Cross-Medium Ads Drive Sales

In a recent survey by Clark, Martire & Bartolomeo, one of the conclusions reached is “Seeing products and services advertised in multiple channels increased both consumer turst in them and likelihood to buy.”  Half of respondents said they were more likely to buy a product featured in a newspaper advertisement after seeing it online.

This is encouraging news for newspaper advertisers, and reinforces the idea that multiple medium advertising drives sales.  After viewing a newspaper advertisement, 31% who search online, go to a search engine.  Surprisingly, of the adults who use search engines, 70% purchased at a store or dealer following additional research online.

What does this mean for marketers?  First, marketers need to ensure they have a unified message across all forms of media.  Because most purchases are made in local stores, this means having consistent messaged from the local dealer or store is critical.

Second, markters need to USE multiple forms of media.  With increasing media fragmentation, using multiple forms of media is critical to effectively reach customers and drive them into the sales process.

Third, it’s essential that the web presence of a brand at the corporate and local level reflect the approved messages of the brand.  Customers who use a search engine and go to a local store or dealer website should have the same brand experience as if they were at the brand’s website.

It’s clear that all business is local – most sales still happen in a store, but the process of getting to the final transaction is dramatically changing.  Marketers must stay ahead of these changes to build brand equity while driving sales.

View the report at Marketing Charts.

Local Newspaper Websites Lead in Local Online Advertising

In a report by Borrell Associates, over $2 billion was spent in 2007 by local advertisers on the websites of local newspapers.  This represents a 27% share of the local online advertising market ahead of local yellow pages, television websites and local radio stations.  Local online video advertising is the fastest growing segment with an expected $1.2 billion to be spent in 2008.

Interestingly, a majority of online advertisers at local newspaper websites do not advertise in print editions of the paper.  One explanation for this can be the use of dedicated sales teams to actively solicit advertisers for online.  Unlike other media outlets, newspapers devote two times as many online-only sales people.  This means a salesperson who specializes in online advertising is contacting local businesses to solicit business, not a print salesperson.

What does this mean for local advertisers?  It’s critically important to have a unified strategy to deal with whatever media types are being used.  While a majority of local businesses may only advertise on the newspaper website and not in print, it does not rule out countless other forms of media: radio, television, yellow pages, e-mail, billboard and more.

In order to get the best ROI, creative versioning is essential to coordinating the message the local business wants to present.  90% of local businesses are either branded branches of a national brand or resell national brands – incorporating national brands and themes into local campaigns is critical to capitalizing on the efforts of national brands.