Since 2011, the Garrity Perception Survey has tracked how New Mexico residents get their news and information.
In one corner, there is traditional media – this includes television, newspaper, and radio. Of the group, television has been, and remains, the most popular of the three news sources.
Newspaper trends toward more of an older audience. Newspaper’s strongest readers are located in the North Central and Northwest parts of New Mexico.
Radio is favorable among demographics with lower annual incomes. Also, radio is strongest among the 35-49 and 50-64 age demographics.
In the other corner, there is digital media – this includes internet news sites, social media and blogs. Of the group, internet news sites are the most popular online source for information.
Social media, which has come on strong in recent years, is accessed quite a bit for news and information
Blogs, very popular among subject matter groups, have yet to catch on like internet news sites and social media, as a place to get news and information.
Geographically, digital media news sources are most popular in Albuquerque and in areas that are a part of other media markets. This includes Farmington, Las Cruces, and Clovis markets their residents get news from the respective Durango, El Paso and Amarillo markets.
To be successful in getting your personal or company news and information consumed by New Mexico residents, we suggest developing strategies that can get your message in front of a variety of audiences.
For topics relating to grand openings and pop culture, or to reach the largest number of people as quickly as possible, television and social media are solid resources. Stories that are a bit wonky in nature (like those that are political in nature or issue oriented) should focus on newspaper and blogs. Radio is a great way to generate traffic to a brick and mortar site as well as a great vehicle to explain complex issues or promote topics that are conversational in nature.
The challenge for both traditional and digital media sources is trust and relevancy. Traditional media is more trusted than digital media. Digital media is more relevant because of the “now”, but it lacks trust.
One of the most underutilized aspects of getting the word out is something the industry refers to “atomizing content.” This is making use of every possible aspect to share the story. For example, when developing the news release, record the CEO’s comments on video using a mobile phone. This information can be posted to a corporate website or used to populate digital media. The finished news release can be transformed into a blog post and turned into a week’s worth of social media content. The coverage of the news release can be shared on social media and the coverage links added to the news release page on the corporate website.
More information and analysis of this information is available online at www.garrityperceptionsurvey.com.
