By its very definition, ‘picking one’s moments’ is about thoughtfully and prudently deciding the best instant to act.
Sometimes, we use the idiom in earnest; on other occasions, it’s a rather ironic statement suggesting actions that are the very opposite of the right time to say or do something.
As marketers, we’re constantly espousing our ability to choose the right media moments for our brands to reach out and ideally, engage with consumers. But thanks to channel fragmentation and digitisation, we’ve seen an almighty swing of power into the consumers’ hands when choosing the moments they’ll engage with media. As a result, the way marketers determine the moments they think matter most for their brands no longer stacks up. In fact, the way media channels are still assessed and measured can lead many marketers into the trap of irony over effectiveness.
Part of the problem is the inputs we’re using to determine the media moments that matter. Too often, we’re using isolated, either/or measures, such as the reach or frequency of a channel, to understand where to place advertising and when.
A related issue is the often-outdated view of how different media channels perform through the funnel. We come into the industry and learn certain channels do certain things, and we accept it. We then adopt binary return on ad spend measures that only perpetuate the myths and fail to recognise how the consumer’s media consumption patterns extend across multiple channels or work in aggregate.
To try and overcome these challenges, ThinkNewsBrands recognised the industry needed new inputs that shed light on the media moments that matter to consumers directly. By revealing how consumers themselves view different media channels, why they’re choosing to interact with them, where and when they do so, and what they’re doing when they do, we hope to challenge antiquated thinking and enable marketers to better pick the moments that best deliver results for their brands.
That’s where our new research study completed with leading market research agency FiftyFive5 comes in. Through a combination of consumer surveying, consumption diaries and digital media monitoring, we’ve been able to uncover media consumption patterns and provide a comprehensive picture of the moments that matter most to consumers in 2023, across all times of day and channels at their disposal.
The findings paint a fascinating picture of modern media consumption. Importantly, they demonstrate the powerful impact Total News Publishing delivers when understood through the lenses of reach AND frequency, relevancy, AND engagement, and as a channel AND in concert with other media channels.
Take engagement with Total News Publishing over the course of the day. Yes, figures show news owns the morning as a channel (1 in 4 people reading news) alongside social media for reach. Yet figures also show consumers engaging with news channels throughout the day, both in the home and at work as well as out and about.
Then there’s the engagement factor. Not only does news reach 96% of Australians, they consume more types of content in news compared to other media channels; the breadth of content consumed up to 2X more than other media channels..
This leads to enviable shareability. Total News Publishing is in the top three recommended media types for sharing content and information after magazines and podcasts – neither of which have the same kind of reach as news nor boast of the same kind of lean-in engagement with content as news. Frequency further elevates Total News Publishing’s shareability status. For instance, Australians are twice as likely to talk about news versus something they saw on TV, saw outdoor or heard on the radio. 2 in 5 people have shared or talked about news on their last occasion. And half of consumers are discussing news articles shared on social media at least once per week.
Looking at channels in aggregate is also useful for understanding impact. According to consumers, news is playing a core ‘newsfeed’ role in digital platforms such as social and search, with news content accessed via search daily by 43% of readers and weekly by 53% of social readers.
Then there’s the trust and relevancy of news to factor in. FiftyFive5’s research shows news outperforming other media channels relative to its size, overindexing by +20% against the average. In addition, the research reveals consumers are finding advertising across Total News Publishing less frustrating, disruptive, and more relevant compared to other media sources. Ads in the news environment are considered by consumers to be +27% more informative on average and +18% more trustworthy.
All this tells us Total News Publishing presents significant value when viewed holistically and in a way that reflects how consumers themselves are choosing to engage in media and what matters most to them.
It’s high time marketers applied this more holistic, multi-variable, consumer-oriented lens to the way they spend their media dollars. By doing so, you’ll be picking the moments that deliver maximum impact for your brand. There’s not a moment to spare. Download the facts now
Vanessa Lyons is the CEO of ThinkNewsBrands.
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.