Between the Ravens’ Super Bowl Championship and the Orioles’ postseason run in 2012, Baltimore has had a lot to cheer for recently. What’s been good for the teams has also been good for newspaper and their advertisers – a recent study by the Newspaper National Network shows that more male sports fans choose their local newspaper for updates more than any other source of news.
72% of those polled indicated they believed newspaper had more depth of coverage on the team and players they cared about, while 63% said they enjoyed specific writers.
As smartphone engagement increases, it’s only natural for smartphone advertisement to increase as well. Mobile ad click through rates are roughly 75% higher than for standard banners or rich media viewed on desktops or laptops, according to an analysis from digital solutions company MediaMind.
These aren’t just empty stats, either. 59% of U.S. smartphone users say mobile ads directly influence their spending habits on a regular basis, two percent higher than television ads, according to InMobi. In a separate study by OPA & Frank N. Magid Associates, 79% of those polled had made a purchase based on a mobile ad at some point and 24% of those polled made a purchase in store as a result of a mobile ad they viewed.
According to InMobi, 71% of U.S. mobile consumers use mobile search and 64% use the mobile internet, often while they’re relaxing in their homes or waiting for something. 53% of those polled said they had been introduced to something new via their smart phones.
It isn’t difficult to determine the reasoning; the average mobile user has their device with them on a regular basis, creating more opportunities to casually surf the web. Among the most pivotal group of consumers were content buyers, who hold differing opinions on mobile ads than traditional consumers.
More so than other consumers, content buyers are:
11% more likely to be motivated to buy an item based on a mobile ad
25% more likely to research a product based on an ad
10% more likely to view smartphone ads the same as internet ads
16% more likely to describe smartphone ads as harder to ignore
12% more likely to describe the ads as eye-catching
11% more likely to describe the ads as relevant, unique or interesting
If more engaged mobile consumers lead to higher click through rates for mobile ads, it should stand to reason that those higher click through rates lead to increased mobile ad budgets. eMarketer expects mobile ad spending to reach 2.61 billion this year. Learn more about BSMG’s mobile advertising opportunities
The Baltimore Ravens’ 2012 season starts soon, and instead of asking who’s ready, a better question may be who isn’t ready? Baltimore’s NFL franchise has consistently proven itself not only to be one of the top teams on the field, but also one of the best at engaging and expanding upon its fan base – making them an extremely valuable asset for businesses and advertisers.
It’s difficult to narrow down the typical Ravens fan, because Ravens fans have proven to branch across multiple demographics – they range from pre-teens to senior citizens, from blue collar to white collar and the female fan base even edges out the male fan base, according to a 2010 ESPN SportsPoll.
Baltimore’s love of the Ravens is an extension of the United State’s love of football – according to Nielsen 9 of the top ten single telecasts from 2011 were NFL –related, and a Harris poll from October 2011 revealed that 2 out of 3 adults watch the NFL on a regular basis. In Baltimore, over 1,400,000 metro area adults have either attended, listened to or watched a Ravens game in the past year.
These people are not just fans – they are readers too, specifically of The Sun:
Ads running twice a week in The Baltimore Sun during football season reach 556,020 metro area adults – 405,000 of whom are committed Ravens fans and 103,430 of whom attended a Ravens game in the last year
Ads that run once a week reach 426,880 metro area adults , 314,500 of whom are Ravens fans and 82,540 of whom have attended a Ravens game in the last year
From August 2011 – January 2012, baltimoresun.com’s Ravens page received 30 million page views, while the Ravens Insider blog reached 7.3 million page views
No one covers the Ravens like The Baltimore Sun – we provide readers with a depth of coverage throughout the season, both in print and online.
Video advertising continues to grow. More than 11 billion video ads were viewed in the United States last month, more than a 9% increase from May and almost twice as much as January of this year. Consumers spent more than 4.6 billion minutes watching video ads in June 2012, accounting for 53% of the U.S. population.
These figures are for ads alone, but users’ love of video extends to content as well. More than 180 million U.S. users watched video last month.
It’s not even August yet, but marketers are gearing up for back-to-school season right now, and for good reason – U.S. families will spend nearly $690 on average this coming fall for their grade school children, a 14% increase from last year. Total spending is expected to reach $30.3 billion, a 33% increase from 2011.
Despite the current economic climate, parents still need to prepare their children grades K-12 for the upcoming school year. That doesn’t mean they aren’t modifying their spending habits, though. According to a recent NRF survey, consumers are:
Shopping for sales more often
Purchasing more generic store-brand items
Comparing prices across multiple stores via ad circulars and newspapers
Using more coupons & simply spending less in general
Among the specific industries to see an increase are clothing (11.6%), school supplies (7.2%), electronics (15%) and especially shoes (23.6%).
These trends are just restricted to grade school. College spending is also expected to rise by more than 12% after a two year decline, according to a separate survey by the NRF. Back-to-school and back-to-college spending combined is expected to almost $84 billion, making back-to-school season the second highest for retailers.
Locally, over 200,000 Howard and Baltimore county parents will turn to the annual BSMG Back-to-School guide for insight for on preparing for the upcoming school year. Contact your BSMG sales representative or call 410-332-6300 to reserve your space before Friday, June 27.
Grocery retailers are still heavily invested in print products for sales, even at a time where retailers virtually everywhere else are focusing their budgets on mobile coupons and websites, according to coupon and circular insert producer Valassis.
Valassis polled over 50 national and independent grocery stores or chains to establish these results. Among the findings:
90% of grocery retailers use weekly circulars as their main promotional device
50% of retailers saw increases in sales from their circulars
25% saw increased customer retention from their circulars
Newspapers remain the most popular delivery method of their print platforms, followed by shared mail and then directed mail. All three print products led various digital models of promotion by large margins.
Digital media marketing is expanding for grocery stores, though – 66% of the stores polled said they expected to use more digital methods in the future.
Clicks from paid search have increased by 18% globally, while impressions have increased globally by 7%, according to Covario. The SEO & search marketing firm released its latest report this week, which found that global search spending has grown up to 17%
The study also found that while Google still controls the search market with 86% of the market, Yahoo/Bing has seen a 30% increase in the last year.
The report’s author, Charles Gaylord, says that the large growth rate is from its measurability and resiliency, and that it will likely continue to grow through the rest of the year, due to upcoming events.
The debate surrounding placing ads on mobile devices has been an interesting one; the medium is not as conducive for ads as normal desktops or wallpapers, and with the wave of mobile apps continuing to grow, some businesses are reverting to ad-free, paid apps. But there is evidence to suggest that consumers will still interact with the right type of ad on their device, provided it is relevant to them individually.
About one third of smart phone and tablet users have indicated that they will be more inclined to pay attention to digital ads that pertain to their needs and interests, according to a new study from Prosper Mobile Insights. Additionally, 31.4% of those consumers said that the fewer ads they interacted with, the more likely they would be to respond to the ones that did show up.
The study also offered key elements of ads that consumers responded to; such as humor, information, or animation. 4 out of 10 respondents said they would be more likely to pay attention to a video ad than a standard ad, citing that they are more likely to grab your attention, are more enjoyable or that they don’t let a user click away from it until they’ve viewed a portion of it.
Another common form of advertising for devices is the sponsored link or story, with more than 32% saying they would click one at least occasionally.
One lesson to take away from this is to pay attention to key demos and place ads that relate to them in mobile apps or websites. On a larger scale, it also shows that in what is still a relatively emerging marketing approach, no idea should be off the table when it comes to reaching your consumers.
Have you thought about your mobile strategy? Tested it across multiple platforms? Is your website mobile-optimized, or do you have an official app? These are all questions worth asking and evaluating; 5% of all retails sales are influenced by smart phones – nearly $160 billion. By 2016, smart phones’ influence is projected to reach over 19% – roughly $960 billion.
Here are some key stats regarding smart phone users:
70% of all shoppers use their smart phones when making a purchase
Smart phone users are 14% are more likely to make a purchase
Of those who didn’t buy anything, 60% came back at a later date and made a purchase, as opposed to the 22% of non-smart phone users.
Nearly 40% of smart phone shoppers used a third party shopping app; 34% used a retailer’s official app
Fittingly enough, the shopping category with the most smart phone users is electronic/appliance – 49% of shoppers there use their smart phones, with their influence at 8.3%. Among the categories expected to grow are general merchandise, clothing/footwear, food & beverage and books & music.
With the statistics on this area expected to only go up, it’s clear how important smart phone shoppers are, especially considering that they have their targeting medium – their smart phone – with them on a regular basis. Mobile coupons, text alerts and emails formatted for small devices are some of the ways to utilize this data, to ensure that smart phone consumers become your consumers.
Between the Ravens’ Super Bowl Championship and the Orioles’ postseason run in 2012, Baltimore has had a lot to cheer for recently. What’s been good for the teams has also been good for newspaper and their advertisers – a recent study by the Newspaper National Network shows that more male sports fans choose their local newspaper for updates more than any other source of news.
As 
The Baltimore Ravens’ 2012 season starts soon, and instead of asking who’s ready, a better question may be who isn’t ready? Baltimore’s NFL franchise has consistently proven itself not only to be one of the top teams on the field, but also one of the best at engaging and expanding upon its fan base – making them an extremely valuable asset for businesses and advertisers.
Video advertising continues to grow. More than 11 billion video ads were viewed in the United States last month, more than a 9% increase from May and almost twice as much as January of this year. Consumers spent more than 4.6 billion minutes watching video ads in June 2012, accounting for 53% of the U.S. population.
It’s not even August yet, but marketers are gearing up for back-to-school season right now, and for good reason – U.S. families will spend nearly $690 on average this coming fall for their grade school children, a 14% increase from last year. Total spending is expected to reach $30.3 billion, a 33% increase from 2011.