We’ve all heard the refrain – print is dead. And certainly, in our current digitally driven world that is dominated by mobile devices, the belief seems a reasonable one. However, while print advertising may not be as formidable as it once was in a pre-digital world, it still has its uses.

And for small businesses especially that may not have the budget that larger businesses do, print advertising still offers a great platform to reach your audience. Here are a few more ways in which print advertising can still benefit your business in today’s digital world.

 

1. Who is Your Audience? – Depending on who makes up your core target audience, print advertising may be the best way to go. For example, research shows that older individuals who live in rural areas typically gravitate more towards traditional methods of advertising. This of course is due to their liking the comfort of tradition, not being as Internet savvy, etc. Whatever the case may be, if your audience is still relying on print advertising, your business needs to include it as a marketing channel.

 

2. Multimedia Marketing – Certainly the world has gone digital and as such, most businesses place great emphasis on their digital marketing strategy. However, mixing traditional advertising methods such as print with digital strategies helps businesses achieve a more holistic approach that is likely to yield greater reach, which means greater brand awareness and greater potential for securing new customers. Benchmarking for Networks found via research, that when businesses in the Finance industry added newspapers to a campaign, the campaign’s effectiveness increased by 5.7 percent. The same occurred for the Travel industry, where effectiveness increased by 3 percent.

 

3. Greater Retention Rates – According to research conducted by Canadian firm TrueImpact, various neuroscience studies showed that recall, comprehension and emotional impact were all higher for print content versus digital content. It makes sense when you think about it. The Internet comes at us fast with such a wealth of information, it is almost overwhelming at times. The term “information overload” gained in popularity because of the Internet. Print is far less overwhelming and intrusive. And how is this beneficial for your business? Well the greater one remembers your ad, the greater the chance of their seeking out your business when in need.

 

4. Credibility – According to a study conducted by MarketingSherpa in the U.S., 82 percent of Internet users trusted print ads more when making a purchase than other mediums. And the National Retail Federation noted that most shoppers are likely to start an online search after viewing a print ad, which means that print ads do grab potential customers’ attention. Many individuals find printed advertisements more credible and trustworthy than online ads. This is especially the case in the current climate of “fake news”, phishing scams, etc. which are all causing individuals to become a lot more wary of what they see online.

 

And here you have it. Just a few ways in which print advertising can still help your business succeed in a digitally driven world. So the next time you’re planning your next big marketing campaign, don’t immediately dismiss the world of print advertising and think of creative ways to integrate it.