When you think of advances in advertising technology, print might not be the first medium that comes to mind.
“At first glance, a printed magazine seems simple — too simple to be worth discussing in an issue focused on publishing technologies. After all, a magazine is just a bunch of static pages that can’t be updated, tweeted, pinned, interstitialed, linked, liked, clicked, popped up, dissolved, cookied, tracked, hacked, or search-engine optimized,” notes D. Eadward Tree in Publishing Executive.
Yet printed publications have specific features that engage in ways that digital simply can’t, and that engagement is going even deeper with new printing technology, which Tree outlines in his article “14 Ways to Enhance the Marketing Power of Printed Magazines.”
First on the list of print’s features is permanence, which makes print a natural vehicle for advertisers looking to keep their name top of mind.
“Digital media’s dynamism can accomplish wonderful things, but there’s also power in something that can be held, handed out, or hung on a wall. It’s amazing sometimes how impressed advertisers are when you offer to give them some extra copies of the issue or a framed copy of their ad,” Tree notes.
Another huge change in the field thanks to technology is the targeted circulation that print can achieve.
“Free copies sent to the right public places-think fashion magazines in hair salons, fitness titles at gyms, and the million-plus copies WebMD magazine sends to doctors’ offices each month-can deliver the additional audience you and your advertisers need, along with exposure to potential subscribers,” notes Tree. “Some publishers turn their noses up at free distribution, but a combination of targeted and public-place distribution often results in a better audience for advertisers than does yet another gimmicky, bargain-basement subscription offer.”
As publishers get better managing their data, they can leverage printing technology even further, with regionally-modified editions, personalized inserts and demographic versioning. Digital simply can’t match this tightly-controlled reach and advertisers with specific audience requirements will eat up this idea.
This is the kind of conversation worth having with your advertisers. Leverage the advances in printing technology for your advertisers and get their message right where they want it.