Neglect This Ad Medium and Your Business Suffers

Though countless marketing experts have announced the death of print advertising as a viable marketing strategy, the current research on the topic tells an entirely different story.

As of 2013 direct mail advertising accounted for more than 43% of total retail advertising and more than 76% of small businesses say their perfect marketing strategy involves a combination of print advertising and digital marketing tactics. If so many businesses are still regularly using print marketing as a part of their overall strategy, do you think the medium is really dying?

Then and Now

Years ago print was seen as the only way to effectively reach consumers, and while times have changed, print advertising still provides businesses with a distinct advantage over their competitors. With so many companies trying to compete for a small amount of space in the digital realm, print advertising allows a business to stand out and make a statement to their customers. This is especially true for businesses that operate in a rural community or take a hyper-local approach to their marketing efforts.

If you do business in a rural community or a location that features an older age demographic you can benefit from using direct mail, flyers, and phone book advertising. Even if your audience is younger, seeking a healthy balance between print and digital will allow your company to reach all of its potential consumers. Because print advertising is used significantly less than digital marketing tactics, you have a better chance of reaching customers in the print medium, partly because it’s not nearly as competitive.

Ways to Advertise in the Print Medium

Too many marketers mistakenly believe that the only way to advertise in print is to secure an expensive ad in a popular newspaper or magazine. While this is an extremely effective way to advertise, there are other less expensive ways to get your money’s worth with print advertising. Consider the following four ways to advertise in print:

Business Cards-In reality, business cards are one of the most affordable ways to advertise in print. You can buy a batch of a few hundred customized business cards for $20-30 via an online seller. Business cards are a great way to make anyone and everyone aware of your brand.

Brochures-If your business employs a graphic designer you can create and print your own marketing brochures for an affordable price. Brochures are a great way to spread the word about new products your company is preparing to launch, as well as details on event and general company information.

Phone Book Advertising-More than 75 percent of consumers use the print yellow pages each year to search for local businesses. 78 percent of those consumers are ready to purchase a product or service when they pick up the phone book. It should be clear to you by now that consumers are still looking in the phone book even if marketers think they are not. If you want to take advantage of more than 32 million annual lookups, purchase space in a local phone book.

Clothing and Gifts-No one ever considers t-shirts, hats, key chains, drinkware and other items “print advertising”, but they are. Promotional clothing items and gifts can make an impression with potential customers and influencers, so it’s always a good idea to have some of these items on hand.

Conclusion

If you want to reach all the customers in your market it’s important to diversify your advertising campaign. There is nothing wrong with focusing the majority of your efforts on digital marketing, but never neglect print advertising for the sake of digital. Research proves that print ads generate more calls, more qualified leads, and more sales than any other advertising medium. Don’t you want to be a part of that success?