Canadians are most open to branded content from the travel category, according to a new report by Yahoo Canada.
The research, titled Talking Content, looks at Canadians’ attitudes, behaviours and perceptions towards branded content across six major categories: travel, entertainment (movies/TV/music/sports), finance, beauty/style/fashion, lifestyle and auto.
Fresh Intelligence Research conducted an online survey and creative test of 1,000 digital content consumers across Canada.
More than two thirds of survey respondents (68%) said they are open to travel content, whether or not it’s branded. And 69% said it doesn’t matter if travel content is sponsored by a brand, as long as it’s interesting. Roughly two thirds of consumers also agreed they don’t mind sponsored content in the entertainment and beauty/style categories.
“I think we’re seeing a greater receptivity for branded content,” said Claude Galipeau, country manager at Yahoo Canada. “The majority of Canadians – 54% according to our study – follow brands to receive their content. I think that is a significant and important trend for marketers as much as consumers.”
In terms of online content overall, travel was the highest rated category of interest (63%) among Canadians. Also in the top five are: entertainment (movies/TV/music/sports) (60%), lifestyle (54%), technology (43%) and politics/world news (42%).
But the most frequently consumed content is entertainment, with 75% of Canadians consuming this type of content at least once a week. This is followed by lifestyle (61%), travel (53%), finance (47%), beauty/style/fashion (36%) and auto/cars (31%).
The study also looked at why Canadians consume content across the different categories. “To reach consumers with branded content, [marketers] need to understand the motivation of users,” said Galipeau. “With different content, there are different motivations, and therefore there’s going to be different brand strategies.”
Some of the top motivations for content consumption across the six categories are:
Beauty
- to stay up to date with current events/trends in the category (45%)
- for inspiration (44%)
Auto/Cars
- to make an informed decision (49%)
- to stay up to date with current events/trends in this category (48%)
Finance
- to make an informed decision (60%)
- to stay up to date with current events/trends in this category (51%)
- for personal development/to learn (46%)
Travel
- to make an informed decision (62%)
- because it’s interesting (58%)
- for inspiration (43%)
Entertainment
- because it’s interesting (59%)
- to relax (58%)
- to discuss with friends/acquaintances (23%)
Lifestyle
- for personal development (52%)
- for inspiration (33%)
When it comes to sharing, more than half of Canadians (52%) agreed the number-one thing that will get them to share branded content is if it can deliver emotion. Nearly half (47%) said they would share branded content if it’s creative.
