Print For Business, Branding, Marketing, & Advertising vs Digital

Print Offers Benefits For Business, 
Branding, Marketing, & Advertising vs Digital

Considering building a branding, marketing, and/or advertising campaign, to share your organization’s message? Print offers benefits that can help you to effectively compete in your industry. Print media provides numerous marketing and advertising opportunities.(1)

With the prevalence of digital media, print media may seem to have less branding and ROI potential. However, print media has substantial advantages and ample potential.(2) Markzware gathered information related to these topics and shares the details with you, in this article.

Print For Business

An organization can use print to provide its members with handbooks, health benefits guides, project instructions, messages from management, and more. Print media is also a lucrative option through which a business can promote its corporate brand.(3) It provides a way for your organization to communicate with your audience(4) and makes it easier for businesses to target a niche audience for a longer time.

Interaction with print is satisfying in a way that digital interaction isn’t.(5) You can take advantage of print media to benefit your organization, by using brochures, business cards, posters, and other print products. Contact your print vendor to arrange a print order, today, and/or participate in a print event, to support and promote the print industry.

Print For Branding

Print, although a powerful branding tool, may be overlooked as a branding option.(6) Promoting your offering through a print medium gives credibility and a sense of legitimacy to the ad and to the brand.(3) Print media builds trust in a brand(6) and reinforces that your business and brand actually exist.

You can use print to show your commitment to clients, to expand your customer base, and to show that your brand cares about your customers’ needs.(2) For example, you can use business cards to increase the chance that recipients will engage with your brand.(6)

Branding experts recommend print media to enhance your brand‘s public image. Advertising in a respected print publication connects your brand with that publication’s name. Your brand’s reputation is then increased, by association.

More people may become print subscribers, when they believe the publication’s information is correct and benefits them. Consequently, magazines with high circulation enable high exposure for your brand. So, your organization may benefit from appearances in well-respected magazines, such as Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, and Entrepreneur.(6)

Examples of Print Media
Image Source: https://creativeproweek.com

Print For Marketing & Advertising vs Digital

Technology continues to propel our digital world forward. The speed and convenience of digital media make it a frequent choice for brand promotion.(3) Many people see the World Wide Web as a necessity for advertising, but it’s not your only option.(5)

The best marketing strategy uses a campaign with ads that customers retain, so that the ads remain in your customers’ minds. The best marketing campaigns are visible to clients and allow them to mentally absorb the information and physical attributes.

Although this is the digital era, print continues to benefit organizations and to reach clients in unique ways that digital media cannot. Print marketing surpasses digital marketing, in many aspects.

“The future is short-run printing”
– Gareth Ward, The Print Business

Print Advertising vs Digital – More Sensory & Appealing

Superior print marketing addresses all five senses, to better create a lasting impression. By its nature, print media offers a multi-sensory experience.(7) You can physically and psychologically respond to your experience of a printed product.(4) Clients who handle and interact with a print ad can accept and remember it as real media.(6)

Print customers can see your organization’s message and eye-catching brand colors. Some people love the scent of ink(7) on paper or the fragrance of perfume on a printed sample card in a magazine. Print users can hear the sound of paper, envelopes, or newspaper, as they are rustled, crinkled, slowly ripped, or quickly torn.

A print product is a physical printed item that we can touch and hold.(4) Readers can feel the weight of the paper and the texture,(7) while running their fingers over the glossy pages or the raised shape of an embossed logo.(2) Readers are more comfortable with tangible print than with digital, as they can actually feel the material in their hands.(4)

Print can even stimulate a client’s perception of want and value.(7) When printed items are more highly-valued, the “Endowment Effect” is created. People who touch an object may begin to feel ownership. Touching an item on a physical catalog page may even provide somewhat of a substitute for touching the actual item.(4)

WhatTheyThink.com

Print For Advertising vs Digital – More Recall

Print marketing is visible and enables approximately 77% brand recall.(7)  Studies found that the human brain recalls words on paper better than it recalls words displayed on digital screens.

Study participants were shown to more readily understand printed text than digital text.(8)  Research also found that, when participants were shown a direct mail piece with a printed ad, recall was 70% higher than when shown a digital ad.(7)

Tactile learners gather input through motion and touch.(5) The physical experience of reading print media can be enjoyable and make text more memorable.(1) Reading information on printed material that is a multi-page, paper document, with pages dedicated to separate sections, can aid a reader’s comprehension and recall.(4)

Example of an advertisement

Print For Advertising vs Digital – More Impact & Effectiveness

Print media has a bigger impact than digital media does.(2) We imagine most people would rather see a printed ad that directly applies to group members who would subscribe to a particular print magazine, than see a generic digital pop-up ad that doesn’t apply to their interests.

Results of a print study said print had the highest advertising effectiveness(7), which can be further increased, by supplementing the print ad with other advertising and marketing mediums.(6) About 80% of consumers respond to printed mail ads and 45% respond to digital ads.(7)

Appeal and placement can help ads to capture the advertiser’s audience. For example, appealing print ads can be displayed in prominent parts of a magazine.(1) Tip: Newspapers are a good choice for advertising to local clients.(5) The most successful campaigns combine print media advertising, digital advertising, and other mediums, such as radio ads, TV ads, etc.(6) 

Planning a campaign to generate
return on investment (ROI) via print media

Print For Advertising vs Digital – Less Cost & More ROI

Print media is more affordable than digital media. With its lower cost, print advertising achieves greater success through its effectiveness than digital media does. 

Businesses want the best marketing and advertising value for their money.(2) Print marketing is a cost-effective way to grow your business, thanks to its high return on investment, a.k.a. ROI, which for print marketing is about 13 to 1.(7) For instance, magazines are often read by a specific audience, allowing higher ad ROI than for digital advertising.(6)

A pile of newspapers, which contain ads

Print For Advertising vs Digital – More Longevity

On the whole, print advertising has a longer lifespan than online advertising does.(3) Readership is more loyal for print magazines, which can circulate for a long period of time.(5)

Print is physical, giving it staying power.(2) The longer clients keep these physical reminders of your brand, the better the chance that they’ll make a purchase.(7) 

For instance, clients frequently keep promotional products, brochures, and pamphlets.(7) Customers might retain newspapers with printed ads for months.(3) Some magazines may have been in a periodical pile, for years.(6)

Studies say 80% of people never clicked an online banner ad. Only 20% are even likely to click your online ad.(5) Those digital ads may quickly disappear, just as a potential customer barely sees it, before it is gone, indeterminately, from their sight.(2) Another can disappear after minutes or hours. However, printed advertisements can be revisited many times.

On average, you might see one ad on a print page, compared to 4 ads on a digital page

Print For Advertising vs Digital – Less Competition

Ad competition is high on the web,(3) while print ads have less competition.(6) The digital space is flooded with ads.(3) Websites average four ads per page view, with an ads-per-view ratio of four to one, while a printed magazine may have 30 ads per 50 pages, with a lower (preferable) ads-per-view ratio of 0.6 to 1.(5) Among this overabundance of elements on the web, your ad may not get a viewer’s attention.(3)

Marketers want their ad to effectively reach their target audience, although not all members of that audience are online.(7) Print media offers a wider reach, as everyone can access print, not just those with electronic devices.(3) Digital media is limited to those who can access a view enabled by a digital device.

For those who don’t or can’t access the web, printed advertisements (leaflets, brochures and newspaper ads) are, naturally, a better option.(3) Readers do not need to be technically adept to view print ads,(7) which can receive longer ad view times, than digital ads receive,(6) and without the digital-screen-related eye strain. Print provides opportunity for a respite from the constant onslaught that can appear on a screen.(1) 

You can place ads in trade magazines,
to reach your specific audience

Print For Advertising vs Digital – More Trust

Print can help to ensure an accurate record of the information. Print is easy to verify, so it is trusted,(4) particularly when it appears in well-established publications that must adhere to high standards.(1) Important messages are often printed on paper to emphasize the value of that importance.(4) 

According to a study, 82% of shoppers most often trust print advertisements,(7) which are an accepted part of the magazine experience and magazine culture. In general, most internet viewers avoid digital ads,(6) online pop-ups, and banner ads on websites, due to their fear of spam or viruses,(3) so those ads may receive little or no engagement.(2)

Print Solutions For Creatives, Printers, & Publishers

International Print Day Industry Partner, Markzware, offers trusted solutions for print users to preview, preflight, export, and convert PDF and desktop publishing documents.

To get the latest news about Markzware products and print industry-related news, join our mailing list and follow Markzware on LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, and other social media websites. 

Print Events

Share your print knowledge on social media and help us to unite in support of the print industry. Participate in International Print Day and Print Across America events, and use these hashtags on October 25, 2023:

#IPD23
#PrintConnects

Thank you!

Sources

(1) Advantages and Disadvantages of Print Media, by AspiringYouths, Sep 29, 2023 view, https://aspiringyouths.com/advantages-disadvantages/print-media/

(2) “Benefits of Print Media,” by Kurt Effertz, Managing Partner at People and Culture Benefits + Owner at Steamtown Blueprint + Co-Owner at Center City Print + Co-Owner at 119 Productions Inc., March 27, 2023 update, https://www.centercityprint.com/benefits-of-print-media/

(3) “Print Marketing: 8 Benefits to Leverage in Your Business,” by Foresight Group, July 6, 2023, https://www.foresightgroup.net/20230706/print-marketing-8-benefits-to-leverage-in-your-business/

(4) “Five psychological benefits of print,” Sarah Cowen, Independent typographic designer at Lettica, Aug 27, 2021, https://www.lettica.co.uk/blog/five-psychological-benefits-of-print.html

(5) “The Importance of Print Media and How It Can Benefit Your Brand,” Stephen Emrich, Business/Marketing Journalist at Entrepreneur.com, June 6, 2022, https://www.entrepreneur.com/growing-a-business/the-importance-of-print-media-and-how-it-can-benefit-your/426749

(6) “The Benefits of Print Media in the Digital Era,” Micro Printing Ltd., May 10, 2023, https://www.microprinting.ca/the-benefits-of-print-media-in-the-digital-era/

(7) “The Benefits of Print Media in a Digital World,” by Kimberlin Boyd at Encore Multimedia, Sep 29, 2023 view, https://www.encoremultimedia.com/buzz/benefits-print-media-digital-world

(8)“The Reading Brain in the Digital Age: Why Paper Still Beats Screens,” Ferris Jabr, science writer at ferrisjabr.com + contributing writer at New York Times and at Scientific American, November 1, 2013, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-reading-brain-in-the-digital-age-why-paper-still-beats-screens/

(9) “Introduction to Mass Communication Lesson #19: EFFECTS OF PRINT MEDIA ON SOCIETY” by ZainBooks.com, Sep 29, 2023 view, https://www.zainbooks.com/books/mass-communication/introduction-to-mass-communication_19_effects-of-print-media-on-society.html

(10) “Print culture,” on wikipedia.org, July 30, 2023 update, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Print_culture

(11) “The Social Impact of the Printing Press,” on Brilliantio.com, Valerie Forgeard, Founder/Director at World Citizen Artists (WCA) and Stunning Brand Ltd, Sep 14, 2023 update, https://brilliantio.com/the-social-impact-of-the-printing-press/

Print For Business, Branding, Marketing, & Advertising vs Digital