Who are they? What are you trying to accomplish? And where is the best platform to reach them?
In short, effective media buys aren’t always the biggest. They’re targeted.
That’s where niche publications and special sections within newspaper media shine.
Nebraska’s agricultural foundation makes it an obvious example. Many newspapers across the state publish ag-focused sections that have long been trusted by producers, suppliers, lenders, and rural businesses.
Advertisers serving that audience rarely question their value — the relevance is self-evident.
What’s often missed is that agriculture is just one expression of a broader strength.
Local newspapers regularly produce special sections and niche publications across many areas, including schools, graduation, healthcare, and more. Each of these publications is built around a specific reader mindset — not a demographic abstraction, but a real-life need or decision.
One of the challenges in today’s media environment is that attention is frequently assumed rather than earned.
Digital platforms are excellent at distribution, but context can be inconsistent. Messages often appear adjacent to content that has little to do with what the consumer is actually thinking about in that moment.
Special sections operate differently.
Readers don’t stumble into them. They open them intentionally — because they’re planning a project, facing a decision, or seeking guidance. The mindset is already there.
The 2025 Nebraska Statewide Study conducted by Coda Ventures reinforces this behavior. (Coda Study) Seventy percent of Nebraska residents engage with newspaper media — print, digital, and social — on a weekly basis. More importantly, readers actively engage with advertising when it aligns with their interests.
And consider this: nearly 8 in 10 Nebraska adults report reading newspaper advertising, and a significant share say those ads help them make purchase decisions, prompt online searches, or drive store visits.
More broadly, research shows that consumers still trust print advertising. According to recent data, 82% of consumers trust print ads most when making a purchase decision — a level of trust that often exceeds digital formats — and print ads deliver higher brand recall than many online advertisements (with recall rates of around 77% versus 46% for digital). (Gitnux)
Special sections take habitual newspaper reading a step further.
An ad for a local contractor in a home and garden section doesn’t feel disruptive. A financial services message inside a retirement-focused publication feels timely. An ag advertiser in an ag section doesn’t need to justify relevance — it’s already understood.
In these environments, advertising behaves less like interruption and more like information.
That contextual relevance isn’t just common sense — it’s supported by research showing that when ads are congruent with surrounding editorial content, audience recall and attitudes toward the ad improve, according to Columbia Business School.
Newspaper readers in Nebraska consistently over-index in categories that drive advertising investment: home improvement, healthcare, financial services, automotive, education, travel, and local services. In many of these categories, newspaper reach exceeds 85–90% of adults actively considering a purchase.
And this works at all levels of marketing. For national brands, it offers a way to localize messaging without fragmenting strategy. For local and regional advertisers, it provides credibility and visibility without requiring massive budgets.
Another factor that’s difficult to replicate elsewhere is trust.
Consumers consistently rate newspaper advertising as more relevant and more useful — and far less irritating — than advertising on social platforms.
The underlying psychology of trust helps explain why. Print advertising tends to be perceived as less intrusive, more tangible, and because readers spend longer with physical content, it often leads to deeper brand associations and memory. (Keegan Edwards)
Readers don’t separate the message from the environment. When the content is trusted, the advertising benefits from that credibility.
That trust doesn’t guarantee results, but it lowers resistance — which is often the biggest barrier advertising faces.
Special sections and niche publications in newspaper media provide all three. They meet audiences where they already are — in a mindset primed for relevant information, not random interruption.
So when you’re looking at your next media plan, consider this: The most effective buys aren’t always the biggest.
They’re the ones that are specific, contextual, and trusted — and that’s exactly the environment special sections deliver.
AI was used as a drafting and editing tool, but the ideas, insights, and final content reflect our team’s expertise.