No, I’m not talking about Olivia Newton-John’s song that took over every group fitness class in the 80s—I’m talking about physical advertising. Print media. Tangible marketing. Of course, as the owner of two print publications, I’m an advocate for print advertising, but do you know who else supports print advertising? Science! That’s right, there is scientific research that reveals how the human brain interacts with advertising, and it doesn’t all favor digital marketing as some may assume.
I stand behind online and social media advertising—there is definitely a need for it and it’s effective—Strictly Business has a very strong presence online and on social media ourselves! But no marketer should ignore the fact that print still carries its weight in the game. For some marketing goals, print is actually more effective.
A couple of years ago, Temple University gathered consumer neuroscience researchers for a study conducted with the U.S. Post Office, and they found significant differences in the way our brains process print ads vs. digital ads. According to a blog post by Neuroscience Marketing
(www.neurosciencemarketing.com) breaking down the results of the study, here was the main takeaway from the synopsis of the study: Though digital ads were processed quicker, after a week, subjects showed greater emotional response and memory for physical media ads. The physical ads caused more activity in brain areas associated with value and desire, meaning a stronger chance of purchasing.
“When viewing physical ads, participants had a stronger emotional response and remembered them better. Physical ads, though slower to get one’s attention at first exposure, leave a longer-lasting impact for easy recall when making a purchase decision. Most importantly, physical ads triggered activity in the area of the brain (ventral striatum) that is responsible for value and desirability for featured products, which can signal a greater intent to purchase.”
That’s what our ads are for right? Creating awareness and, ultimately, selling our products/services. I think it’s great to have this knowledge when making marketing decisions. There are a lot of companies that have subscribed to the school of thought that print is dead and that just simply isn’t true. Print is strong and effective.
According to the study, “digital ads may provide a cost effective option for companies that are trying to get consumers’ attention to quickly understand a marketing message. However, companies that want to generate a more accurate memory of an ad, for better recall during a purchase, would be served best by physical ads.”
Strictly Business is proud to be in print and online, and we are active on social media as well. When a business advertises with us, they are putting their branding in front of our large local audience in a meaningful and MEMORABLE way. We are also all about putting a face to the business or organization name, as you can see through our Personnel News section, the Star City Sixes, feature stories, and more. If you’re interested in advertising with Strictly Business, please reach out to me. I’d love to tell you about how easy we make it for our clients by taking care of the ad design and professional writing for them, if they need it, at no extra cost. Plus, all the free, value-added editorial we give to our advertisers takes their marketing dollars way further than other media outlets. So, “let’s get physical!”