5 Reasons Print Is Here to Stay

With the rise of digital media, content now extends well beyond the printed page to include smartphones, tablets, and laptops. For marketing professionals, the digital world presents a growing array of choices for advertising and sponsored content. Yet printed publications — including trade magazines and journals — still serve a key role in getting your message seen and remembered by your target audience.

Here are some of the key benefits that print brings to a marketing campaign.

1. Print is credible. Tangible print media comes with legitimacy. Though outnumbered by their digital counterparts, print publications are still the most desirable avenues for award winning scientists and journalists. Many print publications have spent decades building a reputation, and they hold their content to a high standard. If consumers trust a publication, they’ll pass that trust onto the marketing messages within it.

2. Print is precise. Scientific print publications have audiences that are well defined and audited, allowing you to get your message in front of the people who matter most for the growth of your business. When you’re able to hone in on your audience, your message speaks louder and shines brighter.

3. Print is met with a focused eye. From dawn until dusk, our daily lives are inundated by a never-ending barrage of digital activity. We work on computers, multi-task on smartphones, and entertain ourselves on tablets and televisions. Print allows you to step away. It catches people when they’re singularly focused on the page in front of them – not going back and forth between multiple screens. A reader who is fully attentive to the page ahead is more likely to resonate with your branding message.

4. Print has science on its side. During a 2009 neurological study at the Centre for Experimental Consumer Psychology, researchers found that print media creates a deeper imprint on the brain. With its tangible nature, print media stimulates much more than just sight. It has a scent, a touch, a sound – this multi-sensory experience triggers a variety of emotions within the brain, creating a more memorable experience. In contrast, on-screen content actually takes added energy for the brain to process, making it harder to retain. The average person views more than 1,700 online banner ads per month. How many can you name?

5. Print is resilient. Print has been around for a long time. So long that at one point, print was the only form in which media existed. Through radio, television, and now the digital age, print has maintained its credibility and found ways to flourish.

The rise of digital only gives marketers added power to leverage print media more effectively. What was once the only option is now one piece of a greater whole.

It’s clear that print has more competition these days, but that’s a good thing. With so many media channels, both consumers and marketers are given the luxury of choice — the ability to utilize the right avenue for the right goal. With all of its inherent advantages, print will always be a centerpiece of content and marketing strategy.