New Data Shows National Marketers Want to Place Dollars in Local Media

Say what you will of “tronc,” but the company formerly known as Tribune Media recognized that local media was on the slip-slide, while digital, dimes though they may be, are on the rise.

In our latest report, we found something similar. National marketers care an awful lot about local media, and they put stock in some of the traditional channels such as radio and print, but they’re shifting dollars and interest toward digital innovations. Local media have a big opportunity to leverage their local context and relationships, and lead national marketers into digital waters. In other words, they can take the dollars for local media, plus capture the continued expansion of budget for online initiatives.

Earlier this year, we surveyed more than 200 marketers at large regional and national companies that had local chains or branches. The latest report on that data puts a sharp focus on media, where frankly, the evolution toward more of a digital profile — despite cries of “digital first” — have been slower in coming than one would expect. “Tronc” is one salvo in that effort, putting digital so central it even shows up in its name (sort of).

Capturing more national ad spend should fuel this development and help local media deepen those relationships.

We recommend that all local media spend time with this report, understanding the data, gaining insights from our analysis, and exploring the opportunities outlined in one of the key chapters.

Click here for more details and to download the report.