Is print advertising dead? We don’t think so. As a matter of fact, print advertising is still widely used today. Print advertising is what you see on magazines and newspapers and you’ll also find them on fliers and brochures. Simply put, anything that is written using print media and is designed to attract the attention of a specific target market falls under print advertising. Most people who are fond of reading newspapers are inclined to check out print ads. Some of them may make purchases right there on the spot while others may put it off but the information would already be deposited in their memory bank so when they do see the product up close the next time, they go shopping they won’t have second thoughts about buying it.
The only problem with print advertising is they only work when potential customers see them, otherwise, they’d be useless. So, when you design print ads you have to make sure they are designed in a way that grabs the eye because if not then it means you’ve wasted so much time, money and effort over something that didn’t serve its purpose. When people are reading newspapers, your goal is to shift their gaze to your ad to make them see it until they reach your call-to-action instructions. This should be your goal when you design print ads.
Business owners should maximize their marketing efforts by including print advertising in their business-marketing plan. When done right, you can generate more leads, attract more customers, increase your sales and eventually grow your business. Print advertising is so powerful because it strengthens your credibility. Keep in mind that people will not buy if they don’t trust you. You have to earn their trust and one way of doing that is to be visible through print ads.
How can you use print advertising to engage a new audience? We’ll show you how:s
Be Unique and Break Away from The Norm
Strive to be unique. When designing print ads don’t copy what others are doing because that won’t set you apart, instead, find your own voice, your own theme and your own design. Come up with something that will make you different from others. For example, if the publication you will be featured in mostly contains art and images create an ad that highlights on content but make sure your ads will emphasize your brand so they can easily recognize you.
Consistency is Key
The point of print advertising is to let people know who you are. So you have to be consistent that means applying the same branding theme on all mediums. A potential customer must be able to recognize who you are when they read a magazine, browse the web or pass by a poster on the street. The campaign you are going to design must resonate with your consumers. Another way to practice consistency is to insert a hashtag for all your posts both online and offline.
Use Your Best Social Post as Your Guide
We’re sure you’ve made effective social posts online. If you have posts that have garnered a lot of likes, comments and had a high engagement rate use that as your guide to create captivating visuals with clever eye-catching headlines. At least with this you won’t have to rack your brains thinking about what to design.
Concentrate on Targeting, Offers and Design
If you want your print ads to succeed you must spend time doing research. Research is a valuable tool that will give you priceless insight, insight you can use to compel clients to notice you and eventually buy from you. Research what kind of audience you want to reach and then once you have that information create a design that you are sure will attract the audience you plan on targeting. You can’t create a design in the hopes that it will attract everyone, although that would be ideal, it’s not realistic. Concentrate on a design that is sure to grab the attention of quality audience.
Create Interactive Ads
Before print ads were merely pretty text and images but today, digital technology has evolved and you can have the option to make your ads interactive. According to surveys, interactive ads are more effective because it’s dynamic. By using customized phone apps and QR codes, you can come up with ads that promote brand and consumer interactive. This is the kind of ad that people will be excited to try and the kind of ad they will likely share with their family and friends.
Don’t Make It Long
As much as possible, limit the text in your ad. Keep in mind that you are only given a couple of seconds to get their attention and if you can’t accomplish that the whole thing will be for nothing. You have to assume that most if not all readers have a very short attention span so it’s best that you cram every piece of important information on your headline and just include a few sentences and visuals that are enough to share a powerful story. In print advertising less is more. It’s wrong to think that the more information you stuff in there the more interested they’ll be. Chances are, the long sentences are going bore them and too many visual images will confuse them.
Make a Compelling Call to Action
The most successful print ads are those that have a compelling call-to-action. Sure, the purpose of the ad is to let your target market know that you exist and that you can offer what they need, but to conclude it you have to tell them what you want them to do. For example, if you are running a perfume business you can invite them to like your Facebook Page or tell them to follow you on Twitter or Instagram or instruct them to subscribe to your blog or your newsletters so they’ll be the first one to know if you have upcoming promos and sales. If you don’t indicate that specific call-to-action, chances are, they won’t do any of those. Guide them towards your goal by creating a call-to-action.
Don’t Share Everything
It can be tempting to let them know everything but if you want to lure them you have to keep some to yourself and use your ads as bait. Learn how to tease your consumers so they’ll get hooked. Keep them wanting more. For example, you could write click here to learn more and that would lead them to your website where they can find more information about your products and services. Avoid over sharing because that won’t pique their interest.
Get To Know Your Audience
To get the most out of your design make sure you know your audience well. It’s useless to design something that won’t interest a potential customer. For example, if your target market is between the ages fifteen and twenty-five and yet your print ads have a classic theme, you can bet they won’t spend another minute on it. As mentioned previously, research is power. The more you know about your target market the more effective your print ads will be because your insight will guide your creativity. You will know what colors, what text and what copy will resonate with them.
Create Uniformity
When you run a campaign make sure what you post online is the same offline so as not to confuse your target market. The message has to be the same and it has to be consistent across all platforms and while you’re at it, make sure you include a call-to-action on all your print ads.
Takeaway
Contrary to popular belief, print media is not dead. It’s very much alive and it has the power to catapult your business towards greatness you just have to know what to do and what to avoid. It’s also important that you be strategic because every print ad you make is going to cost you time, money and effort and these are three things you can’t take back, which is why we always suggest that you research and learn the strategies and techniques in print advertising to get the best possible results.
You can look at influential brands and observe how they design their print ads. You don’t necessarily have to copy what they do but you can get inspiration on how they did it. But while you’re getting ideas from others never veer away from the theme of your brand. It can be tempting to try other colors and images but if changing them will confuse your target market and obscure your brand then you need to change that. There are countless ways to attract people to your business and we believe print advertising both digital and traditional can be a great help. In fact, one of the reasons why it’s still being used today is because business owners know how powerful they are. If you want to grow your business, increase your sales and improve your profitability, we highly recommend that you use print advertising.