Over the past decade or so, “print is dead” became a common mantra echoed by print media naysayers who believed that the digital revolution had heralded the end of all print – marketing or otherwise. Although still bandied about, the catchphrase is anything but true.
In a scramble to “keep up with the times”, agencies around the globe were switching from print to digital advertising without considering what consumers might prefer, or that certain messages might be communicated better in print. This article explores how print still has a place in the digital age and how, when combined with digital marketing, it reaches customers in a more holistic way by increasing brand exposure through various online and offline mediums.
What are the benefits of print over digital marketing?
Print media has a vital role to play in any marketing strategy and more marketers are realising this. Here are some reasons why:
- Banner blindness
One of the strengths of digital marketing can also be its weakness. Through the use of analytics, marketers can target ads to very specific audiences to ensure that their target market is being reached. For instance, an expensive dog-food brand would be able to target high-income dog owners that are more likely to buy from them.
However, due to the high amount of competition from other brands, the consumer may be bombarded with other ads that appear alongside your ad, causing what is known as “banner blindness”. Essentially, consumers have become so aware of banner-like content online that they have trained themselves to look past it. Banner blindness is so prevalent that according to a study, 86% of consumers suffer from it. In this respect, print marketing has significant advantages. In one survey, 75% of direct-mail receivers were able to recall the brands in the ad, while the brand was remembered only 44% of the time when viewed only online.
- Trust is key
Digital marketing relies on data and information sharing, and many consumers are increasingly nervous about sharing this information online. Various public scandals such as the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica one have highlighted the profiles that tech companies can build around shared data, and that sometimes this data is used for nefarious ends.
This view on digital marketing can affect how much consumers trust online ads. In fact, a study has shown that only 42% of people trust online adverts, compared to 61% of consumers who say they trust newspaper ads. This indicates that print definitely has an advantage over digital when it comes to trust.
- Print makes a statement
While the popularity of online marketing has soared in recent years, there are still limits to what can be done in the virtual world. With print advertising, there are far more options to choose from - billboards, magazines and newspapers, flyers and direct mail are just some examples.
Additionally, print marketing invites advertisers to incorporate other elements of the physical world into their ads. Take the ad below, for instance. For World Oceans Day in 2018, a waste sculpture was put together under a billboard with a surfer riding all the trash, brilliantly illustrating a concept that wouldn’t have been possible in a digital ad.
Image source: creativebloq
How is print marketing being revitalised in the digital era?
Print is not dead. But the archaic way that publishers have approached print media in the past is
Print marketing is going through a revival rather than a redundancy. This is echoed by the decline of women’s magazines and the continuing growth of niche magazines, proving that consumers still want print but that the print they are exploring has become more focused on personal interests.
One of the many benefits of print marketing is that people have a much higher chance of recalling a print ad than a digital one. This is due to the tangible aspect of print. Consumers can browse through a newspaper or magazine, and they can smell the ink on the paper and feel the difference between different types and densities of paper. This sensory experience associated with the tangible aspect of print materials makes your ad a more memorable to readers.
But, although print has numerous benefits, more marketers are realising that with print and digital, it doesn’t have to be one or the other. Combining print and digital for an omni-channel or cross-marketing approach can offer more return than just one medium on its own.
When they are combined, print and digital reap the benefits of both mediums and yield a higher ROI. By combining print with digital, you not only increase your reach but engagement is improved too because it increases the number of touchpoints clients interact with.
Key Takeaways
Even in the digital age, print advertising offers benefits that digital marketing will never be able to. Besides the fact that the tangible aspect of print makes it a more memorable medium, it is also able to cut through the noise and differentiate itself where the overwhelming amount of digital ads can cause banner blindness and when compared with digital ads, print just trumps in the trust department. But, when combined, print and digital marketing can provide benefits that the other can’t, thereby creating an even more powerful campaign.
