Orlando, Fla. – As newspapers continue to attract record audiences to their Web sites, the Newspaper Association of America today unveiled its “Digital Value Proposition” to communicate the value and scope of the medium’s online audience to advertisers. The initiative was introduced as part of NAA’s annual Marketing Conference and represents the industry’s first effort to focus solely on newspapers’ impressive digital appeal.
“This is about communicating the proactive steps newspapers have taken to establish themselves as a dominant online force with high-quality content that attracts a growing audience,” said NAA President and CEO John F. Sturm. “Newspaper Web sites have made the transition from value-added to vital as advertisers recognize their growing appeal to consumers they covet the most.”
Emphasizing Newspapers’ Competitive Edge Online
This Digital Value Proposition is focused on the “Four C’s” that separate newspaper Web sites from their competition: Community Connection, Content Relevance, Customized Targeting and Consumer Activism.
- Community Connection: The industry’s expanding digital portfolio generates high levels of local engagement with award-winning content no other medium can match.
- Content Relevance: Newspaper Web sites deliver highly valuable, up-to-the-minute news and information that stands out from the crowd.
- Customized Targeting: The medium can deliver local online advertising that is customized and highly targeted, allowing advertisers to speak directly to an affluent, highly educated consumer audience.
- Consumer Activism: Newspaper Web sites move consumers to take action, with visitors more likely to purchase online or offline than other Web users.
“Newspaper Web sites are at the center of community conversations, providing essential news and information that reaches nearly 40 percent of active Internet users each month. They are the premiere online destination for discriminating consumers who depend on a trusted local brand in today’s cluttered media landscape,” Sturm explained. “And our audience does more than glance at ads – recent Scarborough research indicates that 93 percent of newspaper Web site visitors clicked on links for more information and nearly 60 percent viewed or downloaded video and audio ads.”
Web Numbers Continue to Rise
The introduction of the Digital Value Proposition comes as the popularity of newspaper Web sites is reaching record levels. Average monthly unique audience figures for newspaper Web sites grew by more than 3.6 million in 2007, a record year for the industry and an increase of more than six percent over 2006 numbers. In addition, monthly unique visitors to newspaper Web sites averaged 62.8 million in last year’s fourth quarter, a record number in itself and the largest in any quarter since NAA began tracking online usage in January 2004. This reflects a nine percent increase over the same period a year ago.
NAA is a nonprofit organization representing the $59 billion newspaper industry and more than 2,000 newspapers in the U.S. and Canada. NAA members include daily newspapers, as well as non-dailies and other publications published throughout the world. Headquartered just outside Washington, D.C., in Arlington, Va., the Association focuses on six key strategic priorities that affect the newspaper industry collectively: marketing, public policy, diversity, industry development, newspaper operations and readership. Information about NAA and the industry also may be found at www.naa.org.