Study: Local online media hold significant advertising advantage

New York — Local media sites hold a distinct advantage when it comes to delivering results for advertisers, according to a new report released Tuesday by the Online Publishers Association (OPA).

The study finds that consumers trust advertising on local newspaper, magazine and television Web sites and are very likely to take action after viewing ads on these sites.

The results are part of "Local Online Media: From Advertising to Action," a new OPA report looking at consumers who get local information from online city guides, classifieds, magazines, newspapers, portals, television sites, user review sites or yellow pages.

The study, conducted for the OPA by JupiterResearch, surveyed 2,069 local online content consumers selected randomly from NPD's online consumer panel.

The report also notes differences between media sites and other types of local online content sites when it comes to acting on local ads. Consumers on all three types of local media sites – newspapers, television stations and magazines – are more likely to take action after viewing a local ad than visitors on all other local content sites. Newspapers rank first, with 46 percent of consumers taking action – including making a purchase, going to a store, conducting research – after viewing a local ad, as compared with 37 percent of consumers acting after viewing a local ad on a portal.

According to the report, the percent of consumers taking action after viewing local ads are as follows: local newspaper site: 46 percent, local television site: 44 percent, local magazine site: 42 percent, user review site: 39 percent, and portals: 37 percent.

"With strong brands and trusted environments, local media sites deliver concrete results for local advertisers," said OPA president Pam Horan. "Our analysis of the Jupiter data finds that consumers are more likely to act on the ads they see on local TV, newspaper and magazine sites. Just as we see on a national scale, media sites outpace portals and all other online media at delivering meaningful advertising results."

Trust is an important factor in driving advertising success, and consumers express significant faith in advertising on local content sites. And, consumers on these sites are desirable advertising targets. Local magazine, newspaper and TV sites attract significant percentages of consumers who spent more than $500 online in the past year.

Moving beyond advertising, the OPA report finds that satisfaction with local content is high overall, and portals and media sites each have strengths. Portals lead in satisfaction among all local content visitors, followed by local newspaper and TV station sites.

"Local content sites of all types play an important role in serving the local community. But this report shows that local media sites have a very real advantage when it comes to delivering results for advertisers," Horan said.

The OPA report also identifies an important common trait of all local online content sites: an ability to attract high concentrations of influencers. While 10 percent of consumers are considered "Influentials" according to research done by GfK Roper, 29 percent of local online content site users say they are first-person people who look for recommendations about local restaurants and bars. Meanwhile, 26 prcent of local online users say they are the first person people come to for local shopping recommendations, 23 percent for local entertainment recommendations, and 23 percent for local consumer electronics recommendations.

Founded in June 2001, the OPA is an industry trade organization whose mission is to advance the interests of high-quality online publishers before the advertising community, the press, the government and the public.