Print advertising has continued to evolve simultaneously to its digital counterparts. The general sentiment is that print is no longer as viable or as worth it as it once was. The general perception is that digital advertising has completely taken over the marketing spectrum as the most trusted and cost-efficient method to attracting customers; be it via search engines, email or social media. Such an assumption is actually false, as per recent studies. We’ve recently crunched the numbers and came to the same conclusion of larger studies on the value of print in the digital era: It’s just as strong as ever.
Here’s a look at what we found in our own research:
1.Strong Return On Investment
Traditional print media ads are more likely to make a lasting impression and, thus, lead to more sales . As calculated from a recent study at Yellow Pages, rates of sales return on investments are just as, if not higher, than digital advertising. For example, when discussing how powerful print directories were in providing high customer engagement levels, you can clearly see this is the case for the industry of plumbing. For example, a plumber will have a median cost-per-call of 11.26$. This means that, if they invest 100$ they likely get 9 calls from prospective customers. However, when calculating the return on investment from those calls, of which some became sales/contracts, it was found that the average plumber made a 35$ return on every dollar spent on a Yellow Pages advertisement. That’s a huge return and profitable endeavour for a plumber in regards to print advertising! Here are a few more examples:
A median cost-per-call of under 30$ for all the top categories
Plumbers: $11.26 Cost per Call / 35$:1$ ROI
Veterinarians: $ 8.93 Cost per Call / $38:$1 ROI
Restaurants: $4.39 Cost per Call / $12:$1 ROI
Automobile Body Repairing & Painting: $20.25Cost per Call/ $53:$1 ROI
Optometrists: Cost per Call$11.84 / $12:$1 ROI
2.Great Reach
A major misconception about print advertising is that it no longer has a very large audience and that mostly everyone is on the internet today. However, it was recently found that the decline of print circulations also means that the remaining readership is more dedicated, which is a desirable quality from a marketing perspective. For example, Yellow Pages has a Print advertising audience of 7 million Canadians, that’s almost 1/5th of the country! With such a wide audience that targets the highest spending demographic, anyone looking to get in on print advertising will have both the quantity and quality desired by SMBs to grow their business and enhance their brand awareness.
3. Call Tracking
One thing that has been mentioned a lot in recent years is the effectiveness of digital advertising in regards to the collection of data in real time. Print advertising, albeit not automated like digital marketing, does indeed have several measurable metrics at its disposal for informative and performance purposes. In fact, call tracking proves the value, results and power of Print advertising.
Industry research indicates that 90% of advertisers receive enough calls to pay for their ad, and the measurement of such a statistic would only be possible through the use of a call tracking feature. Call tracking is available 24/7 for print advertising, as the results can be posted in real time through measurable metrics, giving you the same control you would normally have via from a digital campaign.Still not convinced? Here are just a few more things that call tracking can help you do:Measure the effectiveness of your ads :
# of Calls
Date
Time
Location
Answered or not
Length of the call
And more!
With a strong return on investment, a solid and growing reach and excellent tracking capabilities for metric calculations, print advertising is proving its doubters wrong, one day at a time. Although digital may be the popular route for marketing teams at this time, print advertising has maintained its place within the spectrum of marketing options for advertisers. The quality return on investment, the personal touch that it creates and the focus on local consumers provides a far more trusted experience than digital marketing may; some may even call it more organic.
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