In this modern day of email, social media, and declining newspaper readership, it’s easy to shrug print advertising off as an advertising medium of the past. An increasingly large number of companies are shifting their advertising budgets from print to digital, which is a strategy that’s easy to understand. Digital advertising is relatively inexpensive and flexible, the audience is much wider and farther reaching, and the results are easier to track. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that print’s days as an effective advertising medium are over. Have we thrown print to the wayside too early? Is print truly dead? At Tipping Point we say absolutely not. In fact, print has several undeniable advantages.
Print advertising is appealing in ways that online advertising/content falls short, especially in B-2-B markets. Print is narrowly targetable, highly personal, well respected, and a long-lived vehicle for establishing brand identity.
Print Is Relatively Easy To Target
Publishers truly understand advertisers’ desires to communicate efficiently with the readers most likely to produce a sale. Nothing exemplifies this better than business publications. Looking to reach nurses or doctors? No problem. Want to advertise to engineers? Piece of cake. Audience specificity is the business publisher’s stock in trade.
Yet another component to consider is that the 40+ demographic doesn’t live online. If your company has an older target demographic print is still one of the most effective ways to reach them.
Print Is A Personal Choice
Customers pay for subscriptions and renew them not because they have to, but because they want to. They want to read the focused information and save it on a desk or coffee table to re-read at a later date. When you place an ad in a magazine you are putting your promotional materials in front of people who are so interested in your specific industry that they purchased a magazine about it. Additionally, print is tactile; comfort food for the brain.
Think about when you read publications. It’s typically while you’re relaxed and sitting or laying down. That’s exactly the reason print can communicate longer, more complex messages. Consumers are far more engaged reading print then they are reading web content. In fact, websites are typically skimmed in as little as 15 seconds. You’re probably even skimming this blog post without fully reading it (Shame on you).
Print Is A Well-Trusted Media Source
Studies have consistently shown that readers trust print content and tend to develop loyalty to publications that provide the information they’re seeking. One of the best measures in judging the effectiveness of an ad campaign is the increase in intent to purchase. Magazines provide that in spades.
A study conducted by research institute Millward Brown analyzed the impact of magazines across the five different levels of the purchase funnel, including purchase intent. The results were astounding.
On average, magazines increased purchase intent in consumers by 56%. That increase is almost double that of television (30%) and more than four times that of digital (13%). In other words, magazines blew both television and digital out of the water in terms of increasing consumer purchase intent.
Print Is Tangible
It goes without saying that a print piece is a real-world physical item. That is a known fact, however you might not have considered the benefits that come with said tangibility. How many issues of informative business publications are lying around your home, office, or break room and how long have those publications been there? Unlike your Facebook Ads which will disappear once your spend dries out, magazines and newspapers can linger around for months or years. Their longevity and pass-along factor gives an added appeal to the advertising medium.
Print Builds Your Brand
Print conveys a certain level of professionalism that isn’t always evident online. The cost to create a print ad is far greater than that of a digital ad. While that is a con for print, it also serves as a selling point as well. Any company can pay $10-15 to have their ad served on a decent website, but not every company can afford to produce a highly effective print campaign. If you’re looking to paint your brand in a well respected manor, print is still considered one of the higher quality mediums, simply because of the price. Combine that with the credibility of the publication and the readers desire to gain the information the publication provides and you’ve got a winning formula to paint your brand as an industry leader.
Long Live Print!
The mountain of evidence, both empirical and intuitive, points to print advertising as a medium that is still a viable component of an effective ad campaign. The key words here are “component” and “campaign”. The success of marketing communication lies in integrating multiple communication outlets. Conducting market and audience research will reveal who your customers are and how they want to receive information that will generate interest in your product or service. Use the right vehicles; online, print, radio, event marketing…all the tools in the toolbox, to be there when the time is right.That being said, the message is the medium. Finding the right resource or agency to create your message is critical to success.
By The Way
In case you were unaware, Tipping Point is a full service marketing and advertising agency with a long history in print advertising. We’re well versed in all aspects of print whether it’s designing a full spread magazine ad or a vinyl truck wrap. We’ll work with your company to create impactful print communications that speak to your potential customers.
Featured below are some of the powerful print pieces we’ve produced for one of our all-star client, Majic Window. The ads below are part of a larger cash for quotes campaign. They were distributed via direct mail, Valpak, and SaveOn magazine.
Like what you see? Feel free to peruse more of our print advertising work and contact us to find out what Tipping Point can do for you. Together we can springboard your brand up to complete market dominance.
