Why marketers need the newspaper demographic

Online marketers looking for a new demographic don't need to travel far and wide. They simply need to visit - and advertise with - a newspaper website. Why? Because newspaper readers are more likely to shop, research and interact online. And because the audience for newspaper websites is growing at nearly twice the rate of the general Internet audience.

by Kristina Knight

According to figures from the Newspaper Association of America, more than 59 million users or 39% of the general Internet population visited newspaper websites during each month of the first quarter. That is a 5% increase over newspaper web traffic during Q1, 2006. During the same time period, the general online audience grew only about 2%.

“These record-setting numbers underscore newspapers’ success in capturing online audiences and the importance of newspaper Web sites to the growing newspaper footprint,” said NAA President and CEO John F. Sturm (via the Digital Edge blog).

Still not convinced? Here are a few more facts that point toward the newspaper demographic being one of the most coveted online demos: 11% have household incomes above $100,000, 88% have made at least one online purchase in the past six months and 72% are online every day. Visitors to newspaper websites are also more likely (41%) to hold at least a managerial position in the workforce and to watch streaming video (41%).

With their proclivity to shop, research and read online, newspaper website visitors are clearly a good group for advertisers to target.