The differences between print and digital advertising

As the world becomes more and more digitized, companies are forced to change the way they advertise. While print advertising was effective back in the day, the marketing landscape has changed. It has had to reshape itself in order to be relevant to ever-changing consumer behaviors, driven primarily by the adoption of technology.

But what exactly are the differences between these two types of advertising? And which one is better for your business? Let’s take a closer look.

Print vs. Digital Advertising

There are several key differences between print and digital advertising. Let's take a look at a few of these.

1. Reach

With effective digital advertising, you have the potential to reach a global audience with just a few clicks. Print advertising, on the other hand, is limited to those who physically see the publication in which your ad is placed. With digital advertising, you can reach a far wider audience.

2. Cost

Digital advertising is often much cheaper than print advertising, as you only pay for the ad space that your ad actually occupies. Print ads, on the other hand, can be quite expensive, as you typically have to pay for a certain amount of space regardless of whether or not people actually see your ad. With digital ads, you can set the costing structure to only pay for those who click on your ad, which means you are paying for an engagement. You can work out exactly what the cost is per click (CPC). This makes it far more effective than print advertising.

3. Flexibility

Digital ads can be easily changed and updated on the fly, whereas print ads are generally set in stone once they’re published. This means that you can quickly change your digital ad campaign if it’s not performing well, whereas you’re stuck with a print ad for the duration of its run. Digital ads give you the ability to be flexible in your messaging, changing the narrative if the circumstances change or if you find the advert is simply not working (perhaps there is limited engagement or extremely low goal completions).

4. Tracking

With digital advertising, it’s easy to track how well your ad is performing thanks to built-in analytics tools. Print advertising, on the other hand, is much more difficult to measure in terms of ROI. Consider a digital advert on the New York Times website versus a billboard advert on a highway. With the digital ad, you have the ability to track its impact, whether that be by the impressions of the advert or by how many people have clicked on the ad. Further to this, you have the ability to measure the conversion rates of such ads. For example, you can measure the percentage of people that clicked on the advert and then completed a goal, whether that be a quote or an actual purchase (or even a simple form completion). With a billboard ad, you have no idea of how many people actually saw and took notice of it. It's also impossible to truly measure its impact.

5. Targeting of print ads versus digital ads

With digital advertising, you can target ads to specific demographics, interests, and even behaviors. This ensures that your ad reaches the right people, at the right time, with the right message. Print advertising, on the other hand, is much more general and non-specific in its targeting. Even if you are a camping gear business selling camping goods and you placed a print ad in a camping or outdoor-focused title, it's still fairly broad. With digital, you can target certain interests and geolocations, making this type of advertising far more effective.

6. Testing print ads versus digital ads

Truly effective digital advertising allows you to test different versions of your ad, to see which one performs best. This is known as A/B testing and it’s a great way to fine-tune your ad campaign for maximum effectiveness. Print advertising, on the other hand, doesn’t offer this same level of flexibility. You generally have to commit to one version of your ad and hope for the best.

7. Interactivity

Digital ads are far more interactive than print ads. With digital ads, people can click on them, share them, comment on them, and even post their own reviews. This interactivity encourages engagement and helps to create a connection between the consumer and the advertiser. Print ads, on the other hand, are generally one-way communication, with the advertiser doing all the talking and the consumer doing all the listening (or not listening at all – this is called banner blindness).

8. Environmental impact

While this is more important to some than it is to others, it's become increasingly important to consider the environmental impact of your business. Digital advertising is much more environmentally friendly than print advertising. There’s no need to use paper or other resources in order to create a digital ad. This means that there’s less of an impact on the environment. Print ads, on the other hand, have a significant environmental impact due to the resources necessary to create them.

Combining print and digital ads for maximum impact

Digital advertising isn't necessarily a replacement for print advertising. In fact, the two can work together to create a well-rounded marketing campaign. For example, you could use print ads to generate awareness and interest in your product or service, and then use digital ads to drive traffic to your website or landing page. By using both types of advertising, you can reach a wider audience and achieve better results.

If you have to choose one, which one is it?

As we've mentioned above, digital advertising is the way to go if you want to reach a larger audience, target specific demographics, and measure your results. It's also more environmentally friendly than print advertising.

If you are going to back one horse, you'll want to make sure it is the digital horse.

Trust the digital experts

As a leading digital marketing agency across the US, we know what it takes to conceptualize and execute an effective digital advertising strategy. In fact, we are rating number one out of 63,000 digital marketing agencies. Don't take our word for it though, these testimonials highlight why thousands of businesses have chosen us with their digital marketing strategies.

Our team of passionate experts has the tools and the expertise to make your brand stand out tall against the rest. So, what are you waiting for, give us a call today at (888) 353-1484. You can also see some of our work by looking us up on Facebook or Instagram.