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These days more and more businesses are advertising online. We all know that most adults are on the internet for large chunks of their days, so it must be better to advertise online than in print, right?

Wrong!

Think about when you’re scrolling through pictures from your college roommate’s most recent vacation – you’re also answering a question your child has about what time soccer practice starts. Perhaps you’re chatting with a friend or co-worker about your plans for the weekend while you peruse a recent article. Perhaps you are working online while eating lunch. No matter how it happens, people are rarely focused solely on the content they are consuming online.

When you spend your marketing dollars on advertising content through social media or other online channels you may not be capturing the full attention of your prospective client. There are more ads online today than ever before, and there is no way of ensuring that your content will cut through all of the noise and make an impression.

Multi-tasking woman

If you are going to spend dollars on advertising, you should make sure your ad is in a format that is memorable enough to cultivate space in the consumer’s brain.

A recent neuroscience study sought to identify which parts of the brain are active at a given time, measuring how people respond to e-mail, social media and print advertising. Participants were fitted with visors and headsets containing sensors that picked up electrical responses in the brain as content was viewed. The study found mail is remembered 49% more strongly than e-mail advertising and 35% more strongly than social media advertising. Additionally, the study found print advertising is 33% more engaging than e-mail advertising and 35% more engaging than social media advertising.

Man reading magazine

When a prospect finds an advertisement engaging they are more likely to interact with your company. Potential customers are far more likely to engage with your company’s website or physical location when you advertise in print.

Touch is powerful. The human brain responds to touch. The feel of paper in a viewer’s hand engages more sensation than looking at a screen. While you might be able to touch the screen on a device to engage with an ad when it comes by on your social media application’s feed, your brain does not process that interaction in the same way it processes a piece of physical print media.

When people are reading printed content, it is the only thing they are doing. Readers are 30% more likely to give print content their undivided attention than they are email.

The postman brings something in the mail. You come home from work with your hands full, check your mailbox and take it into the house. Unlike the distracted scrolling that we humans do while online, 72% of people do not engage with printed items they receive in the mail until they can give it their full and undivided attention. Not only have you captured your potential client’s thoughts, but you have also made a positive impression by advertising in print- 70% of people polled said that print materials make them feel valued by the company reaching them. Only 30% of respondents had the same emotional response to content viewed online.

Scientific evidence has shown that print advertising is the most effective way to reach potential customers and make a lasting impression, but how do you know who to advertise with? The easiest way to start making that decision is identifying who you would like to target. Is your customer in the Durango area? Are they just outside that market, or in a completely different state? Once you have that answered, you can start looking at the businesses that hold real impacts in the areas they serve.

Any good publication business will take the time to focus on you and your business needs directly and continue that one on one support after the sale is made. They will understand the market you are working in and be able to help you develop a strategy that reaches out beyond the short-term goals and targets your business’s needs as well. You’ll know you’ve found the right place to put your advertising dollars when you have had your questions answered and feel like you are in good hands. At that point, you can sit back and enjoy the peace of mind that can bring!

Corbet and Marianne Hoover, owners and operators of Durango Magazine, work tirelessly to ensure that you get the most out of your marketing dollars, and help you cultivate ads that will hit the target audience you want to capture. Durango Magazine is the area’s premier local publication and has been linking businesses with eager clients since 1986. Visit them online at durangomagazine.com

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