Print Advertising Works…

Why Businesses Are Going Back To Print Advertising In Droves

With digital marketing taking over the blogosphere, you would think that print media had gone the way of the horse and cart – that is, extinct. 

But that’s not what’s happening in the real world. Instead, print ads are finding their feet in a way they haven’t for years. 

But what’s driving this trend? Why are so many companies and brands suddenly making a return to the old format?

Let’s take a look. 

SEO Is Too Competitive

Let’s say that you have a bookstore in a certain town and you’d like people to start ordering from you online.

You’d think it would be simple, but ranking for the necessary keywords is a massive challenge. And many companies never make it. 

The problem is this: everyone is competing for the same limited number of slots on page one of Google results. And that’s pushing up prices and forcing companies to buy ever-more SEO services. It’s great for the agencies, but not such good news for SMEs themselves. 

It’s More Engaging

Research shows that people tend to take in more information when they read it on physical pages instead of screens. Investigators believe that the roots of this come from our innate preference for the tangible. It’s a phenomenon that goes well beyond advertising, but you can use it to your advantage nonetheless. 

Just take magazines, for instance. Evidence suggests that the average reader spends 43 minutes leafing through the pages. Now compare that to the average website. You’re lucky if you hold visitors’ attention for more than a few seconds. 

Some form factors, such as roller banners, are particularly impactful. People will literally stop in their tracks when they see them to read the content to make sure they’re not missing out on important information. 

It’s Perceived As More Credible

You might have a perfectly legitimate brand, but if you advertise online, you’ll continually struggle to convince users you’re credible. They know from bitter experience that not every banner ad they click delivers on its promises.

Print advertising isn’t tarnished by the same brush. And for that reason, most people perceive it as more credible. If you make a promise, your audience is much more likely to believe that, giving them justification to use your store. 

It Makes Brands More Authoritative

Here’s another big benefit of print advertising: it makes brands more authoritative. 

Because it is so easy to set up a brand, many customers are rightly sceptical about new brands’ ability to deliver on their promises. They want to believe that they will get a stellar service, but whether they will or not is very much luck of the draw. 

With print advertising, though, you can often bypass this perception. If your company has the wherewithal to produce print media, then it probably also has the ability to meet users’ basic needs.

It’s Often Cheaper

Advertising online seems like it should be a cheaper option. After all, it’s all digital. It doesn’t involve the production of any physical objects whatsoever. 

But that’s not how the market works. Advertising space online is now at such a premium that prices are going through the roof. Companies are having to spend more and more every month to get their messages across and secure their ranking in search results. And that has many wondering whether they could make better returns elsewhere. 

For many, print is the obvious option. If the ROI is higher, they will often choose it. 

Brands Can Connect Print Marketing To Digital Marketing Campaigns

The concept of integrated marketing is taking the business community by storm. The idea is to use multiple channels to present a united front, displaying your brand icons, voice and theme consistently, no matter where consumers see it. 

Now, though, a lot of companies are seeing how they can use online and offline marketing synergistically. Far from being separate domains, the two can work together beautifully. 

The way it works is simple: you just place a QR code on your print advertising and then get your audience to scan it with their smartphones. Doing this will then forward them to your landing pages, sales funnels and product discount offers. 

In conclusion, nobody is saying that print advertising should replace digital marketing entirely. There’s clearly a role for both. But a lot of entrepreneurs recognise that online advertising is massively oversubscribed and very expensive. And that has a lot of them considering whether they could save money by swapping out some of their digital marketing tools for physical ones instead.