Is Print Advertising Truly Dead?
As numerous print magazines close their doors and newspapers cull their staff, the common question that circulates is, ‘Is print advertising dead?’
If you’re trying to figure out whether to spend your advertising dollar on print, our answer is don’t discredit print advertising just yet; do the research with your media agency.
Is print advertising dead?
It’s true that print advertising has no easy way to track conversions and demographics can’t be ultra-targeted. It can’t be remarketed and has fewer people consuming it because they prefer digital media. But print advertising can still work with an ultra-focused strategy to reach your audience.
Yes, we’ve just rattled off a few reasons why print advertising isn’t as good as digital, but there are plenty of reasons why print advertising isn’t dead; that’s what a decent media agency is for.
Print advertising requires a different perspective
Going down the print advertising route means looking at it from a completely different perspective to what you did before digital dominated. Digital doesn’t have to cancel out print advertising – in fact, it can bolster it.
The digital space has so much noise and there are so many different ads competing against one another. The result? Many people have become oblivious to ads flashing up in their feed or website sidebars. Print advertising, on the other hand, gets noticed. Where emails are quickly deleted if someone has too many in their inbox, print advertising can rise above the noise and be that one letter that arrives on someone’s desk instead of the inbox. When did you last receive something in the mail that wasn’t a bill?
Neuroscience says print advertising still works
Print advertising has a unique ability to capture the attention of the reader because when reading print, people are more aware and focused. They consume and retain content better than when they’re on digital. This is a neuroscience backed fact!
Considering the science of consuming information, a print ad can play a key role at the beginning of a campaign, capturing a reader’s attention and then encouraging the reader to engage with a brand online. But if your budget won’t stretch to both print and digital, print advertising on its own can still be successful with a strategy. This means having a media agency to help you make sure you’re putting the ad where the right people will see it, that it’s visible and cuts through the clutter, and that it’s persuasive and memorable.
So ‘Is print advertising dead?’ No, it’s not. Everything old is new again – but only with the expertise of a media agency who understands your audience and strategic placement.