There are multiple ways people communicate with one another — telephone, mail, email and even social media.  But, according to a Power of Print Custom Content Blog article, seventy percent of the people surveyed prefer print over other forms of communication; feeling it’s a more personal form of communication.

Furthermore, print is also a highly engaging form of communication; the average person spending almost three quarters of an hour reading magazines.  Additionally, 93 percent of adults read printed magazines and newspapers and prefer to read it in its printed form versus its digital counterpart.

Conversely, the average website visitor spends much less time with its content.  In fact, if your content doesn’t attract the attention of the user immediately — within seven to 10 seconds of opening the page — they won’t bother reading the rest of your content; regardless of whether or not they were originally interested in your brand, service or product.  Even pages with content that intrigued the visitor tend to only maintain the users attention for a few minutes.

Finally, print also instigates purchases — 77 percent of people have bought something in response to a magazine article or advertisement.  Print also drives online searches.  Sixty percent of online brand searches are in direct response to a printed message.

Print and digital should not be seen as competing communication channels, rather complementary methods that help to increase your brand’s reach and frequency.  And according to the Power of Print Custom Content Blog, 75 percent of consumers feel the same.  They believe that print and digital messages should relate to each other and they also expect a brand’s digital content to be similar to the printed content.

Print is powerful, influential and not only increases ROI, but also drives online traffic. How are you using print?

Timothy Freeman

President

Print & Graphic Communications Association