Let’s face it: It is becoming increasingly difficult for brands to stand out and earn attention in today’s noisy world. While most of our content marketing focus has gone digital, especially in the news and media industry, print advertising is still a viable tactic to consider. Here are some surprising statistics about the viability of print advertising that are important for businesses and marketers to know:
- Print ads generate a 20% higher motivation response, even more so if it appeals to more senses beyond touch.
- There is a 77% higher brand recall for print ads vs. 46% for digital ads.
- Magazines and newspapers delivered the highest ROI of advertising at 125% — more than other ad mediums, like TV and digital’s ROI of 87%.
Print advertising isn’t dead. Depending on our clients’ target audience and goals, we’ve found that print advertising has some advantages over digital features.
4 Benefits of Print Advertising
Here are four unique benefits that print advertising offers for your marketing:
1. Print advertising can help boost brand awareness and reputation.
Print can be a powerful ally in reinforcing the brand message, establishing brand identity, and raising brand awareness. In fact, the percentage of people who pay close attention to print ads has more than doubled in the past decade, from 23% in 2010 to 49% in 2020.
2. Print advertising increases the longevity of exposure.
Ad view times are incredibly low online. When you invest in print media, you create an opportunity for your advertisements to stick around for years. Whether it’s in a magazine, newspaper, or other printed publication, investing in print advertising provides long-term exposure for your audience.
3. Print advertising is often more memorable.
The internet can be a distracting place. This weakens the effectiveness of digital advertising. On the other hand, people tend to remember more of the print content they read, which could have a bigger impact on mindshare for your brand. A recent study found that 75% of people reading the print ad could retrieve the information on it, compared to 44% who saw a digital version of the same ad.
4. Print advertising helps create a more emotional connection with your audience.
Creating an emotional connection with potential customers is essential for inspiring them to take action. According to a study conducted by the United States Postal Service and Temple University’s Center for Neural Decision Making, print advertisements initiated a more robust emotional response than digital. Printed advertising has the unique ability to engage all the senses, which, in turn, creates a more emotional experience.
How to Strategically Invest in Print Advertising
How can you make print advertising work for your brand? Here are a few key strategies to consider:
1. Identify publications that reach your target audience.
Knowing your target audience is an essential part of any marketing strategy. When it comes to print marketing, this is important because you need to know what publications will help you reach your audience and what advertisements will be most appealing if you want them to work.
2. Make sure your advertising grabs their attention.
You want to make sure your print ads and marketing campaigns rise above the noise. If you want to grab your audiences’ attention, your print advertising should make a statement that instantly intrigues and entices your customer. You can do this by using things like a strong headline or compelling images.
3. Create an omnichannel experience with your print advertising.
Combining traditional advertising, like print, billboards, and direct mail, with digital ads has proven to be four times more effective than those just employing digital resources to generate consumer engagement. That’s why it’s important to consider how to drive your audience to engage online through your print advertising. It could be adding an enticing “hook” and driving people to your website or social media accounts. QR codes have also become an effective way to combine print and digital advertising.
4. Find ways to track & measure your advertising performance.
Print advertising can be harder to track than digital so you can never be sure about how many people you’ve reached. That’s why it’s important to find creative ways to analyze your investment. One of the best ways to track print advertising is by placing a unique URL within the ad that leads customers to a specific landing page just used for that purpose.
Developing the most effective print advertising campaign comes down to the basic marketing principles of knowing your audience, creating compelling content that inspires action, and constantly analyzing your efforts. If you’re looking for a new way to reach customers, consider the impact print advertising could make for your business.
