Before start writing this post I just made a Google search to understand the present scenario of the print media in the digital world.
When I started typing why print media Google started suggesting related keywords “ Why print media is important ”,” Why print media is dying”, ”Why print media will never die”,” Why print media is still relevant in digital age”.
By looking at the search pattern I could realize that internet user’s subconscious mind telling them that print media is going to die soon and the replacer is an online medium which is against the reality.
Though Government and private institutions are pooling huge investments in making India digital it’s not going to happen tomorrow It takes more than a century to vanish the print media completely.
In fact, if you look at the statistics of any print media sales you can find the number of circulations in any given area is keep on increasing not decreasing or stagnant.
In both, the segment content is the king, the more and relevant content they publish the more the number of visitors or subscribers happen. The number of subscribers will bring many marketers to advertise their product on the magazine or website.
The main source of income of any content industry is advertisement either it is a blog or popular daily. This is the reason why monthly subscription charge is low for dailies and magazines.
The same concept is applicable to blog and TV industry more the visitors more the income.
The two important setbacks of print media claimed by the digital marketers are
1.Outbound marketing is not targeted and won’t drive sales and only to create brand awareness.
2.Print media doesn’t have tools to measure the effectiveness of the campaign which means ROI.
Though both seem to be technically right, marketers found meaningful statements to overcome this drawback.
Being in an advertising industry I feel there are many valid points to prove print media is important for your campaign and few are important.
5 Reasons why Print is important
1.The statement saying print media is not targeted one is completely wrong.
Print media is not only to create brand awareness it will also reach potential buyers.
For example a potential buyer who is looking for property in a locality never strict himself with online property portals but also go through advertisements on newspapers.
If he finds any property he will take the snapshot or save the page for his reference.
If hundred people are reading the newspaper and ten are potential buyers of the property they will save the paper and for remaining ninety people they created a brand awareness.
When these ninety people think of buying the property in future this brand will strike their mind and helps in easy conversion.
So there is a double benefit in print media 1.Sale and 2.Brand Impact.
Read: 5 effective roadside marketing ideas
2.There are no ad blockers for Print media
Marketers following the market closely know how much damage adblocker is doing for the online advertising industry.
The growth of adblocker is in increasing phase in 2017, 27.5% of online users in the US have already installed ad blockers and in 2018 it is expected to be 30.1% and it will grow in future.
This increasing installation of adblockers urged Google to come up with their own adblockers which allow only ads adhere to the policy and blocks the rest.
If your potential buyer has installed adblockers then how can you target or reach him?
The only way is print media or any outbound marketing. There are no adblockers designed for offline advertisements.
Between, choosing the right channel for your product is very important for the successful campaign.
3.It is the right way to reach creamy layer
If you are a luxury property developer worth crore then your potential buyers are entrepreneurs or from top management.
Usually, these people won’t browse more though they do there will be adblocker installed because they don’t want ads to spoil their browsing experience.
But all these creamy layer people do one thing in common, they do read quality newspapers to keep an update of the market.
So, the product which targets creamy layer then print media is the best solution lying in front of them.
4.Improves your brand credibility
The cost of online marketing is much cheaper than outbound marketing.
The cost of displaying a front page full-size ad in the leading newspaper in the city will cost you from 90L to 1cr and half page size ad on any page cost you 40-50L and quarter page size ad cost you 20-30L for one day.
But with this budget, you can make millions of impressions on online advertisements for more than one day.
This cost factor made the online market open to anyone to advertise online whether your product is 100years old or 100hours old it doesn’t matter you can promote it.
Based on the keywords Google display ads on any website or videos irrespective of the quality of the content.
When you click on online ads few banners will land you up on spam page (not promoted by Google) which reduces the authenticity of online advertisements among users.
But on the other hand, in print media, advertisers can pick the medium based on the credibility, quality and the popularity of the media.
When people find your ads on the respective papers the trust and confidence on your brand will improve.
5.People living outside the box of internet
As per InternetLiveStats only 46.1% of world population are internet users and remaining 44% is not exposed to the internet.
As per stats from IMRB International, only 48% of people from rural India are using the internet and only 60% of the Urban population is using the internet. Which means 40% in Urban India are not internet users.
Because they are not using the internet it doesn’t mean they are not your customer. If they have need and money to buy your product then they are also your potential buyers.
To sell your product to that population you don’t have any other go than print media.
You might have found a question “How do you come to know about us? With few options” in after sale form. This is the standard method marketers are using to measure the performance of the outdoor advertising.
In this 50-50 world, both online and offline medium is important to drive sales. You cannot abandon one and adopt the second one completely.
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