Print And Digital: Integration For Real Marketing Power

 They said that the phonograph would kill live performances. They said that television would kill radio. And now they’re saying that print is dead. Of course none of this is true. Just as recorded music and live performances coexist, so do television and radio, and digital and print. It doesn’t have to be one or the other.

Print is here to stay and it’s still a powerful weapon in a marketer’s arsenal.

• Magazine and newspapers have the highest ROI, at 125%, compared with other ad mediums including TV and digital, which weigh in at 87%. (GfK Panel Services)
• Direct mail requires 21% less cognitive effort to process than digital media (5.15 vs. 6.37), suggesting that it is both easier to understand and more memorable. Post-exposure memory tests validated what the cognitive load test revealed about direct mail’s memory encoding capabilities. (Roger Dooley, Forbes Magazine)
• 70% of people exposed to direct mail recalled the brand name, as opposed to 44% who were exposed to digital. (Roger Dooley, Forbes Magazine)
• Print is still a top-of-funnel medium. (American Marketing Association)
• What continues to make print ads valuable is the (nearly) undivided attention that readers give to magazine and newspaper content, rather than multitasking like they do when consuming digital content. (American Marketing Association)
• Subjects gave greater interest and memory for physical media. What’s more, print media induced more brain activity that is associated with value and desire. (U.S. Post Office)

With digital media you are depending on a viewer to find your website. Only once they’ve found your website can you deliver your message. With printed brochures, direct mail and print advertising you are putting your message in the viewer’s hand. If flyers didn’t work do you think that the most successful retailers on the planet would invest heavily in them? Print still has the power to entice and lure customers.

As a marketing advisor to many businesses across Canada, I want to reassure you that you do not have to make a choice – it doesn’t have to be one or the other. Print and digital complement each other. Integrate the two for real marketing power.