Do people still read the sports section?

While some may think that the sports section in the local newspaper may not be as popular as a national online component, a new poll begs to differ. M/A/R/C for the Newspaper National Network interviewed men between the ages of 18-54 to see how sports news is consumed.

MediaPost states that the survey took note of regular newspaper readers and non-regular newspaper readers alike. Overall, sports enthusiasts ranked the following media sources for getting news:

76% go to newspaper websites

69% go to the print newspaper

66% go to ESPN.com

46% go to league sites

45% go to Yahoo! Sports page

45% go to ESPN Sports Center

33% listen to sports talk radio

23% go to Sports Illustrated or si.com

These results do point out that even though the online is utilized by a large audience, the print presence has not gone away completely. Therefore, if you are still trying to reach that sports enthusiast who is male and between 18-54, a media mix of the local newspaper sports section and the online counterpart do make sense.

Ethnic breakdown of popular media sites

Since social media user demographics shift as new options enter the market or get more established, it can be useful to advertisers to check and see what the landscape looks like from time to time. AdvertisingAge recently reported on research from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project.

From a poll of 1,802 people, the following was revealed:

Twitter’s audience

·       26% of black internet users

·       19% of Hispanic internet users

·       14% of white internet users

·       The percentages of users in the black and white categories have grown since 2010. The Hispanic category has stayed relatively consistent.

Instagram’s audience

·       23% of black internet users

·       18% of Hispanic internet users

·       11% of white internet users

Pinterest’s audience

·       18% of white internet users

·       10% of Hispanic internet users

·       8% of black internet users

Do people send emails from a Tablet more than a PC?

For advertisers, it can be really helpful to know which device consumers use to access their information online. In knowing, it can help an advertiser be more efficient with targeting the message to the right audience.

The company Perion, which develops email client software, did some research to find which devices people use to access their email. Surveying 4,400 iPad users in the United States, the company focused on where people read and sent emails.

eMarketer reports that a higher percentage surveyed chose to read and send emails through the iPad than other devices like a PC, mobile or other.

Here is the percentage breakdown of which device people prefer to read emails from:

55% Tablet (iPad for this study)
32% PC/Mac
10% Mobile
3% Other

The following is the percentage breakdown of which device people prefer to send emails from:

48% Tablet

41% PC/Mac

9% Mobile

2% Other

Also noted in the survey was that 53% of iPad users check emails anywhere between 1-5 times a day. About 35% check 6-10+ times per day.

It is important to note that the study only spoke to people who have a Tablet; therefore, the numbers may be skewed to heavily favoring the device. So, if you are targeting an audience that is tech savvy, Tablets are high competition to PC/Macs. Therefore, it is definitely a device one should keep in consideration when putting together an online and/or mobile campaign for that niche audience.

Should advertisers pull TV budget because of cord cutting?

A constant worry that advertisers deal with is how an audience utilizes media. Are some media dying? Are some growing ahead of others? What makes the most sense for the target audience? Part of our job is to constantly be immersed in the latest research.

One of the newer worries for advertisers is the new trend of “cord-cutting” TV, which is when people stop paying for television services like cable or dish and go online for content. According to a new report by PwC on cord cutting, this is not a phenomenon that should cause advertisers to pull out of TV entirely.

MediaPost reports that while people have been cutting the cord, downgrading subscriptions, or simply not subscribing, the impact of this to pay TV will be relatively small over the next five years.

Television industry leaders stand by the fact that TV advertising still has a measured 37% of influence over adults 18+. In comparison, newspapers have about 11%, Internet 6%, and mobile 4% influence for the same target audience.

It’s estimated that because of the increasing viewership of online TV content, traditional television viewership will see a .9% decline every year through 2017.

Overall, while this is a trend advertisers should keep track of, it is not a good enough reason to encourage pulling all TV ad dollars out of the market.