We know the focus in marketing campaigns today is on Internet advertising, SEO, social media presence, etc. So does that mean your business no longer needs ANY form of print advertising? The correct answer depends on many factors – your industry, web presence, target demographic, and physical location. It is truly the rare business that requires zero print advertising.
Did you know Google spent around one million dollars on print ads in 2012? That’s GOOGLE, the world’s foremost purveyor of online content! In 2012-2013, the percentage of ad dollars invested in print media in the U.S. (including outdoor, newspapers, and magazines) was about 24%.* Why? Current research shows that print advertising (specifically, magazine ads) actually has higher conversion rates than TV ads!
What are some of the key advantages and disadvantages to print advertising? Let‘s start with the disadvantages: a print ad is static, less flexible, can’t be changed once submitted to the publisher, is tough to track ROI, and is much less visible to the under-30 demographic. Sounds like a deal-killer? Not so fast, take a look at the advantages: print ads are perceived as more trustworthy, are longer-lasting, can easily be targeted to a specific market, appeals to the over-40 demographic, and is becoming less expensive as internet ads begin to dominate.
Print ads aren’t only about magazines and newspapers. Our clients have used response cards and direct mailers with success. Typically, ROI for these types of advertising is measured by the number of cards mailed back and phone calls generated. While those types of leads are still perfectly valid, they are used less frequently in this web-dominated era. Let Morris Marketing design print media that includes a QR code or vanity URL, along with content that urges your reader to seek more information online. Your CRM software takes it from there!
There’s no such thing anymore as doing just one basic print ad. Each piece in your marketing plan must correlate and complement each other. Would you like to use print advertising to help build your brand? Done correctly, print ads are a viable component of your business-marketing plan. Let the Morris Marketing team design powerful, creative print advertisements that reach more viable customers for your business.
*Source: www.emarketer.com
