Our clients are increasingly seeing the value of having online placements, especially on trusted media’s websites such as www.NewYorkTimes.com. Over the years, it’s become apparent that it’s necessary to have a presence in online versions of the media.
We advise our clients to embrace the use of branded media arenas (i.e. owned by well-known media outlets). We already know that the media is credible, and that it adds credibility to products or services mentioned in stories, so this online layering is a great complement to a typical marketing mix.
I was really excited to come across this study that supports our advice. Conducted by the Online Publishers Association, the study found a strong correlation between U.S. consumers’ high opinions of brands when they saw them on well-known media websites.
The researchers discovered that when people trusted the content of a website, brands mentioned on that site were considered more reputable.
This study measured how likely consumers were to purchase a product when an ad for that product appeared on a website where those consumers trusted the content. As your read the results below, imagine how people would respond to a product mentioned within the story itself! That’s even more credibility!
- Consumers are more likely to trust content on media sites (72%) than portal channels such as AOL (60%) and social media such as Facebook (23%)
- Audiences on media sites are significantly more likely to believe these sites’ advertisers are high quality and reputable (24%), compared to portal channels (20%) and social media (8%)
- People who recall purchasing from a site’s advertisers are significantly more likely to do so from media sites (8%) than portal channels (5%) or social media (3%)
- Those loyal to media sites are more likely to purchase from advertisers on these sites (15%) than portal loyalists or social media loyalists (8% and 4% respectively)
Clearly, having your product or service mentioned on the media’s websites has a valuable brand halo effect on your sales messaging.
A full copy of “A Sense of Place: Why Environments Matter,” is available at www.online-publishers.org.
