4 areas where print advertising is better than digital

While digital advertising is the hot sector of the marketing industry, there are times where tried and true measures simply work better. For example, print advertising remains a strong marketing tool along with branded free physical items given away by companies. Here are 4 areas where print advertising is better than digital. We’ll also explain why it is better than digital in those cases.

You can reach people when electronics are unavailable

Print brochures placed in airlines and tourism centres far from the cell phone network will make an impression with people in the ideal location to utilise your business or service. And you can connect with them though they could not find you in an online search at that moment. You’re also able to promote nearby attractions that they wouldn’t find in a local search because it would be outranked by the biggest attractions with better search engine optimisation or budgets than you. This is why tourism centres still have shelves displaying brochures to attractions big and small, and why OOH advertising is still effective.

You can reach people in a targeted demographic area without local SEO

Local search engine optimisation or SEO is easier to dominate than general search terms, but now you’re trying to create content and ads for every potential area where your customers may be. You can get print brochures made online and gather up a mailing list which allows you to cheaply send printed advertising materials to every good local prospect. Narrow down a mailing list to the immediate vicinity of your new store opening up and send flyers with coupons and you’ll generate both awareness of the new business and convert some of them into first time customers. This is why restaurants in particular still rely on print marketing sent to people within walking distance of the eatery.

The deep connection with the reader

Magazine printing remains a mainstay for many service providers and a few manufacturers. Print magazines giving mums advice on raising their new-borns and toddlers may be sponsored by the maker of products for young children. The Lego brand sends a magazine that resembles comic books to kids who read it for entertaining stories, information on the branded cartoons and get a heavy dose of marketing for the toys themselves.

A number of financial services providers send their clients monthly or quarterly print magazines. The magazine is full of good financial advice while it promotes the business’ offerings and consultants. Customers read the free magazine for the information and often decide to pay for a financial adviser’s recommendations or invest in what the company wants them to invest in. This is supplemented by brochure printing to put more limited financial advice and recommendations in front of clients while in the office.

Another benefit of magazines sent to consumers is that it demonstrates the brand’s knowledge of the customers’ wants and needs. If you’re going to buy products for your child, the brand giving advice on toilet training in the parenting magazine will be your first choice for pull-ups and toiletries for toddlers unless another factor like price overrides the familiarity factor.

Tangibility, too, has an influence because merely touching it builds engagement. In the case of service providers, a physical advertisement like a print magazine or brochure seems more credible than an online ad. You’re unlikely to be a scammer or fly by night operation if you printed out brochures and gave them to everyone you met. In short, printed material is trusted more.

Reading content printed on paper is slower and leaves a deeper imprint than online content that customers tend to skim. If you really want your message to reach home, whether seeking religious converts or convincing someone of the need of life insurance, you send a brochure, not an email.

Long term impact

Well-designed printed materials may end up in the customers’ line of sight and mind for months or even years. Think about the recipe cards given out for free by food manufacturers that promote one or more of their ingredients as essential to the recipe. Their product is promoted to the customer literally any time they read the recipe card, whether this holiday or five years from now. A free game calendar with a menu for a restaurant on the margin will be seen by everyone and carefully considered before food is ordered in advance of any game.

Another variation of this is including brochures in any paperwork you give your client. You cannot be sure they won’t throw it away, but they are more likely to read it than a pop up ad, and unlike a marketing newsletter, it won’t be accidentally filtered out by the spam filter of their email provider. Putting printed thank you cards with discount codes and coupons in every order you ship increases the odds they’ll buy from you next time, and because they save the coupon for next time, the odds that they’ll remember you remain high.

As you can see, there are still plenty of reason to go for print ads. Printed materials create a deeper level of engagement with the reader and are certain to reach their destination. Printed materials let you target hyper-local markets. You can design printed marketing materials that will remain in the customer’s line of sight at the right time in the sales funnel. You can also reach people when they’re not able to find you online and reinforce your message by sending printed materials to them along with their order.