Marketing Mondays – Print and Online

This morning we\’re diving into the magazine versus online advertising debate. When I use the term \”versus\” in that sentence, it tweaks me as inappropriate. It\’s not the word I want to use, as I have come to view online advertising, less as competition to the magazine, and more so as a welcome friend to the print message.

You may have already viewed the advertisement below; it\’s part of a print campaign designed to differentiate magazine advertising from online advertising.

I like the analogy and visual the above headline gives me, particularly in regards to the magazine. We do “swim\” in magazines, don\’t we? We envelope them, cuddle up with them, and spend a great chunk of time with them.

Similar to the horse world, the world of print media is changing radically. Magazine publishers such as myself have had to learn to embrace all genres of media from internet to social media, to expand our brand and stay in touch with our audiences. Today, social media is an important communications tool and engagement venue, as well as an element of our marketing strategy. Our print publication plays an important role in bringing our audience to our online presence. A print ad is a physical thing. It will bring readers to your website, or your online presence again and again.

Still, a magazine is a magazine and it offers a completely different experience from that of online.

In a previous Marketing Monday column, I touched upon \”know\” media and \”flow\” media, explaining magazines as the \”know\” and online as the \”flow.\” It\’s a little like the \”swim\” and \”surf\” above. And, these are important points to keep in mind when planning your marketing strategy. It\’s one of the key elements you would choose magazine advertising as the cornerstone of your marketing campaign.

But that\’s not all. Print advertising continues to offer some great benefits not shared by its online counterparts:

It\’s a keeper. Newspapers are flipped through and tossed out. Web pages are quickly read and moved on from. Magazines stay in homes for months, consumers often return to their pages multiple times, or pass them on to friends.

It is highly targeted: Print advertising offers you the chance to capture the attention of your target market. This gives you very cost-effective advertising.

Magazines are credible: Many studies have proven consumers trust and believe magazine advertising more than any other media out there. Readers who see your ad in a magazine they care enough about to subscribe to, assume that you subscribe to the same philosophy as the magazine represents, and readers will be more likely to patronize your business because of it.

If you\’ve dropped magazine buys out of your advertising budget because of all the hype of online and social media, I hope I\’ve made a compelling enough case to have you rethink that decision. Even in this age of online, magazines are as compelling as ever.