Jason Fell from Folio: Magazine was nice enough to send me some new research from the Online Publishers Association.
The goal of the OPA research was to help brand marketers understand the value of placing advertising of branded media sites (like WSJonline.com or ESPN.com - not AOL or Yahoo! which are portal sites). Here's what they found:
- Consumers are more likely to trust content from media sites (72%) as opposed to portal sites (60%) and social media sites Facebook (23%).
- Consumers are more likely to purchase products from brands advertising on media sites (8%) versus portal channels (5%) or social media (3%).
This is all fine and good, and probably makes OPA members (which are big media sites) very happy.
But (here's a very big but), the OPA research misses the big question on the minds of marketers we talk with on a daily basis. Here's what I told Jason who reported this in Folio:
If the goal of the research was to help brand marketers understand the value of placing advertising on branded media sites, the research still leaves a lot of questions unanswered. The challenge for brand marketers is not necessarily whether they should advertise on a media site versus a portal versus a social network. They are trying to decide whether they should advertise, or whether they should invest more of their marketing dollars into their own engaging content.
"Why and how do I (the brand) develop my own engaging content to my customers that will grow my business?" That's the question.
I would have loved to see the OPA include content from brands as well...brands like P&G or Eaton Corp. or General Electric or Motorola. More and more consumers are relying on brands and bloggers for their information and education. If that is the case, and more consumers are trusting (as well as expecting) brands to deliver expert information to them, then if I'm a brand, I have some serious choices to make.
What if the study said that consumers trust brands close to as much as media or portal sites (when compared together - apples to apples)? For example, if you are looking for information on energy saving tips for the home, would you go to a manufacturer like Lennox for information? I sure would (and have).
Advertising, done right, is a very effective part of the marketing mix. The big question is, do you allocate more money and resources to content marketing and branded content instead of advertising, sponsorship and other marketing initiatives. According to Junta42's recent content marketing research, this is happening, where 33% of budgets are now dedicated to the creation and distribution of content, and that six in 10 marketers are increasing their budgets for the third year in the row.
If I'm OPA and have the interests of media sites at heart, I probably wouldn't be thinking this way (so we'll give them a free pass). But if I'm a marketer, I want to know this information. Do I "rent" the message by advertising around good content that's not mine, or do I "own" the content and position my brand as a trusted industry expert? Should I create valuable, relevant content that can be found on search engines, spread through social media, and work to attract and retain customers?






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