Since the invention of the printing press in the early 15th century media has played a key role in transforming our society, distributing news worthy events, learning for the masses, and the growth of companies through branding and advertising channels.
For those of us over the age of 40 we grew up in an era where newspapers, magazines, comics, and flyers were the only way for news and advertising to reach us.
It’s hard to believe that only 20 years ago our morning routines involved sitting and eating breakfast while reading the daily newspaper from front to back.
Now if someone wants a plumber. They Google plumber, click an ad and if the landing page doesn't "answer their question" they leave to find another one. If they do call and get voice mail they will call 2 or 3 other companies until an appointment has been booked.
The newer generation lives in the ‘I’ era of the digital media transformation. They tend to be impatience, expect instant results, and evaluate the relevancy of product and services very quickly.
If you ask the younger generation “Is Print Media Dead? “in over 90% of the responses you will get a resounding “Yes, of course it is!”.
It appears to be a generational divide as young people grow up with digital technology delivered 24/7 into the palm of their hands.
It might easy for those of us who now live and work on these digital platforms to make a statement as bold as “Print Media is Dead” but nothing in life is ever as black and white as it first appears.
Print Media is transforming, its shifting to be more relevant to how it’s being used
The Print Media Shift
As the digital world develops the use of print media is shifting in importance. There are no viable alternatives for school text books, print novels, business cards, and in many developing countries around the world newspapers are the only trusted source of news. Print establishes emotional connections with readers that can trigger powerful responses.
For the majority of the world print media is still seen as the most trusted source of news. It is not surprising that 80 percent of traditional mail is opened whereas 80 percent of emails are disregarded according to H2O Media.
Print Media Marketing Disadvantages:
Okay, so print media is not dead but from an advertising perspective it has some serious flaws. Where does print media fall short? Well, as it turns out, it has a number of flaws that can’t be overlooked.
1. Targeting Your Audience – Every newspaper, magazine and printed publication has a media kit to attract new advertisers to pay them money for print media. The reality is most printed publications have no idea who is buying / using their publication so in more cases it becomes a pay and pray strategy. Ad agencies love to use print media for branding – but it can be hard to drive real leads to your business.
2. Ad Spend Metrics – When you advertise with print media it can be very hard to track results. How many really saw your ad? (yes, we know the distribution, but it doesn’t mean everyone actually saw your ad on page 34 of a 58 page publication). How many reached out to you? How many became new clients? With print media there are so many questions and not enough answers.
Conclusion:
Print media works well for corporate branding, consumer confidence building, and industry specific written editorials.
The Digital Media Shift
The explosive growth of digital media is transforming the way our society builds relationships, finds information, learns of world events, and communicates. There are many who believe that it was the Internet that began this transformation but in truth the invention of personal computers in the 70’s that started the transformation into the digital age. This was 30 years ahead of the invention of smart phones.
The digital revolution is still in its infancy but with the invention of smart phones it’s fast-tracked the revolution since these devices are like carrying a mini computer around with you that is always connected to the digital world. Still in its infancy digital media has transformed the 21st century culturally, economically, and socially. Who knows what the next 100 years will look like?
As this digital revolution transforms our society there is already a long list of companies who are failing to adapt filling the books of history. Even in the last 15 to 20 years household names include Blockbuster video (Viacom), RadioShack, Sears, Toys R Us, and even Payless Shoes have all struggled to adapt to this new era.
In recent years ‘fake media’ use in digital media has become a growing concern as it has used to affected voters in recent US elections, lobby governments, and mold view points of the younger generation. Recently, Donald Trump announced his “Fake News Awards” winners as a way to highlight the growing use of fake media ‘investigations’ into the Trump election campaigns.
Digital Media Marketing Disadvantages:
Digital media is not without its flaws. Consumers generally trust print media more than online news. With so many digital devices in the hands of consumers who are flicking and swiping the attention span of consumers is shorter than ever.
If your ads can’t immediately explain why you solve their problem they will simply move onto the next company / service. Although consumers from the ages of 10 to 70 may own smart devices the majority of users (Millenniums between the ages of 25 and 38) have very little brand loyalty. In addition, with so much information available within minutes your brand reputation is everything when it comes to advertising successfully online.
Conclusion:
Digital media works very well for lead generation. As users navigate the internet their digital profile follows them where ever they go, whatever site they visit, and it monitors thier preferences. All this additional user data allows companies to better target their audience and delivery highly targeted solutions that solve consumer problems.
To all those young people I say, print media is not dead…try finding your next purchase if retail stores stopped using signage on the front of their stores!
Aaron Johnston Google Expert & Marketing Guru
Email: aaronj@gbma.ca Website: www.gbma.ca
About the Author:
Aaron Johnston grew up in rural Ontario and has run multiple companies in varies industries over the years. After attempting to hire “the wrong guys” to try online marketing he decided he could do a better job! After 11 years of online marketing experience he shares his experience with others from Taiwan where he now lives with his two daughters.