One of my favorite magazines of all time is mental_floss. It’s filled to the brim with trivia and interesting little facts. I look forward to it every month and usually read it cover to cover, something I rarely do with magazines. If you ever visited the ENX2 office, you may have seen a few copies lying around (I believe in sharing great things). So imagine my dismay when I received this month’s copy and found out that it was its last ever print copy. According to a published letter from the founders, the magazine wasn’t going out of business – it was just turning its attention to the digital rather than the print.
I was disappointed but I could understand where they’re coming from. As someone who began in the newspaper industry, I understand the issues facing print media these days. And it turns out, so does advertisers.
According to a recent article by AdvertisingAge, the revenue from digital advertising is expected to overtake traditional advertising in U.S. local markets by 2018. In its U.S. Local Advertising Forecast 2017, advertising research company BIA/Kelsey predicts that local digital advertising revenues in the U.S. are expected to reach $50.2 billion next year, an increase of 13.5 percent over this year. Meanwhile, traditional methods, such as print and broadcast advertising, is going to drop, from $101.1 billion in 2016 to $98.6 billion in 2017.
For at least a decade now, experts have been saying print is dying and these numbers show that advertisers are believing the predictions. Let’s be honest here…digital advertising can be more effective, cheaper, and can deliver to your target audience. But that doesn’t mean you should totally jump ship. Don’t discredit print and broadcast just yet – they still pack a punch. According to recent analysis by MarketShare, despite more and more people unplugging from their cable boxes, TV advertising is still pretty effective. Even BIA/Kelsey said that you need a well-rounded advertising strategy in order to be successful.
So to sum up: Digital advertising will soon overtake broadcast and print advertising within the next couple of years. But that doesn’t mean you should put all your eggs in one basket. It’s still important to spread the love around.
If you need help with your digital advertising efforts, especially with PPC campaigns, contact ENX2 Marketing today and see how we can help you out.
