Time Magazine is just one example. For the first quarter of this year, its print advertising revenue dropped 21%, while overall revenues dropped 8%. In announcing the weak results, the company said it would lay off 300 employees. Other publishers are also struggling as brands increasingly embrace digital advertising while scaling back marketing efforts through traditional media.
Yet, brands haven’t totally given up on traditional advertising and some companies are embracing an omnichannel approach to marketing. According to CIO, one survey found that search engine technology is the preferred channel for 66% of B2B marketers. Print and other offline marketing ranked second at 57% while online banner ads ranked only third at 55%.
Most brands, of course, realize that traditional advertising has wide reach and, by some measures, its reach is growing. The final game of the 2016 World Series attracted approximately 75 million viewers, a 70% increase from the final series game in 2014, according to a blog by Watermark Advertising. The Super Bowl, of course, continues to be the pinnacle of marketing because it typically attracts more than 100 million viewers.
Research by IAB (PDF), furthermore, shows that television and print advertising are some of the strongest channels for building brand awareness, familiarity, favorability, and other marketing goals. Pepsi’s experience appears to validate that belief. The company had previously reversed its decision to switch entirely from traditional TV to social media marketing, according to The Digital Agency Network.
The prior decision included pulling Super Bowl ads and instead promoting the company’s support of non-profit organizations through social media and other digital strategies. Today, the Company’s Pepsi Refresh Everything webpage that was the center of the campaign now redirects visitors to the company’s main webpage.
For marketers, however, the challenge is combining digital marketing with traditional marketing. In some ways, part of that challenge is cultural, with marketers who focus on traditional advertising lacking an understanding of the many nuances of digital campaigns while digital marketers may look down upon print, radio or television.
Combining different advertising channels can be difficult, but the potential benefits of such a strategy can be substantial. Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns are examples. Obama is said to have used data gathered from digital marketing to create print advertising that was highly customized for different regions. By doing so, the Obama campaign team sought to make its print advertising highly relevant on a local basis.
In the fast food industry, McDonalds is well known for printing flyers or cards that it hands out to customers to encourage individuals to visit the company’s online assets. The direct marketing industry is also embracing combining digital with print.
Many direct mail catalog retailers, for example, are using print communications to encourage customers to sign up for email campaigns. In addition to gaining email addresses and increasing web traffic, brands can assess how much online engagement their print campaign are creating, which can provide insight into the most effective marketing messages. Even in instance when brands don’t integrate traditional and digital marketing, television, print, and radio advertising are still being viewed as essential for building name awareness.