In today’s rapidly growing digital space, newspapers have a tremendous opportunity to boost advertising sales by focusing on mobile commerce. Retailers are looking to increase brand awareness, loyalty and mobile purchases among educated and highly-engaged audiences – and studies prove that is exactly the audience newspapers deliver.
Today, 58 million adults – nearly one in four – are mobile shoppers, according to Nielsen Scarborough. Mobile commerce already accounts for one third of all e-commerce sales in the United States, reports the Internet Retailer’s 2016 Mobile 500. And next year, Nielsen Scarborough predicts that $76 billion in sales will be transacted on smartphones alone. As shoppers continue to migrate towards mobile platforms, retailers have become increasingly focused on expanding and promoting their mobile offerings.
“It is important to capitalize on the strength newspapers possess, with a digital reach higher than ever before, to move people into the store,” said Gary Meo, SVP and sales director at Nielsen Scarborough, in a webinar hosted for NAA members. “There is opportunity for newspapers to drive people to click on more advertisements and amplify the chance to receive more customer reviews in the mobile atmosphere.”
In NAA’s recent webinar, “Mobile Trends & the Changing Face of Retail,” Meo discussed recent Nielsen Scarborough research that emphasized the value of the newspaper audience for retailers:
- 34 percent of mobile shoppers read a newspaper
- Mobile shoppers rate newspapers the no. 1 place to find sales information
- Mobile shoppers believe newspapers provide the most credible advertising
- Mobile newspaper readers are more affluent than mobile shoppers overall – and they are also more likely to actually make that online purchase
- On average, mobile newspaper readers spend more money online than other mobile shoppers
Millennials have the highest conversion rates in mobile shopping, which is great news for the newspaper business. The vast majority of millennials – more than 80 percent – consume digital newspaper media, with even higher percentages depending on age and gender, according to comScore research.
And newspapers can offer not just the audience, but key audience data to help retailers track performance and meet their goals. Retailers value data more than ever before, relying on the information provided by online and mobile shoppers to attract more qualified leads, develop successful products and quantify the return on investment of advertising and promotion initiatives.
When interacting with retailers and brands, Meo recommends that newspapers promote the “call to action” power of all digital and retail products and provide data, as appropriate, to demonstrate ROI.
Newspaper companies that embrace mobile and retail technology and offer additional marketing initiatives – such as proximity marketing, geo-fencing, downloadable coupons and loyalty programs – that build on their established strengths are likely to benefit from the investment in mobile commerce.
“The newspaper industry has taken a lot of negative exposure in the past few years about numbers in readers declining, but that is simply not the case,” said Meo. “Newspaper advertising has always been a driver of retail shopping and mobile commerce isn’t going anywhere. Mobile commerce is here to stay and it is important to get on board with helping clients to participate. Embrace it.”
Members of the News/Media Alliance staff have contributed to this post.
