Written by To get above the noise, newspapers that extend their brand are successful. Uberall conducted research on the top “near me” searches. Food and entertainment searches for “near me” topped the list. More than two-thirds (69%) of smart phone users use their phones to help them make decisions about shopping: where to go and what products to buy.
The growth in the “near me” search market is robust. According to Google in a blog post, between 2015 and 2017 this market has grown 150%. It has become so strong that Google auto fills “near me” for search categories like restaurants.
Bold brand move + hot search category = powerful results
This week’s Fun Idea Friday comes from Australian newspaper The Advertiser. In a true enterprise play, they have developed the Delicious 100- South Australia’s Best Restaurants. But unlike most advertising plays, the Delicious 100 is 100% digital.
Offering powerful content only found online has grown The Advertiser’s base of digital subscribers. They proved that consumers will pay for content that is beyond useful and presented in a clean and easy-to-use format.
The app ranks the top 100 restaurants, provides the user with restaurant reviews, original cuisine photography, deep-dive filters by price, location, dietary requirements, and “vibe.”
Does it work to publish original content found only within your digital franchise? The results are in The Advertiser’s numbers. Digital audience retention of 91%, AUS$20,000 in incremental digital subscription revenue, and 34,000 subscriber page views in just the first three days.
The Advertiser pushed its brand into the popular restaurant search market. Now they have digital success utilizing their newsroom to do what they do best and commercializing one of the hottest search areas on the internet.