Local magazine websites highly effective, says U.S. study

Ads on local magazine sites work well for advertisers and the magazines that court them, according to research from the (U.S.) Online Publishers Association. Such local magazine sites hold a distinct advantage when it comes to readers taking action after viewing the ads.

Local magazine, newspaper and TV sites attract significant percentages (48%, 40% and 39%, respectively) of consumers who spent more than $500 online in the past twelve months. Thirty-seven percent of portal visitors and 34% of the overall online population spend this amount in a year. Consumers express significant faith in advertising on local content sites.

Percent of Consumers Taking Action after Viewing Local Ads:

• Local Newspaper Site: 46%
• Local Television Site: 44%
• Local Magazine Site: 42%
• User Review Site: 39%
• Portal: 37%

Surprisingly, satisfaction with the delivery of community content is lower for local magazines than other local media.

• Portals: 58%
• Local newspaper sites: 48%
• Local TV station sites: 48%
• Online yellow pages: 36%
• Classified sites: 34%
• City guides: 36%
• Local magazine sites: 20%
• User review sites: 13%
  

There is a dowloadable pdf summary of the study (conducted in partnership with Jupiter Research).