Advertising has been around since the dawn of the new era. Ancient civilizations used advertising to reform economies and grow their resources. In the mid-19th century, paper advertising or print ads rose rapidly and became the holy grail of most companies. Businessmen saw the benefits of this form of advertising and built their own printing agencies targeting small fry who wants to purchase a space on their papers.
Paper and print advertising, apparently, is a widely used form of advertising. From newspapers, magazines, brochures, pamphlets, flyers, name it; you can absolutely see it everywhere. This form of advertising is so influential and powerful that it creates propaganda and unions from different countries. It can entice its readers to patronize a certain featured product. More often than not, it compels people to spend more after reading and seeing the ad without thinking twice.
But the game-changer here is, how much of these agencies spent on paper advertising? Does it still matter today after computers have been introduced?
The Cost of Paper Advertising
There are different forms of paper advertising. Each form costs differently from the other depending on its coverage. They are Magazine Advertising, Newspaper Advertising, Directory Advertising, and Additional Print Advertising. These forms or types are widely used by most businesses to expand their empire thereby generating sales from its target market. According to WebFX, magazine advertising has a setup cost of $500 to $397,800 dollars, newspaper advertising, on the other hand, ranges from $11 to $1.4 million dollars. Directory advertising which includes yellow pages ranges from $250 to $5,000 dollars per month depending on the size of the ad. Meanwhile, additional print advertising which includes flyers and brochures usually ranges from $200 to $2,000 dollars depending on the design specifications.
Comparing it to other methods of advertising, say for instance TV and broadcast, it’s far more affordable. TV advertising cost around $60,000 to $8 million dollars in the US alone. Though they have pros and cons, both TV and paper advertising is an effective tool in delivering your message as long as you have the following correct elements:
- Eye-catching headline
- Attractive offer
- Product value
- Call to action line
- Understandable tone
- Compelling image
Is Paper Advertising Dead?
When advertising turns digital, print ads have declined year after year but still alive and kicking. Despite its slow pace, several companies that shifted from print to digital paved the way to a different method of advertising. From the barely moving traditional marketing, companies such as bigDAWGS Promotions, combined technology to the old-fashioned approach of advertising. This gave birth to the combination of both traditional and digital advertising giving life to paper advertising.
From flashing LCD’s, video books, musical and video greeting cards, webUSB, paper webKEY, NFC; these are just some of the innovative products integrated into brochures, flyers, and the like to bring your marketing piece out from its long slumber. Adding electronics to marketing is a unique way of leveraging your brand towards your existing and new clients.
Marketing Takeaway
Paper advertising will stay as an effective tool in promoting a product or a service. It will be even more effective if combined with technology to bring out the best of your marketing campaigns.
