In Eric Alterman’s article for the March 31 issue of The New Yorker entitled, “The News Business, Out of Print,” he cites newspaper companies losing advertisers, readers, and market value as a sign of their demise. He also cites the rise of the Internet, making the daily newspaper look slow and unresponsive, and the advent of Craiglist, which is surpassing classified advertising, as further indicators of printed newspapers’ obsolescence.

However, further research shows that print continues to play an important role in Internet marketing and it remains the most trusted and often preferred medium. An alliance of print industry leaders known as The Print Council, has asked the Rochester Institute of Technology and six other universities to collect and summarize the best or recent research on all types of media.

Direct mail is projected to grow by 4.5% this year and will account for the largest advertising spent in the United States. Research reveals that 80% of people read or skim their direct mail and 38% find it interesting. Among unsolicited email, internet banner ads, sales calls to the home and text message ads, 75% of consumers say that they are more likely to pay attention to and respond to direct mail. Furthermore, consumers who receive a printed catalog from a retailer are twice as likely to buy online from that retailer as consumers who did not get the catalog.

Tags: newspaper, print industry

Trackback from your own site.