Content
University

Three ways that print media is making a comeback

Digital innovation is part of nearly every facet of our daily lives. With the prominence of personal devices like smartphones, watches, and tablets all the way to the imminent ubiquity of virtual reality technology, it’s safe to say that the digitization of our world is here to stay.

However, humans are innately tactile creatures. We long for the touch of a loved one, the feeling of the warm sun on our skin, even the turn of a page on a book — these are basic desires that that can never be satiated by a touchscreen or computer software.

In fact, it has been found that no matter the boundless amount of information available at our fingertips today, the majority of people still prefer the feel of a book or magazine over a digital counterpart such as an e-reader.

For years, the print industry has seen a steady and drastic decline, but there is evidence that the importance of this seemingly outdated technology will not only remain relevant, but is actually making a comeback.

Below are three ways that print media that show that this traditional form of information and entertainment won’t be disappearing anytime soon.

People still enjoy holding things

No matter how empowering or accessible, an ebook can never replicate the feeling of holding an old-fashioned magazine or book. This is a lesson that Nate and Vanessa Quigley, co-founders of Chatbooks, used to build a thriving business of photo books printed directly from Instagram feeds.

One night, as Vanessa was putting her seven children in bed, she saw one of them clutching a few printed photos of his early childhood. A wave of sadness washed over her—her child had no memories to really hold. Then she had an epiphany. Nate and Vanessa pivoted their business to print those digital memories and giving people something hold. By incorporating new technologies into a timeless medium, Chatbooks honors the need of humans to physically hold a memory—and has built a thriving business in the process.

Marketers can use it to cut through digital noise

Online advertising and content creation has been at the forefront of a marketer’s arsenal of audience outreach in the past few years. With the amount of time a person spends on social media in a given day, online marketing is the quickest and often easiest way for a brand to root its influence.

However, saturation of ads and content on social platforms has made it increasingly harder to cut through the dissonance and get that sought-after brand recognition. This often leads to misdirected content and an overall waste of resources.

Because of this saturation, there is now a rekindled interest in print content marketing. In research conducted by the Content Marketing Institute, it was found that content marketing in magazines is still an especially relevant tactic amongst marketing agencies and businesses. And many companies are still seeing great success in print media as a method of marketing.

One such company is Sourced Media Books, a publisher that specializes in nonfiction books that serve as marketing platforms to sell professional services or other products. Popular hospitality exchange service Airbnb also recently announced the launch of their own magazine that will be distributed to homes that use their service.

Print media is still an absolutely viable means of marketing despite the overwhelming attention put on online marketing recently. It has been found that more Americans prefer to read print books over e-readers, and that over 90 percent of adults still read paper magazines.

Provides an additional content delivery avenue

One would be remiss to think of online and print marketing as mutually exclusive methods to reach an audience. In 2012, long-trusted news source Newsweek announced the discontinuation of their print publication in lieu of an all-online news source. But in 2014, Newsweek returned to the print realm in congruence with its continued online service.

Many, if not all, major consumer magazines have begun running an online version of their publication. Of these major magazines, a huge amount of their revenue still comes from print alone. However, they have seen the benefit of running online versions alongside their regular print issues, allowing the maximum amount of viewership.

Yes, print is alive and well. Sure, now it is sharing the stage with a newer and more readily available source of information, but it still very much has its place in our world.