleming

Impact, reach, and results. Three words marketers crave and three words newspapers deliver more effectively than any other advertising medium. A comprehensive advertising package of all things digital coupled with print. Yes print, that in-your- face broadsheet that offers advertisers a chance for impressive, bona fide visual impact. In fact, a recent NAA study revealed that “print users rate highly the utility of print advertising (44 percent) and that they usually notice it (41 percent).” Yes print, the platform Facebook and Twitter don’t offer.

Last month, General Motors stopped advertising on Facebook, concluding that its paid ads don’t have a big impact on consumers — 900 million users and Facebook can’t deliver; what a pity. GM is no slouch when it comes to marketing research and investing ad dollars. Why pour $10 million into Zuckerberg’s pocket when you can capitalize on social media’s doctrine of sharing innovative and relevant content for free?

In a statement, GM said, “In terms of Facebook specifically, while we currently do not plan to continue with advertising, we remain committed to an aggressive content strategy through all of our products and brands, as it continues to be a very effective tool for engaging readers.”

NAA’s recent Newspaper Multiplatform Usage Study provides insight on how and why newspaper consumers access news and advertising content through various channels. The findings clearly define the benefits of newspapers’ multiplatform effectiveness. The study reports, “each platform has different usage and characteristics and values for readers; however they all share important daily newspaper brand benefits, including having advertising information that consumers act upon.”

NAA extracted the highlights of the survey and created a simple but powerful advertisement that accentuates newspaper reach and engagement across all platforms. The five points include:

• Newspapers reach 74% of Internet users in an average week across multiple platforms and devices.
• More than 161 million adults read newspapers in print, online, and on mobile devices in the past week.
• Multiple platforms are used by 54% of consumers who access newspaper content in an average week.
• Newspaper media consumers act on newspaper digital ads — 66% took action on an ad in the past month.
• Newspaper circulars are used by 73% of newspaper media users in an average month.

Social media is an effective tool for connecting readers to readers, but when it comes to connecting readers to advertisers, the newspaper multiplatform reigns supreme. Are you listening, GM?