Is Print Advertising Dead?

Use of digital media has been has grown significantly – a 13.8% year-on-year rise (1).

With it has come a wealth of new online advertising propositions and opportunities to engage with customers and prospects.

Online news, e-magazines, e-catalogues, webinars, videos, apps and social media channels have all created new customer touchpoints.

As a result, digital marketing activity is increasing while comparative print activity is falling dramatically.

But does print advertising still have a role to play in today’s digital-savvy world?

Agreed, it’s a digital world, but  customers exist in a multi-media universe!

The % use of online versus offline media varies greatly amongst customers: some prefer to flick through a magazine with the occasional online glance whilst others operate from their tablet or smart phone.

These differences in consumption habits means that for a marketing strategy to be effective it needs to be multi-channel.

A multi-channel approach allows you to increase the frequency to which your target group sees your communications over a very short time.

There’s potential to seriously reduce the sales cycle time line from weeks to days, or even hours.

Whatever the media mix, the approach is always: Awareness, Engagement, and Response.

Print advertising has a vital role to play:

1. Brand legitimacy, a perceived credibility in appearing in a printed publication, particularly in the B2B industrial press.

Companies that use press advertising promote themselves as a sector player.

2. Yes, print circulations are down – consider this a good thing, the remaining readers being a hardcore, engaged audience.

3. They are also better focused and involved when reading print media and are more likely to share or discuss it with colleagues.

4. With fewer print ads, the brand makes more impact, a greater opportunity to ‘stand-out’.

The reader isn’t interrupted by changing digital ads constantly reacting to their browsing history.

With print advertising a vital device within our marketing toolkit, the next step is to tactically implement and effectively integrate it within the multi-channel marketing strategy.

Sometimes, print advertising may be a slow-burn tool, something that supports brand awareness and perception rather than initiating an immediate purchase decision.

You have the reader’s focused attention, so it can be used to illustrate key brand messages and services in those valuable moments.

This can be supported by more targeted and action-orientated digital media adverts for a greater opportunity to connect with customers.

By combining print and digital there is the benefit of better tracking the effectiveness of print advertising.

Unique URLs or QR codes can be used in print to monitor click-throughs and engagement.

This can be for the whole campaign or there can be different calls-to-action for each individual ad placement.

This improves the performance analysis for future campaigns and better planning of spend.

Striking a balance between online and offline is key to a successful multi-channel marketing strategy.

Combining the two approaches will allow you to effectively engage with the audience across multiple channels, in multiple environments and at multiple times, with the aim of keeping your brand top-of-mind!

1. IABUK – H1 2017 Digital ad spend