We’ve all become worryingly familiar with the term ‘fake news’ in the past year or so. We’re not here to track down its exact origins, but rather to look at the global impact it’s had on marketing and advertising and what you can do to avoid being placed next to it.
For consumers and readers, the impact on day to day life has been minimal. We are a little more cautious when reading our news online and perhaps this increased level of cynicism will do us good, make us more discerning about the news we do read.
But for businesses, the fake news phenomenon could have a much greater impact. Anyone running advertising campaigns needs to run an extra level of checks on just where their advert or content is going to be featured.
This is all made even harder when you’re looking at advertising and PR outreach in overseas markets that you don’t know yourself. How do you know you’re choosing the right outlets? Are you putting your company’s reputation at risk by publicising in the wrong magazine or website? This is a very real and recent issue, with a slew of big brands removing their advertisements from Google’s Display Network after they found they were being displayed next to videos of terrorist sympathisers and other undesirable locations across the web.
We’ve taken a closer look at some of the key steps you can take to ensure you’re working with a trusted news channel and also outlined just why this is so important for your overseas success.
Growing concerns among consumers
The BBC is almost universally considered the UK’s most trusted news source and now the organisation has revealed that finding a trusted news source is a concern for customers across the globe.
The BBC’s recent study titled The Value of New – and the Importance of Trust, has revealed that 61 per cent of Asia Pacific news consumers would trust a brand if it was advertised on a trusted news channel or website, while 65 per cent are more likely to read sponsored content from a reputable source.
These results, reported by The Drum, have a significant takeaway message for marketers, who are advised by the BBC to track down the most trusted news sources in their international markets. This ensures that you will attract and connect with new customers and avoid the increasingly concerning ‘fake news’ tag. In fact, the BBC study revealed that 79 per cent of consumers are concerned about fake news, with the majority finding it hard to distinguish between the genuine and fake news sites.
Commenting on the study’s results, Chris Davies, commercial director for BBC Global News Ltd, told the publication: “Consumers are looking for news they can rely on and this research reveals clear evidence of a halo effect and credibility boost for brands associated with trustworthy, quality publishers like the BBC.”
Why are reputable sources important?
Studies show that news is a strong draw for consumers all around the world. The BBC study alone found that 82 per cent of consumers in the Asia Pacific region are interested in international news, with 77 per cent saying they’re more concerned with international news than ever before.
Elsewhere televised news has been revealed to be equally as important, with a study from Pew Research Centre showing that 57 per cent of Americans use televisions as a source of news. The same study found that 38 per cent of Americans get their news online, with 62 per cent getting their news on social media platforms. Revealingly, only four per cent trust the news they read on social media.
The data is uncovering an increasingly discerning global audience and it’s time for marketers to take notice and target their own content accordingly.
Identifying trustworthy news outlets overseas
The problem here is that finding a trusted news outlet in an unfamiliar country is just not that easy. Without specialists and locals working with you, even the most popular news channels in an unfamiliar country are likely to be an unknown to most marketing departments.
Expert professional translation services can help here. We’re not always an obvious port of call for this kind of question, but if we’re translating your marketing and advertising material then we could help translate some of the target publications’ content or their media packs back into English so you can choose the right publication for your business.
Focusing on local expertise and really understanding your overseas audience is what our translation services are all about. Language is a tricky beast, but when it’s your natural tongue and culture, any ‘dodgy’ news items are easier to spot.
So if you’re considering an overseas marketing campaign with sponsored content or media advertising, give us a call. We’ll be more than happy to translate your marketing material and take a look at translating some of the news on your target publications while we’re at it.
