Before the COVID-19 pandemic, I spent a great deal of time traveling to conferences across the country. I have always loved conferences. The feeling of joining together with other professionals who are just as passionate as you are cannot be beaten. My favorite part beyond the spur-of-the-moment conversations is the education options offered to everyone.
At a recent conference, I joined a session on Marketing Trends of 2020 (obviously, these have all since changed due to the pandemic). The speaker, a CEO at a marketing firm I had heard of, started the session with a slide that proclaimed, “Print is Dead! Long Live the Age of Digital.” While we all had a good laugh at the drama, the next hour was spent discussing why companies wasting money on print media were doomed to fail. I left the session less enthused than I was going in.
So that is the question, is print advertising dead? Well, no, but also yes.
According to the Pew Research Center, newspaper circulation reached its lowest level since 1940 in 2018. The number has continued to drop since then, continuously setting new record low numbers. It is important to remember that these numbers reported by Pew combine both print and digital distribution. Another study found that in 2020 over 300 published newspapers suspended publication and closed their doors. There is no way to sugarcoat it; the newspaper industry is approaching catastrophic extinction.
Meanwhile, the digital market continues to boom. A study conducted by eMarketer estimated that over $389 billion will be spent globally on digital advertising in 2021. Another interesting fact, customer retention rates are 90% higher for campaigns that use multiple digital channels than those that use just a single channel. This means customers are more loyal when they engage with a company through search, social media, email, and other digital channels than a single option. We should not be surprised by that statistic. The advantage of digital advertising is that it gives companies a way to interact with customers multiple times a day and in multiple formats.
With digital entities continuously improving their algorithms and format options, it may seem that there is little hope for print media. However, it isn’t time to carve out your print budget just yet. Print will always have a place in the customer journey.
First, there is data to support that print advertising leads to greater brand recognition and recall than digital. A study conducted by Temple University found that print ads’ tactile aspect led to greater impressions on the participants. Not only did participants better recall the ad’s brand but also the details of the advertisement itself. Participants also felt that a product advertised in a printed magazine was more desirable and more luxurious than one advertised online.
Print advertising also remains the most trusted form of advertising among the majority of consumers. Due to the prevalence of spam and click-bait, a study by Marketing Sherpa found that 82% of participants felt that print ads were more trustworthy when presenting a quality product.
The final advantage of print ads over digital revolves around culture. Digital has become too pushy. Countless consumer studies, including one conducted by HubSpot, have found that customers feel that digital ads hamper their experience on the web. Pop-ups and mobile ads were particularly invasive, often leading to customers exiting the page without reading any content. This isn’t to say that print ads refrain from being pushy. The term “junk mail” didn’t rise because of email; it came from generations of mailboxes filled with direct mail adverts and other cloying forms of print media. However, it appears that customers today are less concerned with their mailboxes filling up and more concerned with their online experience being overwhelmed by ads.
Like so much in business, the print versus digital debate is about finding a balance. Breaking apart your advertising budget depends significantly on your ideal consumer. Businesses looking to target seniors aged 65+ or those providing services such as healthcare should think about leaning heavier on print advertising. Companies looking to sell products or reach a younger audience should utilize digital advertising paying close attention to user experience (UX). On average, I advise clients to pursue a 70-30 split, 70% in digital and 30% in print.
When it comes to print, carefully consider the publication before spending money. Companies should always spend their advertising budget on print publications that invest heavily in paper and print quality. Remember, when you submit a print ad, you give up control of what the final product will look like due to the publication’s print standards. For digital, look to spread your budget as broadly as you can. I always recommend focusing your budget heavily on SEO and keyword bidding. Customers are more likely to engage with your brand when it comes up high on their search results versus ads scattered across their screen.
Print, like rock n’ roll, will never die; it just gets better with age.
Solomon Communication 