Voice Local brings together a bespoke new team of dedicated commercial editors and product managers, combining Johnston Press’ local editorial expertise with digital innovation, to create branded content tailored to consumers’ needs that delivers increased engagement and boosted ROI for businesses, says the company.
During the three-month pilot, the service successfully delivered 59 content marketing campaigns for leading brands from high-end grocery retailer Waitrose, and also smaller local enterprises such as Glasgow Osteopaths, creating unique content on topics that resonated with the local audience across Johnston Press’ entire digital platform.
According to Johnston Press, this content has already delivered high levels of engagement in some cases offering 8 times the click rate of traditional advertising, ranging from national supermarket discussion cooking tips for salmon, to a local vet helping the local audience keep their animals safe this coming bonfire night.
Voice Local provides a scalable solution in a growing market, offering content marketing to brands that want to engage with a local audience. Moving beyond the simple banner ads, it is ushering in a new era for advertising with the smart inclusion of branded content that sits more naturally within Johnston Press’ website environment and is unaffected by browser-based ad blockers.
Jeff Moriarty, Chief Digital and Product Officer at Johnston Press, said: “We have an opportunity to create highly relevant local content for advertisers that uniquely resonates with local readers. We’re thrilled to unveil Voice Local and are looking forward to working on truly innovative and original campaigns with leading advertisers across the UK.
“With Voice Local, we can help businesses across the UK capitalise on our unparalleled knowledge of consumers at a local level, and therefore create engaging and relevant content that will further enhance the online experience of our readers.”
