Print advertising is dead apparently, falling at the hands of online advertising. That is if you speak to an inept marketer. Take Google for example – the benchmark for online activity, the internet gurus. Last year Google spent over $1 million on print advertising.

The so-called death of print is being greatly exaggerated, simply because something new has turned up. It is like at school when the new kid gets all of the attention, but after a while people notice that they are just a regular kid like everybody else. Let’s look at the facts...

Ok, We Concede

Yes, print is expensive, it is inflexible and it is not easy to track results. Another skeleton is the closet is that print can be demographically challenged. Not many people under the age of 30 read print publications, they have been breastfed on smartphones, computers and tablets since an early age.

BUT...

We were honest about some of the shortfalls of print. But now let’s take a look at online. It too is demographically challenged because, in general, it is limited to an audience below the age of 40. Websites are often skimmed over, whilst print is engaged and digested. A 2005 study by Alshaali and Varshney revealed that people tend to read less of online text and often skim the page in as little as 15 seconds. There is a certain taboo associated with online ads and we do not seem to 100% trust them, maybe it is because you get the sense that you are just one click away from a spam Viagra advertisement.

Print advertisements feel more legitimate. According to Gardner Business Media Inc, print is tactile; comfort food for the brain. When you pick up your favourite publication, it gives you a sense of relaxation. A print piece is a physical object, it is tangible and can stay in your house or around the office for weeks, whereas an online ad can get lost in cyber space.

With printed ads you can target your intended audience more specifically by choosing where you want it to be placed, online ads are more sporadic. Due to the sudden rush towards online advertising, there is less competition within print advertising – you are setting yourself apart from the rest by indulging in it. Another, positive is the versatility that print brings; here at Affordable Leaflets we provide banners, leaflets, business cards and so much more.

By no means are we suggesting that all online advertising should be abandoned, we even design websites and online banners ourselves. We simply believe print should not be dismissed as easily, the two combined are and effective duo.