Hand in Glove
As I have previously stated, Active Networks is a great believer in using multiple channels to get your marketing message across. Rather than think ‘print advertising’ or ‘digital advertising’, I’d encourage you to think print and digital. Doing so will help you to improve your ROI.
Traditional advertising, of which print is one, and digital advertising – think Adwords, Facebook, Instagram – work hand-in-hand. Each should be applied for its strengths.
Advertising in magazines can be used for call to action but is best used building brand awareness. Digital is very tactical; you can turn it off and on and it is generally transactional-focused.
There is no doubt that awareness of your digital adverts increases with brand recognition, as does click through and conversions. If your brand is known and trusted then people are more likely to engage with you and purchase your product or service.
That’s where advertising in magazines comes to the fore. I spoke about the merits of print advertising in a past article ‘8 Reasons to Choose Print Advertising’ but here are a couple of salient points:
Trust leads to conversion
It is true to say that in advertising, trust leads to action. The higher the trust, the higher the level of action.
In a 2015 Nielsen Global Trust in Advertising Report, which surveyed more than 30,000 consumers from 60 countries, adverts in print were somewhat or completely trusted by 55% of those surveyed, compared to just 34% for search engine adverts and 29% for social network adverts.
Magazines are a powerful means of building your brand.
Greater recall means greater sales
Are you guilty of scrolling mindlessly through your Facebook feed? Do you even notice the sponsored ads served up to your digital device?
Adverts in magazines are far more likely to be noticed and recalled than digital adverts.
A recent study by True Impact Marketing in Canada measured the effects of print and digital media on viewers. After exposure to the ads, participants were tested to see how well they remembered the advertising messages.
Brand recall was 70% higher for print media advertising than digital advertising and, most importantly, the motivation to act was 20% higher for print.
Maximise your ROI
So, what are we saying? If you want to improve the return on your advertising investment, then you need to advertise across traditional and digital.
Where do you sit on these statements?
- People are more inclined to do business with you if they know and trust your brand
- To be effective, your advert needs to be noticed
I’m sure you agreed with these statements, but just to reinforce my point, ask yourself how you behave when you utilise a search engine. Do you randomly select from the 10 or more search results or do you first scan the sponsored ads and search results for a brand that you recognise and trust? Me – I will always go for trust first, random second.
So, if we also accept that print is a better vehicle when it comes to trust and recall, then PRINT must be a part of your digital strategy; to not to include print is to devalue your digital campaign.
Some simple things to remember
- Keep you style guide (image) consistent across print and digital. You want consumers to recognise your brand from the look of your adverts.
- Ensure that the messaging is similar. You do not want to be running one promotion in print and a different one in digital. It is, however, fine to use print to drive the brand, promotion free, and use digital tactically with a call to action to drive sales.
- Frequency is key – the more times and the more places that people see the same thing, the greater the engagement and the better the ROI.
Active Networks publishes the Peninsula Living and North Shore Living magazines, the Think Local website and provides a digital advertising service across Google Adwords, Social Media, Email, Lead Generation and SEO.
Leave A Comment