We’ve all heard of localvores, people who are committed to eating locally-produced food. And now more and more consumers have started putting stronger effort into buying locally-produced items. How does this trend translate for us online marketers? Well, how about focusing on locally-produced ads? Or buying more local-specific media?
A study by the Online Publishers Association states that local online media offer significant ad advantage (see Marketing Charts article). Apparently, consumers are more likely to trust and be persuaded by ads found on local newspapers, magazines, and TV sites. According to the article, “the new OPA report looks at consumers who get local information from online city guides, classifieds, magazines, newspapers, portals, television sites, user review sites, or yellow pages.” It also took note of the fact that local sites attract higher concentrations of influencers.
This is not surprising at all, and from personal experience, we do seem to be more inclined to click on interesting offerings that are happening locally… Let’s put it this way: let’s say you’re an events marketing company advertising a food tasting event in Boston. Which ad you think is more likely to get clicked on – an ad on the Yelp.com Boston Restaurants section, or a Run of Site ad on MSN.com? Granted, the Yelp ad will have tighter, more focused targeting, but isn’t that precisely the point of local advertising?
Whether it’s display, video, rich media ads, or search ads, local advertising should have a place in every online marketer’s plan. So let’s jump on this localvore phenomenon and think about supporting not just local food and local items, but also local media.
So hello, Boston.com.
