Why Print Advertising is Still Important
In this increasingly digital world, many have forsaken print advertising and declare it’s no longer fit for purpose, but print is still incredibly important in today’s advertising space and here’s why.
Events and tradeshows
When we think of print advertising, we immediately think of adverts in magazines and newspapers, maybe the occasional leaflets from the local Chinese takeaway, but many forget the wider application of print advertising which is vital to the success of certain types of events such as tradeshows.
As well as the more standard leaflet or brochure, print advertising is the key to a successful tradeshow and works hard to separate businesses from the competition. Whether that’s in the form of a roller banner, a pop-up display stand or something completely innovative, print advertising is actually at the heart of these types of events.
Tourism
For local businesses displaying leaflets in there shops, tourism can be a main driver behind print advertising. Ever walked into a pub or café and see an array of leaflets advertising local attractions? Tourism relies heavily on print advertising and in some scenarios is often more useful than their digital cousins. Although the digital space can often offer more, local roaming and connectivity issues can hinder this and so good old print comes to the rescue.
Local businesses
For many local businesses, although digital advertising is a great asset to their advertising portfolio, the greater - and more identifiable - return on investment often comes from print advertising, leaflet drops and standard poster displays. Spending money on local Facebook advertising might seem like a good idea, but investing in an a-frame sign out front could turn out to be a much better investment which goes to show that local businesses are very much keeping traditional print advertising alive.
Creativity
Let’s take the Facebook advert example again and compare that with the chalkboard a-frame your local pub has recently been using. Although digital opens up new channels and a different kind of deliverance, the format in which these types of adverts are provided are very rigid and don’t offer much space for creativity. In recent years, print advertising has seen a whole new approach which often merges both print and digital but also shows greater innovative behaviours which lead to a broader spectrum of creativity.
Reliability
Let’s face it, if someone hands you a leaflet in the street, you’re much more likely to trust the source than a dodgy looking advert that pops up in the sidebar on your Facebook profile and links to a site you’ve never heard of. With digital scams becoming more commonplace, digital adverts can often get a bad reputation for belonging to spam sites and causing more harm than good. In the face of this, print advertising maintains a more reliable reputation that’s been around since its inception.
Although we’re now living in a digital world, print advertising is far from dead and still has a number of merits, making it more beneficial for both business and customer in a variety of situations. So when it comes to investing your budget, it’s time to think carefully about which will benefit you most.
