IS PRINT DEAD?
Print is still very much alive. In fact, advertisers who make print a part of their marketing mix have the potential to significantly increase their response rates. There has been an incredible pendulum swing over the past few decades that what was once decreasing print readership is actually bringing audiences back,proving the longevity and staying power of print.
Technology upsurges particularly since the 1990s have drastically increased the speed of most people’s lives. More and more individuals are tired of being strapped to their devices, and they are consciously planning time into their days and weeks to put electronics away, and be mindful and present with the tangible items around them. Printed mediums are perfect during these moments. This also allows your ad to reach consumers at the exact time that they are best suited to receive it: when they are calm, focused, and engaged. Suddenly it makes sense why your colorful, uplifting newspaper ad will leave a far more powerful impression than just another cheesy facebook ad we’re all inundated with regularly.
Print advertisements often make more of an impact on the reader. Take the Internet for example. Because readers of Internet content see so much information in a short amount of time, they become used to seeing the ads. People effectively become ad-blind and often disregard advertisements. That’s not the case with print advertising. Researchers at Penn State University conducted a test to gauge whether online
advertisements or print advertisements were more memorable. The researchers concluded that print ads stuck with readers far more than online ads. “Print circulations may be down, but in many cases, that means that publications’ readership has been culled to only the most engaged, which is a desirable trait, from an advertising standpoint,” says the American Marketing Association.
Magazines and Newspapers are typically read by highly interested audiences. This allows you to reach an audience that has a higher potential for persuasion if your products relate closely to the topic of the publication. Now, digital ads are great for delivering quick results with lots of data. But if you want to penetrate your market, print ads should probably be part of your strategy. By physically placing your brand in people’s hands, you create lasting impressions that engage your audience in meaningful ways.
Your Audience
Valuable Information
Digital Readers
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Where Do You Read Printed Material
When someone plops a magazine on their counter, desk, or coffee table, your ads stay there until the entire magazine goes in the recycling bin—or to someone else’s desk.
“It’s a physical product, it takes time to arrive at a person’s house, it’s there for a long time so there are many impressions, and there’s a pass-along and an audience reach that accumulates over at least two weeks,” says Andy Blau, former CBO of Time, Inc.
While you can quickly see the results of your digital ads, print ads take longer to reach their maximum value as they pass from hand to hand, home to home, and office to office. The American Marketing Association says, “[print ads are] worth it in the end because of print’s longer shelf life and higher potential for reverberations beyond the initial reader.”