Belden Interactive is a custom news media research and consulting firm focusing on the adaptation of media organizations to a digital future. The core philosophy that guides our work is a belief that local news/information and advertising has tremendous value to web users in local markets. We help media companies uncover and grow their revenues and expand their brand opportunities -- with a strong emphasis on local websites.
Working with newspapers, broadcasters, digital media, and advertisers, Belden Interactive consultants have built an international reputation for innovative, strategic research which helps executives make correct and timely revenue enhancing and product decisions.
Key Belden Interactive personnel include: Write or call us today!
harmon@beldeninteractive.com - (415) 566-4348
kathy@beldeninteractive.com - (781) 740-9770
ed@beldeninteractive.com - (802) 282-6700
itzgreg@gmailcom - (503) 241-3650
The Future is Now
Our Philosophy
The local news and information industry has been under extreme pressure for several years. Local print ad sales are down. Demands for real ROI are up.
The pressures on local print sales can only be expected to increase as individual households look for even small ways to save money. Pressures on subscription sales will likely be even greater in 2009. At the same time the need for local news and information—local jobs, used cars, house and apartment rentals, local area “things to do,” and even local and regional news itself will likely increase. Belden Interactive views all of these things as “core competences” of local news and information organizations—especially newspapers.
One of the effects of these trends will be an increased reliance on local news and information Web sites. More local readers will be looking to the Web. And, perhaps more importantly, more advertising clients than ever will be looking for ways to both leverage the Web and save money on advertising.
Consequently, your Web site will likely increase dramatically
in importance in the next 12 to 24 months.
Within this mix will be increased demands to satisfactorily explain the value of your own Web site to local advertisers. This simply cannot be done with data from national panels or general Internet statistics. Just as, in the past, you have needed to do local market studies for your print product, you will need to conduct studies of site visitors to demonstrate your site value to key clients.
To help you do just that, we will be releasing our 2008 Belden Interactive Studies Summary in February 2009. This report—a $1,500 value—will be available to you at no direct cost. In this report we will summarize the data from nearly 30 studies conducted in 2008. We expect to conduct at least 50 studies and perhaps more in 2009.
One of our goals in 2009 will not only be to further demonstrate the value of local sites, but to create an even more powerful “industry vision” from our surveys as we have done in our All Markets Summaries since 2001.
