Why Advertising in Print is Still Smart
This isn’t a researched post. It isn’t one that has a lot of stats or basis to stand on. It is a pure observation that may or may not spark a conversation. I read headlines and hear from colleagues that all the advertising spending in print continues to decrease. It’s moving to online advertising or being cut out completely. This is accelerated even more with the economy saying hello to the ground floor when it has been on an express ride to the skydeck the last few years. However, I think companies and advertisers are missing a point, an opportunity. Better, I don’t think companies “get it” when it comes to marketing their products and services.
I heard on the morning news today that despite the economy, companies are still willing to spend $3M for 30 seconds on NBC for the Super Bowl. 30 seconds in one of the most popularized, entertainment sporting events of the year. Sure, your exposure is to millions of viewers (and a few football fans while you’re at it). Some companies will spend about that much money to nail that 30 seconds for your attention. To resonate with you to take some action. What will be the return? How can it be measured? Sure there are ways, but the measurement is a conversion from one medium to another. TV to Brick and Mortar or TV to Online. Let’s repeat this, the measurement of success will most likely be a measurement of a conversion from one medium to another. That’s where advertisers are missing the point in print.
Traditional uses of print advertising has been mostly around awareness. It’s about branding. But the problem is many companies haven’t adjusted their print strategies to consumer behavior. They see that print isn’t returning results like it used to, and it’s too hard to “measure” a return. The reality is that the C-level management want faster results, and print isn’t one for “timely” analytics compared to online advertising. Additionally, circulation is still a “best guess” number, not as hard-core as actual pageviews/impressions that can be given in online advertising. I get it, make sure you receive value for what you are paying for. However, it’s reality.
Arguments for why online advertising is better than print are completely valid.
- Better tracking
- Instant measurement
- Smaller buys can render bigger results
- Target, segment, target, segment
- Test, tweak, test, tweak
Yes, the are all good. But let’s not forget that people still read magazines and journals. They still like flipping through pages at stuff they can’t buy, or may want to buy, or are interested in. Online advertising, while instantly measurable, still has banner blindness. The fear that a click on an ad will mean they will get more ads, or spam, or more pop-ups. Seeing a full page ad in your favorite magazine means you can read it, flip past it, come back to it, read it again, and then make a decision to do more. No fear. They are in control.
Advertisers need to continue to understand consumer behavior. Understand that your opportunity to grab one’s attention is still valuable in print publications. Understand how you can create an effective campaign to go from offline to online and still measure success. They need to accept the fact that the return on that media buy for an ad in a magazine isn’t going to show results for weeks after delivery. But the incentive has to change. You have to get the consumer to change mediums. Print to online is possible. The messaging has to be right, valuable, yet still enticing enough for somone to go online to do more.
Go back to my Super Bowl example. How long of a lead time do you think companies are taking to get a campaign together for that $3M investment. Weeks? Months? Now how long do you think it could take to put together a campaign and media buy for a print pub? Yes, publishers still need weeks of lead-time, printing, and delivery. So it may be on par with a TV advertisement, but not as expensive. Not a one-time 30 second shot.
Integrate your marketing campaigns into multiple channels. Print shouldn’t be ignored. It still holds value, especially when it is being adapted to new mediums. For instance, Digital publications. Migrating to the Kindle and other digital readers. When evaluating your marketing dollars, don’t forget the print publication. It’s not dead. It’s still valuable. While patience is a virtue, management needs to know print can still return results.
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