As a growing local business, you’ll want to make the most of every penny you spend on marketing. 
 
We all know that having an online presence is important, but there’s confusion about how print advertising will help to make you a preferred provider in your local community. 
 
Businesses that achieve the best results are the ones that cleverly and consistently combine their online and printed advertising. 
 
Here are three important reasons why print advertising works and why it should be an part of your marketing plan. 
1. Being remembered 
Business re-engineering specialists, Econsultancy, say that people are 70% more likely to remember businesses seen in print, compared to online. However, just as much creative energy needs to go in to creating print advertisements to achieve the full benefit. 
 
Why? When reading a magazine or newspaper, people take time to focus on the content. They might sit down, away from their work with a cup of coffee, so there are fewer distractions and they’re genuinely interested in what they are reading. 
 
In contrast, many digital marketers are focusing on micro-moments when they might just catch someone’s attention. Getting noticed online can be difficult because there are so many other distractions. People might be multi-tasking and not giving any single piece of content their full attention. 
 
2. Being trusted 
People are choosy about their printed publications and that means they not only trust and value the content they receive, they also feel an emotional connection to it. In some cases, printed publications have moved to subscription models which add a real monetary value to their reader’s content too. When they see your advertisement in their favourite magazine, some of their shared values and feelings will rub-off on your brand. 
 
Readers can give more credibility to an advertisement that they see in a publication that they trust and value. In contrast, pop-up ads and viruses are making people much more cautious about online advertising. 
 
3. Being discovered 
Why not have the best of both worlds? Printed advertising can build awareness of your brand very effectively. By consistently transferring your off-line brand to digital channels you can also target people by age, gender and interests to engage with your audience. 
 
Use your printed advertising to drive your readers to your website and social media channels and you will have successfully achieved a ‘cross-media presence’. You will give your audience a strong, consistent and memorable idea of who you are. When they need your services they will remember you. 
 
While there’s a belief that digital marketing is a cheaper option, in reality the trade-offs between reach and retention mean that an integrated approach over time will give you excellent awareness, brand recognition and response rates. 
 
Of course, this discussion will go on for a very long time and we always love to hear what people think, so please get in touch to find out more about print advertising for your business. 
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