We counted a total of nine different research studies that prove adding print will increase sales.
Here’s research on keeping print in the budget to improve sales results:
1. Baxter Research sells a post-publication survey that tests recall of specific print and digital ads that ran during the survey period, shows that print ads typically account for 50% of total recall.
In other words, dropping print for digital only loses 50% of brand recall. These current 2024 surveys prove what research has been saying for years.
2. MarketingProfs Reported when print and digital are combined. You can see the full infographic of data sets here.
3. Daniel Burstein, Senior Director of Content and Marketing at MarketingSherpa, found the similar results – print is most trusted of all media when making a purchase – way back in 2017 conducted one of the first studies on print response.
4. Another key infographic from finance online.com shares research on a 4x increase in reponse from adding print, along with other reseach.
5. Neuroscience: Your brain on print is different.
In 2024, the proof has taken on a new form. Instead of mere surveys, science has pin-pointed the area of the brain that lights up with purchase intent. That area lights up when people are put in an MRI and shown a print ad from a week ago.
Not so for digital ads.
6. Harvard Business Review: Marketers, tired of digital noise and decreased ROI, return to print.
The 2022 article noted that now that digital is mature, the landscape has shifted again. Consumers have become, marketers said in a a CMO survey, “digitally numb.”
“They report frustration and negative brand association with digital advertising clutter that prevents them from reading an article, watching a video, or browsing a website.
“For example, the HBR articles goes on, a HubSpot survey found that 57% of participants disliked ads that played before a video, and 43% didn’t even watch them. As a result, marketers are looking for a way to cut through the noise.”
The report goes on to explain that today, ROI for print and other traditional media is now competitive.
7. Finally, there’s the fact that 71% of magazine readers prefer reading in print to online, especially younger readers.
The same was not true for newspapers, the study created by YouGov reported.
A 2023 article in Forbes is headlined “Tech giants gutted publishing. Now digital fatigue is giving print a new lease on life,” sourced YouGov’s survey to recommend including print in the budget.
Who wants to lose the part of the market that is reading the print product when the ads produce higher purchase intent anyway?
In short, there are numerous reasons why specialty advertisers should not only consider niche magazines that engage exclusive audience in their community.
There are an equal number include print in the buy.
