5 Advantages of Newspaper Advertising

Happy New Year! We just put another year behind us. All I heard last year was digital this, digital that, social media this, social media that, repeat, repeat. Sure, Star Tribune has massive digital reach and the most advanced audience targeting capabilities available. But I thought it might be fun to kick off 2015 with some interesting things I found in a recent article that talked about 5 advantages of newspaper advertising. I'm sure there are many more but I thought these were pretty good and wanted to share them with you.

FIRST, Print has gravitas.

How do you think it feels to be interviewed by a major newspaper and to see your remarks in print? Print has tangibility that the web doesn't. You can clip something out of the newspaper, send it to someone, put it on the fridge, tuck it in your wallet. I enjoy, when I'm reading my newspaper at the coffee shop, tearing out something while people watch me do it. I love to look them in the eye and say: "You can't do that with radio or television, can you?".

SECOND, "Influentials" are swayed by newspapers.

The MIR survey of the American Consumer found that so-called "Influentials", who sway other consumers, are influenced by print, with 53% being influenced by newspapers.

THIRD, Newspaper readers are focused.

Aside from brewing a cup of coffee, not that much multi-tasking goes on during newspaper reading. This only makes sense. If you are browsing the web with six tabs open and the television is on in the background, you may not be that receptive to all the advertising going on around you. But if you are reading a newspaper you're generally focused on just that.

We live in tech-saturated times. However, people are starting to see the value of unplugging occasionally. Baratunde Thurston, New York Times bestselling author unplugged for 25 days and wrote about this experience for Fast Company. People are unplugging themselves from their devices and the web, and the daily newspaper is there to engage people during these times.

FIFTH, Newspapers offer ad buyers flexibility and more personal attention.

You can place your ad in a section of the newspaper that is compatible with the audience you are trying to reach. There are distribution capabilities to send out geographically targeted pre-prints with the newspaper. You can tailor your ad to your budget with zoned sections of the newspaper. When you work with the newspaper you have a better chance of actually speaking with someone who divvies up the print real estate rather than leaving it up to an algorithm. So you can make your specific needs for ad positioning known.

Just because it's the new year, don't forget some of the old tried and true reasons to use the print edition of the Star Tribune.