Digital marketing has become the preferred method of reaching customers in recent years, due to the always-on feature of modern life. But, despite this, print has shown that it isn’t going away any time soon.
There are still significant advantages to using print instead of digital, whilst combining them to create an omnichannel or cross-channel marketing campaign can draw on the advantages of both.
If you’re a business owner who wants to find out how print is still making an impact in the digital age, why you should combine print with digital marketing to create a more memorable campaign, where you should publish your print ad and how long you should keep a campaign running, read on to find out more.
4 FAQs about print advertising
1. Is print advertising still effective?
Print marketing provides customers with a unique tangible experience that they will have a much better chance of recalling than a digital one. This is partly because customers can view a billboard ad or pamphlet countless times after they first see it, as opposed to a banner or pop-up ad that will disappear after you leave the web page.
A study has shown that when looking at print-marketing material, the customer spends more time with the ad and absorbs more information from it. It also showed that people have more of a subconscious desire for a product or service after viewing an ad for it in print than those that viewed the same product or service in an online ad.
Print advertising encompasses a plethora of different applications, including adverts that appear in newspapers and magazines, pamphlets, flyers and brochures, as well as banners, in-store branding, building wraps, billboards and promotional gifts. This means that print marketing offers a range of different ways to reach potential customers.
Additionally, with the use of variable-data printing, companies can personalise their print-marketing efforts, which has been shown to increase the likelihood of customers purchasing a product by up to 80%.
This all shows that print marketing is undoubtedly still effective in the digital age.
2. Can I combine print and digital advertising in a campaign?
Yes. Print and digital advertising can be utilised simultaneously to create more effective campaigns.
Combining various forms of marketing into a campaign is called omnichannel or cross-channel marketing. By using print as an extension to digital marketing efforts, companies can reach larger audiences, and create more engaging and interactive campaigns.
Print can help drive traffic to your website and social media channels by including website addresses and social media handles, or with QR codes that link to these channels. Brands could also offer discounts or advertise competitions on print materials, with directives to the customer to visit their website or online store to claim their discount or enter the competition.
Combining print and digital marketing allows for additional brand interactions and builds brand awareness by providing variety and memorability in how customers interact with your brand.
By using tangible print items in cross-marketing campaigns, brands can reinforce the messages they convey on online platforms, creating an even greater impact on the customer.
3. How do I choose in which publication to run print ads?
Choosing which is the right publication to print your marketing material in really comes down to who your target audience is. If you are a brand that sells women’s clothing, it wouldn’t make sense to publish a print ad in a fly-fishing magazine, for instance.
Some companies still think a “spray and pray” approach is best when choosing where to advertise. But doing research and finding out where your audience is and meeting them there gives you a better chance that the people who are actually interested in what you’re selling see your ad.
When doing research, one of the things to consider is whether your brand is targeted towards a niche or a nation. For instance, are you selling a product or service that most people want or need, like chocolate, car insurance or dishwashing liquid? Then your target audience is a nation. Whereas, if your company sells maternity wear or Star Wars themed mugs, your target market is niche.
4. How often should I change my print advertising?
There’s no exact timeframe for when a campaign has run its course but it's never a good idea to cut a campaign before it has had time to properly resonate with its audience.
If you start a new campaign, audiences will have to re-orient themselves to the new message, which may confuse them.
A study has found that people tend to use a fixed 150 brand items, meaning that established brands are pretty entrenched. So if your brand releases a new but brilliant campaign every year, a competitor brand could succeed you in sales with a less-than-brilliant but more consistent message.
For instance, the “How to eat an Oreo” ad campaign was first aired in 1997 but numerous ads have been run since then, with the same brand messaging - “First you twist it, then you lick it, then you dunk it”. Even a local version has been made. By keeping the campaign running for all this time, the brand messaging has been solidified in consumers’ minds.
Brands are essentially trying to be memorable with their marketing efforts, which means they need to give potential customers enough time for their messaging to sink in.
Key Takeaways
Print marketing is still an effective means of advertising and, when combined with digital marketing efforts, can create more memorable and impactful experiences for customers.
When choosing a publication to print your ad in, ensure that the audience of the publication is in line with your target market. When you do run an ad, it’s important not to cut a campaign too early so that the brand messaging has had time to sink in.
