Print Ads are Still Tried and True

Printed advertisements are one of the original forms of advertising. In written publications, their purpose has always been to get more eyes on a cause, a business, or a service.

Nowadays, alongside hardcopy newspapers and magazines, print ads are found on flyers, billboards, and brochures; in shop windows; on public transportation; and sometimes even on items like event tickets. With the invention of the printing press in the 1430s, literacy rates slowly began to rise, enabling the communication of written content to an increasingly larger audience. It was the industrial revolution and the appearance of newspapers that really saw print ads take off.

From the get-go, print ads have aimed to draw attention to something, be it a commercial enterprise, a place of interest or tourist attraction, an educational institution, or even a missing pet or person. At InnoVision, print ads are a part of our graphic art expertise, so let’s take a closer look at what they are.

How Do Print Ads Work?

Print advertising is an outbound marketing method—businesses and brands create content that they place in publications like newspapers, magazines, journals, and so forth. Print ads can be text-only, images, or a combination of both.

An impactful print ad is one that makes an instant impression on the viewer both visually and intellectually. Marketers discovered early on that an eye-catching photo with a short, memorable caption is among the most efficient ads. Text is often short, and marketers use tools like wit, humor, or the unexpected to communicate their message effectively.

The earliest print ads were primarily written content only and could be quite lengthy and mostly educational, without a promotional tone. Some simply explained what certain goods or services were, with only the briefest of encouragement to purchase these goods or use the services.

With the advent of the radio in the early 20th century, however, marketers had to change their tactics. The radio was the first true mass-marketing tool, with the ability to simultaneously pitch to countless people all over the nation. Print ads needed to become more appealing and pack more of a punch, and the inclusion of images became more common.

When home television sets appeared in 1939, the game was on to find which platform would produce the most effective marketing images.

What Are the Advantages of Print Ads?

One of the advantages of print ads is that, when using strategic positioning, they are very difficult to skip or ignore. When printed in a hard copy, they are in plain sight as readers flip through the pages, and readers are guaranteed to register an image, as it only takes a moment. Even if it’s not done consciously, the brain registers the image and can associate it when making a purchasing decision. When placed in publications with a wide readership, this means the ads could be in front of hundreds of thousands of people. Using print ads, a business could reach a broad audience and a large pool of potential clients.

Another way some print ads are efficient is through the force of repetition. When people pass a billboard or placard every day on their way to work or see the same ad regularly on public transportation, the message hits home much more thoroughly than when exposed only once to a social media or website pop-up ad.

Print ads can also work hand in hand with other promotional tools. For example, they can redirect people to a company website or draw attention to its social media presence using a call to action (CTA) such as, “visit our website for more information.”

Why Print Ads Are Still Relevant Today

Even in the digital era, newspapers and magazines are astonishingly resilient. Readers still enjoy the tactile experience of holding a real newspaper or magazine in their hands. The Wall Street Journal still has circulation numbers in the millions and USA Today about 2.6 million, and the New York Times reported 7.8 million subscribers in 2021 across print and digital platforms. Numbers like those demonstrate why it’s still worth considering posting print ads in newspapers and magazines in your marketing strategy.

In recent years, the attention span of the average person has decreased dramatically. When browsing social media or websites and when exposed to an advertisement, people want instant entertainment. In lieu of entertainment, they want instant gratification of some sort.

Digital marketers understand the consumer’s brief attention span and try to keep their videos and pop-ups brief, impactful, and to the point. Despite the intentional brevity, viewers can still lose interest before they’ve watched the full ad.

With print ads, this isn’t an issue. Even if a person is not particularly focusing, their brain will register the whole thing in an instant, missing nothing.

A Few More Reasons

There are more reasons why print ads are still tried and true today:

• They’re tangible. People can hold the magazine, flier, or other printed item in their hands. With the tactile sense engaged along with the visual, they are more likely to remember what they’ve seen, compared to a fleeting image on a screen.
• Print advertising is targeted. Businesses can target publications read by the segment of society or niche they want to reach.
• They focus on a literate audience. Readers of newspapers and magazines use the written word to communicate. Once the brain has made the effort to read an ad, consciously or not, the reader is more likely to remember it.
• They are precise. Video advertising can often get away with appealing to people through alluring images and a catchy soundtrack, but print ads need to have a clear, distinct message.
• Print advertising is adaptable. Businesses can choose how visible they want to be and how often by refining the size of their ads, where they place them, and with what frequency.
• They can promote an online presence. Print ads can include icons to show which social media platforms a company is active on.

At InnoVision, we produce original, innovative graphic advertising content so that businesses can continue to utilize the tried-and-tested medium of print ads in the service of their success. Send us a message and see what we can do for your company.