Print Ads Maintain Sizable Reach

May 26, 2016

Fluent-Retailer-Marketing-Channel-Reach-May2016Print ads continue to have reach and influence, per new studies released by Fluent [download page] and the Newspaper Association of America (NAA) [pdf]. While concerned with different categories (retail and local politics), the two studies demonstrate that advertising in print media continues to have an impact with consumers.

The first study, from Fluent, examines the reach of various marketing channels in the context of consumers’ favorite retailers. The results of the survey – which was conducted among more than 1,800 US consumers – indicate that TV ads, print ads, and online ads have the broadest reach, with about 4 in 10 respondents having seen these ads from their favorite retailers in the prior month.

That suggests that retailers’ print ads (39%) have a broader reach with consumers than retailers’ mobile notifications (31%), email newsletters (31%) and mobile shopping apps (30%).

The continued reach of print advertising is supported by primary research from MarketingCharts. In examining various advertising channels, MarketingCharts’ survey found that roughly 1 in 5 consumers had noticed a specific advertiser in the prior week when reading a print magazine (22%) or print newspaper (19.9%). Those figures were on par with the share of respondents who had recalled seeing an advertiser when using a social network (20.5%), despite social media’s far broader weekly reach.

Meanwhile, in the second report, the NAA-commissioned study reveals that Sunday local newspapers reach half of registered voters during a typical week, with all local newspaper media (including online) together reaching 64% of registered voters. Survey respondents reported that political ads seen in local newspapers were as likely to impact their vote decisions as ads on TV.

It’s likely that local newspapers’ influence is higher among older Americans. In a separate study of media audiences, MarketingCharts discovered that local newspaper readership skews more towards older Americans than any other traditional medium, including broadcast TV, cable TV, terrestrial radio, and magazines. In fact, Americans aged 65 and older were 58% more likely than average to read local newspapers, with the 18-24 age bracket being almost 50% below-average in local newspaper readership.

Other Findings:

Other highlights from the Fluent report on retailers’ marketing channels follow:

  • Consumers reached through more channels reported making a greater number of in-store and online purchases from their favorite retailers than those reached through fewer channels; and
  • Social media appears to pair well with email: respondents who engaged with their favorite retailers via email and a social network (such as Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook) were more likely than those reached via email and another channel to make frequent purchases from their favorite retailers.

About the Data: The Fluent results are based on a survey conducted May 7th among 1,802 Americans.

The NAA study was conducted by Nielsen Scarborough, which surveyed 1,015 English-speaking registered voters over the age of 18.

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