Online vs Print Advertising: Everything You Need to Know

We weigh up the pros and cons of both, as well as factors such as budget and timeframes to help you make an informed decision.
Online vs Print Advertising: Everything You Need to Know

Online Advertising

Pros

Precision

Advertising through online platforms such as social media (Instagram, Facebook) and Search Engines (Google, Youtube) allow you to precisely target your audience based on things such as demographics, interests, and behaviour. This allows you to make the most of your advertising spend, and ensure that every dollar you spend on ads is working hard to bring you conversions.

Measurable

Advertising online offers analytics delivered to you in real-time, meaning you can view analytics such as click-through rates, conversion, engagement percentages, and more in just as little as 8 hours. Having this data is incredibly helpful in refining your marketing strategy, and getting optimal results.

Not only that, with cost structures such as pay-per-click (PPC) and cost-per-impression (CPM), advertising online can accommodate budgets of various sizes. This allows for businesses to start small and ease into new systems before scaling up once returns start coming in.

Quick Results

Online campaigns also yield rapid results, with the average ad set gaining peak momentum within the first 2 weeks of its release. This makes online campaigns a great choice for short-term promotions, sales, or any offers that are time-sensitive. Having this agility is a great tool for startups or smaller businesses with demands that can fluctuate throughout the year.

Cons

Ad Fatigue

Online ads are now more easy than ever to start, and there is a growing number of businesses choosing to utilise this tool in their marketing strategy. A downside to this is users experiencing ad fatigue, leading to ad-blocking or banner blindness. This can impact the effectiveness of your campaigns, and needs special consideration to work around.

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OUR TOP TIP: Balance the content that you are posting. Not everything has to be a sale or offer- instead, lean into other content verticals such as Educational posts, Enriching or Inspiring pieces to tell your story and build a genuine relationship with your audience that will grow into customer loyalty.


Print Advertising


Pros

Tangible Impact & Reach

Printed material offers a tactile experience, leaving a lasting impression. Mediums such as magazines and newspapers can also offer a sense of legitimacy and credibility, reaching audiences in a specific geographic area, making it an ideal option for local targeting.

Cons

Limited Tracking

Unlike online campaigns, it can be difficult tracking the success of a printed ad. Without tools to measure engagement and conversions in real time, it can be tricky to measure the overall Return on Investment (ROI) on an advertisement.

Cost & Response

Not only that, traditional print can also be a costlier expense depending on design, printing and distribution expenses with a third party publisher. This might put a strain on smaller budgets, and offer less flexibility should last minute changes need to be made. Given the publishing nature of print media, longer wait times for responses would be needed as a result of longer production distribution cycles.

So, which one should you opt for?

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Regardless of the size of your business, it is key to take into consideration the timeframe in which you need the material to go out, long-term goals you have, as well as overall budgets. Online Advertising can offer more budget flexibility and faster response rates, making it a great choice for businesses looking for quicker returns on investment. On the other hand, the slower turnaround generally seen with Print Advertising works wonders at leaving a long-lasting impression and boost overall branding efforts.

Want to explore Online Advertising?

Drop us a message today.

Candice Eliaes

Candice Eliaes

Marketing & Social

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