Print inserts still sought out by consumers

Print is not dead. While many people, consumers and advertisers alike, believe that print is dying, I disagree. It is true that with the addition of digital media, there are so many platforms to choose from when putting together an advertising plan. Sometimes, other media forms have to be cut in the process. Just like every type of media, print has an audience.

One of the unique qualities that print offers and consumers seek out is inserts. eMarketer recently reported on research conducted by Frank N. Magid Associates on behalf of the Newspaper Association of America. The purpose of the study was to see how Americans shopped and spent money in 2014.

Of those surveyed who have used inserts, 70% sought it out to check on special savings or what sales are being run. Another 48% reported that it was easier to review printed inserts than search online for the same information.

The study further broke down which sources were used to find coupons.

·        61% used Sunday newspaper inserts or circulars

·        58% used direct mail advertising

·        46% used weekday newspaper inserts or circulars

·        45% went online to download and print off coupons

·        39% downloaded coupons on a handheld device that could be scanned at the store

·        36% used online coupons to buy something online

·        32% used ads from the regular sections of the newspaper

·        25% used coupons from magazines

Quick cheat sheet of digital media buzz words

There are a lot of new buzz words floating around the digital media landscape. Half the time I know what people are saying, “optimize”, and other times, not so much, “sticky.” Below is a little lingo tutorial to help decode what digital people are saying.

KPI:  Key Performance Indicator is a type of performance measurement. It evaluates the success of a particular activity in which it engages.

Native Advertising: Much like a print advertorial, this is an ad that is made to look like a part of the website. It may be a sponsor of a popular section of a website or an actual editorial piece on a designated page. These ads will be marked as advertising.

Optimization: This is a fancy way of saying that changes were made to a campaign to make it better. For example, changing up keywords, demographics, geographic targets, and/or creative.

Programmatic Advertising: This is a software program that is used to purchase digital advertising rather than working with vendors.

Stickiness: This is the amount of time spent on a website over a certain amount of time.

These are just a few of the many digital terms in use today. In general, buzz words tend to fall into the categories of Return on Investment measurement (success), the process in which ads are served (ad format), the method in which ads are purchased (vendors), and the manner in which ads are maintained (back-end reporting and managing).

If in doubt, use the word “optimize” as it tends to work in a lot of digital advertising conversations.

More magazines launch vs. close in first half of 2014

According to the online database MediaFinder.com, the first half of 2014 welcomed approximately 93 new magazines in the media landscape. By comparison, 30 magazine titles closed during that time frame.

MediaPost reports that the biggest magazine category that launched was classified as “regional interest.” In addition, of the 93 new titles, approximately 15 of those were business-to-business geared magazines.

Of the publications that closed between January and June of this year, 13 of them were automotive enthusiast niche titles. Two noteworthy magazines ceased publication this year. The first being Jet and it will now just be an annual special print edition. Also, the long-running title Ladies’ Home Journal shut down the monthly print magazine. Instead, it is transitioning to a newsstand-only quarterly publication.

Overall, the total ad pages purchased have seen a 4% decline from 2013. First quarter of 2013 sold about 29,745 pages, and the same time period in 2014 showed 28,567 ad pages.

Consumers still choose to read printed books

We live in an age where accessibility to entertaining content really isn’t a problem. The problem for advertisers lies in how consumers are accessing that content. Pew Research Center’s Internet Project shed some light on how people are specifically consuming the written word.

Recently, the research company conducted a survey asking respondents to report if he/she read a printed book within the last 12 months. According to eMarketer, Pew compared this data to information pulled in 2011 and 2012. Results showed that while printed books had a slight dip in 2012 it is still the dominant choice in reading format.

2011:  71% of consumers read a printed book within the past 12 months

            17% of consumers read an ebook within the past 12 months

2012:  65% of consumers read a printed book within the past 12 months

            23% of consumers read an ebook within the past 12 months

2014:  69% of consumers read a printed book within the past 12 months

            28% of consumers read an ebook within the past 12 months

The study also looked at the rate of adaptation and growth to ereaders and tablets for reading materials vs. other digital devices.

Computers: 42% of ebook readers used computers in December 2011 which has shown decline to 29% in January 2014.

Ereader: In 2011, 41% of ebook readers utilized ereaders. This number has increased to 57% in 2014.

Mobile phone: 28% of ebook readers used mobile phones in 2011 compared to 32% in 2014.

Tablet: The sharpest growth came from tablets with 23% usage in 2011 to 55% usage in 2014.

Overall, it appears that consumers are still interested in reading; it just may come from different formats. The printed word is still the most popular format with ereaders and tablets working to close the gap.

New report shows magazine audience grows from last year

With digital media making a bigger presence in consumers everyday lives, advertisers can benefit in knowing to what degree this is true. MediaPost recently reported on data from GfK MRI that looked into American readership of magazines across the print and digital formats.

Overall, the data showed that print readership has increased since last year. If looking at the print magazine by itself, it increased from 1.19 billion in early 2012 to 1.21 billion in spring 2013. This is about a 2.36% increase in readership.

The digital platform is still new and growing, so its readership is less than print’s. As of this year, it’s approximately 1.4% of the total readership. In fact, the digital audience was 9.2 million in early 2012 and grew to 16.9 million a year later.

In combination of print and digital platforms (not including users on the magazine website), the magazine audience increased by 2.98% from last year.

The data shows that approximately 62% of the magazines measured audience increases from the year prior. Some of the titles include Diabetes Forecast, Psychology Today, Yoga Journal, Costal Living, and Food Network Magazine.  The publications FamilyFun and PC World were down in readership.