My boss knows exactly how to get me going. All she has to do is forward me an article saying, “Print is Dead” and my Pavlovian response is triggered. I’m on my soapbox. Long live print!
For direct 1:1 communication, nothing beats the medium that delivers your message into the hands of your target audience: Print. Better yet, magazines.
For maximum impact around a product launch or happening, magazines should be a fundamental component of integrated marketing campaigns. They complement what digital has to offer and are uniquely able to bring worlds together on the often discussed “consumer journey”. Use KPIs that complement both channels instead of evaluating them in isolation. Magazines allow brands to rise above the digital racket and make a measurable, personal impression.
The pervasiveness of digital media has given print—especially magazines—new effectiveness and power. Consider the rare and special pleasure elicited by a handwritten thank you note compared to an email. If you’re trying to reach a C-level executive, your email may never get past an assistant who filters and deletes. But a personalized message on the cover of a magazine, for example, appealing to the recipient’s personal interests and business, will get their attention every time. Magazines give weight to your presence—literally—in a tangible form that can’t be captured online. The trick is to find the appropriate balance between digital and magazines and yes, budgets and ad revenue, for a campaign to forge a multidimensional approach that transcends the sum of its parts.
Magazines are the ideal way to establish personal connections and provide value in hyper-local markets. Just as you would never implement a digital campaign targeting everyone, your print campaign should also be nuanced. Are you talking to fashionistas, families, or food enthusiasts? Millennials, Gen X, or Boomers? Decide who is the audience you want to reach, and why. Then be smart and put ads into the magazines and markets that will add the most value to your campaign by driving your messaging home.
The same rules apply to magazine and digital marketing: Depend on the data, be strategic, and be creative. This is the best way to target your messaging to your audience, drive ROI, and increase sales.
It looks like I’m not the only one who feels this way. A recent BoSacks piece on Print and Digital Are Living Happily Together and Common Sense Lessons I Have Learned from Today’s Print Media picks up where I left off.
For more facts about how magazines are a powerful way to connect with consumers, download our trends presentation, here.
Phew—glad I got that off my chest. Thanks!
