In a survey done as recent as the fall of 2016 by Marketing Sherpa, it was revealed that 8 out of 10 people trust print ads more than online ads when making a purchasing decision, with nearly as many trusting TV ads as well.  While only 39% of people surveyed trusted online or mobile advertising. To be honest, this did not come as a surprise to me.  I guess it is because I am one of those 8 out 10 people that trusts what I read in print more than what I read online.

Old becomes new again…

So why is it that what was old is now new again?  Simple, it boils down to reach.  Over the past several years, there has been rising concern about the lack of controls and transparency attached to programmatic ads like you see in places like Google and YouTube, which raises questions about digital media, sending the entire programmatic ad serving model into question.

Digital marketing is still great if your sole goal is to reach individual buyers. But if your goal is to increase product volume, reach as many people as your media budget will allow and build brand awareness, traditional media is the best way to go.  Of course combining media channels and ‘diversifying’ will create the ‘multiplier effect’, replicating messages across multiple media channels, increasing recall and impact.

There’s more than one way to reach your audience…

It is important to remember that digital media is only ONE way people access information, content and entertainment.  Think about it, we all use a variety of media channels at the same time, whether it is through posting on social sites while watching tv, looking at mobile product videos while in a store, viewing print ads in your favorite magazine and then heading online to gain more information about what you just saw in print.

But what about the younger set?

You are thinking what about the youngins’?  They have an umbilical connection to their smartphones and tablets.  Truth is, they watch as much television as the rest of us and are the ones that listen to the radio in some shape or form the most. Their print consumption is equal to that of everyone else as well; however they gather most of their news from social media.

As the type of media mediums is beginning to shift, it is important to remember that it is all about diversity and balance – much like your financial portfolio.  Consistently invest in multiple media platforms (exposure plus the multiplying effect), maximize ROI by adding traditional reach-based media back into marking programs, spend advertising dollars on reaching younger audiences in both traditional and digital media, as well as invest about three-quarters of your media spending in traditional outlets to achieve the reach you want and need.