Print publishing offers a vital tactile experience. Folding page corners to earmark favorite articles, cutting out newspaper clippings, flipping from page to page. The problem is that once you’re tucked that important clipping away into a folder, you likely forget about it.

We love our glossy paper but our reality is digital media. So how can you keep your content alive and relevant? What factors do you need to think about as you decide how to invest in your magazine future? Let look at some considerations when deciding how to address the Print Media vs. Digital Media dilemma at your organization.

Print Media Pros

Yours forever. One thing is certain about glossy magazines and periodicals: They’re yours forever. Hoard them, share them, lend them, or borrow them. They’re subject only to the time limits you set.

Sensory experience. Studies show that we retain knowledge and experiences better through physical interaction. Thumbing through pages, writing notes, and highlighting passages are all central features we are still finding ways to replace in the digital media world. Miguel Cornejo, managing partner at Macuarium Network, adds, “Many users still appreciate the familiar format, especially if they can turn it into just one more channel of their content-consuming experience.

Easy to pay. We still buy on impulse in the real world. Whether at the supermarket, on the street, or while shopping, grabbing a print media magazine is a simple, low-commitment purchase when you抮e out and about.

Print Media Cons

Can’t keep up. The 24-hour news cycle turned into the 24-second news cycle with the rise of social media, making it impossible for even legendary print media publications to keep up with breaking news.

Readers now expect a full picture. Instant features, infographics, visuals, videos, and dispatches from the Twittersphere. Print media alone just can’t keep up.

Scaling is difficult. Publishing a print media magazine requires overhead, production, and material costs that digital media publishing obliterated. A print media publication is always limited to an audience of those who physically get their hands on it.

Limited feedback. When you publish a print media magazine, you’ll never really know what your readers think about it. Sure, some may write you back with comments, but the more telling information is in the details: How long did they spend reading that article? What features did they skip entirely? These details are not just nice to know they give you valuable information on what content resonates with your readers and where you are simply wasting resources. Without a digital media site, you will never know.

Digital Media Pros

Interactivity. New York Magazine didn’nt merely shift its print media content to its mobile app: it created a cool, value-added experience. As Apple Insider reports, “An article in one issue about former US Vice President Dick Cheney was merely a small sidebar in the print media edition. But the ability to enhance the content on the iPad with larger graphics and interactivity led to a full-page item in the digital media copy.

Social sharing and community. Users increasingly expect to interact with the content they consume. The goal is to draw visitors to your blog for the commenting community and entice them to stay for the articles. Your commenting system should give readers both platform and incentive to respond to and challenge both authors and one another. The result is a robust community of readers and contributors.

Ad-serving flexibility. When you enter the world of digital media publishing, you open the door to digital media advertising. Not only can you serve multiple ads in one advertising space, but also you can employ some of the latest advertising technology, too. Digital media advertising enables readers to engage with ads whether banner ads or more intensive sponsored content.

Digital Media Cons

Online plagiarism. Digital media publishers need to take additional steps to protect their written content, photos, videos, and other original works. Once the content goes online, you are open to the risk of others reproducing or altering your work with limited regulatory control.

Shorter attention spans. We’re heading into uncharted territory: Adult readers have shorter attention spans. Meanwhile, studies show school children today are able to resist distractions from work for about two minutes before checking their phones or newsfeeds. They understand and remember less, and they have greater difficulty transferring their learning to new contexts. Digital media has to work extra hard to keep its attention-deficit readers engaged.

Print Media vs. Digital Media: It Not “Whether It “How Much

When considering your publishing strategy, associations should first understand how members and other readers derive value from your content. For example, how does the iconic New Yorker magazine promote its digital media offering without alienating its print media subscribers? By offering them a lot more for just a little more. Readers can subscribe either for print media or digital media access at the same price ($59.99) or get the combo package with bonus access to its archives for just $10 more ($69.99). Rather than devalue its digital media subscription as other magazines do, the New Yorker asks its increasingly mobile readership: “Wouldn’nt you rather just have both?

However, what works for the New Yorker won’nt necessarily work for you. Your strategy may look different if your organization is a thought leader providing key reference materials versus a lean newsblog focused on high-volume publishing. In fact, introducing a niche print media magazine in today cutthroat digital media environment especially one like Modern Farmer, which is matte-printed on thick stock paper commands attention for its sense of gravitas and permanence.

Going digital media presents the challenge of turning your articles, information, and resources into a valuable standalone experience and to complement your print media counterpart (if you have one). Consider how to leverage your digital media strategy for new avenues of growth. The question is not “whether rather, it is what level of digital media investment you should make to maintain and grow your readership.

This article comes from AssociationMediaAndPublishing.org edit released

Putting the advertising media mix together

There’s no doubt that the world today is defined by information. Whether it’s news, opinions, interviews or advertising, written, spoken or in filmed, it’s information (and marketing content) that provides the direction and structure to our lives. Media determine our lives and we have become media ourselves. And magazines, newspapers, television, online, mobile and social media are all now vital components of any advertising campaign.

We distinguish between six different types of print media for brands: advertising in newspapers and magazines, use of direct mail, customer magazines, door drop and catalogues. These are the most important print channels to support brands.

With such a range of technology and (print) channels at a brand’s disposal, how can marketing, media and advertising professionals ensure that they’re getting maximum reach, exposure, ROI, connections and engagement for their marketing spend?

In short: what’s the most effective advertising media mix for product and services brands?

Print = the sensory media experience

Perhaps the most important benefit of print media is tangibility. Among the reasons why many people prefer print is to do with the feel of the paper, having it in their hands means that the content is real, it exists. Print media is unique in its capability to trigger a number of senses; of course the feeling of paper, the smell of the ink or of an added scent, paper can be eaten or even listened to (when a chip is added). Paper can change colour when heated or put in front of a light, an ad can feel rough as sand or smooth as silk, all adding to the sensory experience of the advertising. Triggering multiple senses will add to the effectiveness of print advertising. Martin Lindstrom, writer of Brand sense, says that when brands appeal to more than three senses, advertising effectiveness will increase with 70 per cent.

Whatever print channel, add print, add power

In many ways, print is the ideal marketing medium: it’s available in both large and small numbers, can be accessed easily, and is engaging, versatile and creative. 
Each of the six types of print media has their own unique quality and role in their readers’ lives.

For newspapers, they become part of their readers’ day as they educate and inform with credibility and trust, while consumer and customer magazines create engagement through entertaining content.

Direct mail uses its ability to gain access to people’s homes and lives to deliver a targeted sales message, while door drop have an enviable reach and ROI. Finally, catalogues provide inspiration for customers before leading them online to make the purchase. On their own, each channel fulfills a vital marketing role. When combined with other media, they are a highly effective force for any campaign, for any brand.

Creating engagement

The key to successful marketing is engagement, drawing your customer in through attention-grabbing content before rewarding them with a worthwhile offer or service. Print media are a trusted source for news and other information and consumers take time to read a door drop leaflet, magazine or customer magazine.

Print media offers a host of content areas: news, information, education, inspiration, special offers and entertainment, all of which generate engagement between the reader and the advertised brands. Indeed, advertisements are as much a part of the reading experience as the editorial content, with magazines and newspapers providing exactly the right context for a relevant brand campaign.

Digging deeper with print

Recent neurological research has identified differences in ways people process information presented in print and on screen. These studies have found that readers of print maintain their capacity to read longer articles since the reading situation doesn’t offer so many distractions. Readers have full attention for the content. This capacity – called deep reading – also cultivates deep thinking. The lack of distractions when reading print allows the reader to get to the moment when he is fully engrossed in a substantial article in a newspaper or magazine. Deep reading also has to do with the ‘topology’ of articles; readers use the structure of an article, pictures, headlines and subtitles to navigate through the content. This structure helps them to more easily return to certain parts and remember the content better.

Integrating paper and pixels

Consumers lives are increasingly online. Social media describe what they do, Google will help them to find whatever they need, YouTube to watch the newest videos and sites such as Amazon to buy the products on their wish list. Paper is now an ideal way to get readers online to, for example, the advertisers website or Facebook page. With QR codes, Augmented Reality, Near Field Communication or digital imprints, readers can have immediate access to the most appropriate online page. These technologies form a bridge between print media and a brand’s online presence, inviting consumer reaction, feedback and purchase, all via a smartphone, tablet or PC. Such technologies increase the effectiveness of print media, as well as enhancing the consumer experience.

Talking to one or many

Print media exists in many forms: from mass media (hundreds to millions of copies) to one-to-one (the personalised version). In between, there are formats such as the personalised newspaper or magazine – titles that have content tailored to the specific reader.

Modern digital presses offer marketers, media and advertising professionals the ability to print entire publications based on the profile and needs of their consumers. Or even to integrate digital content in a mass produced magazine or newspaper. This personalisation adds to the effectiveness of the print medium as consumers prefer a tailor-made approach to the generic. Such flexibility and adaptability allows the marketer and brand owner to choose exactly the right print media for their brand.

Adding print increases the ROI

An effective marketing campaign works best when print is used with other media as one element of an integrated solution. Research has shown that adding print to the advertising media mix will increase the ROI of the overall campaign. Print media will not only add to the ROI, it will also enhance the ROI of TV or online in the mix. BrandScience analysis of 500+ European cases shows that, in case of FMCG, TV’s ROI increased with 61 per cent when used in combination with print advertising and the campaign ROI increased with 57 per cent with the combination of TV and print media.

This article comes from printpower edit released