In my time in the field of print design and electronic media, I’ve seen the rapid evolution of digital spaces, from an almost novelty to a global superpower of marketing, advertising, and PR. In the early days websites were nothing more than glorified yellow page ads (remember those?) and now it feels like products are being advertised to you before you even realize you need them.
Because of the scalability and targeted nature of digital media, the demise of print has been heralded for years. “Soon,” people often said, “soon print will be dead. We won’t put on ink paper, we won’t mail advertisements, and we certainly won’t need print magazines. We’ll do it all on our iPads or laptops.”
However, a decade or so later, and “soon” still hasn’t arrived. Not completely, anyway. On a monthly basis, we design print magazines, postcards, flyers, and brochures for our clients. Along with those, we also develop digital ads and websites.
Print and digital strategies – a match made in heaven
By engaging with a sound print strategy, you give your target market something it desperately needs: a break from the digital tsunami of ads and emails. Print is tangible — that postcard or magazine ad will likely still be there tomorrow or next week. Digital, by comparison, is very transient in nature and your reader or target customer simply cannot engage with a digital ad the same way they can with a physical print piece. They can’t feel the page, they can’t smell the ink, and they certainly read the articles if their battery is dead or if there’s no WiFi.
In a bid to save money or “get with the times,” you might think it’s a better choice to move your publication to a digital-only format, but consider this article from Forbes. You may increase the number of readers for your publication, but there’s a good chance that the overall engagement will drop.
“When British newspaper The Independent dropped its print edition in 2016, it saw less reader engagement: total time spent fell 81%. By comparison, online readers of New Musical Express spend an average of three minutes each month with the brand. Print readers? A half-hour each week.”
I love the smell of printing in the morning
In a Temple University study conducted for the US Postal Service, there were some interesting results regarding print ads:
- Paper ads engaged viewers for more time
- A week later, subjects showed greater emotional response and memory of print media ads
- Physical ads caused more activity in the areas of the brain associated with value and desire
To be clear, I’m not saying that there isn’t a place for a robust digital strategy in your marketing efforts. Quite the contrary – you should consider a holistic approach to your marketing efforts. This approach should be one that includes digital and tangible print media.
Your readership will thank you and you’ll be covering all your bases and helping to ensure that you’re not missing customers or alienating your readership in the process. After all, some people prefer digital content, and some simply can’t stand it.
Ready to try something (old) new by launching a print media campaign or taking your publication analog? Shoot us a message at info@gotandem.biz. Or write us a good old-fashioned letter – whatever works for you.