Marketing Corner: Digital Versus Print: Expanding Your Media Footprint

Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks? The fact is, as the evolution of digital space continues to explode with more technological advances, it becomes increasingly important to keep in step with where consumers are and how their behaviors are changing.

Take for instance, print. Many believed that the print world’s (newspapers, in particular) impending death was merely a few steps away. To the contrary, print is making a resurgence thanks, in part, to technology. Many consumers are still reading print publications daily. The platform by which they are consuming is what has changed.

With the younger generations, many are mobile exclusive, compared to the older generations who may primarily read the old-fashioned way of holding a newspaper or magazine in-hand and could also read via mobile device. Regardless of method, the print industry is just like anything else, and consumers are absorbing content at an accelerated rate! Hence, smartphones and tablets are playing a decisive role in delivering this content to younger audiences.

It behooves the small business owner not to think in terms of traditional or digital media, but rather, to think in terms of how you can wrap your brand within relevant content that consumers will engage with.

As we continue to move forward in this quick-paced landscape, content is what is most important, compared to what vehicle you are using. This is not to say that the media vehicle isn’t important. It has its role. What this really means is that one needs to be a good student of consumers’ behavior and their preference of media vehicles. Hence, at the end of the day, it all becomes a content play.

Ensure when purchasing print as a means to communicate your message that it includes a mobile platform. Plus, make sure that the content that your message is surrounding is rich and robust in order to garner engagement from consumers. Extending to mobile devices, suddenly you are likely attracting consumers that haven’t purchased from you before. Continuing to be a smart steward of your media investment may prove to assist in delivering the return on investment you desire!

Adele Lassere is a marketing/advertising consultant with 20+ years of experience, freelance writer, and author of “Elements of Buying: A How To Reference Guide on Advertising for Business Owners,” available at amazon.com. Adele was listed on Black Enterprise’s 2011 Top Execs in Marketing & Advertising and Black Enterprise’s 2013 Top Women Executives in Advertising & Marketing. Contact: [email protected]

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