The Decline of Print Advertising Leads to Opportunities for Savvy Marketing

They may still be black and white, but they're no longer being read all over.

As more and more of us turn online for our daily dose of headlines, newspaper readership and revenues are declining. And fast.

Recent studies predict a 10% drop in print-based circulation revenues and a 20% drop in overall advertising revenues in 2009, according to Deloitte. And this downward slide won't end any time soon. eMarketer forecasts that annual drops in newspaper ad revenues will continue through to at least 2012.
 
Trends Show Online Readership Is Rising, Ad Revenues Declining

The percentage of people who read the newspaper online is rapidly growing, particularly among younger generations. Approximately 14% of Canadians now get their news solely online, up from only 9% in 2006.

On the other hand, print ad revenues are declining as advertisers follow the trend of going online. As a result, online ad spending is predicted to rise 8.9% in 2009 and will outperform traditional media forms whose advertising revenue is declining.

But there's a silver lining.

"What Deloitte's predictions this year suggest is, yes there are the gloomier sides, but there are some growth markets," says Duncan Stewart, Director of DSAM Consulting. These markets, which include classifieds, mobile advertising, rich media and social marketing, offer companies of all sizes a clear way forward in uncertain economic times.

The Changing Face of Classifieds: Is Going Online Really the Answer?

More and more people are also turning to the internet for their classified listings.
 
31% of consumers turn to search engines first for local business information, marginally edging out the 30% who turn to Yellow or White pages for similar information, according to comScore's second annual Local Search Consumer Usage Research Study.

But there is still a need for print-based classifieds. In fact, surveyed consumers also said they still find the Yellow Pages a good source for local business information. 

The solution? Do both. Keep print ads as part of your marketing plan but consider tapping into the online classified platforms as well. They're both easy, cost-effective ways to boost the profile of any business.

Cell-phones are the new billboards

"Cell phones are the new billboards," according to Deloitte. Their potential as a viral marketing platform should definitely not be ignored.

Gartner, Inc. estimates the mobile advertising market is worth some $2.7 billion today. And it's growing. Mobile advertising, which represented about 0.4% of the total advertising expenditure in 2008, will grow between 300% and 500% worldwide in 2009.

Porsche's recent mobile advertising is proof positive of just how successful mobile advertising can be. In 2008 the luxury car manufacturer introduced mobile advertising as part of an online campaign that also used online display ads and search engine marketing. And the results were impressive. Despite only accounting for 10% of the total budget, mobile advertising generated approximately 25% of the total campaign traffic.
  
The Way Forward: Be Rich and Be Social

If going mobile is a bit daunting, then consider this. 

Adobe's third annual Scene7 study found that rich media and social networking  are the top web marketing investments being planned by Canadian businesses in 2009. 
 
Deloitte's list of 2009 Canadian media predictions also forecasts "the evolution of social media as a business tool." Membership on sites such as Facebook, My Space, and Twitter continues to swell, and there are over 170 million people worldwide on Facebook alone! 

And social networking is no longer just for the young folk. Over 50% of Facebook users and 44% of My Space users in the U.S. and Canada are over 35 years old.

Matching the explosion of users to social networking sites is the massive growth of advertising potential this new platform has opened up.  As Lloyd Salmons, chairman of the Internet Advertising Bureau, put it: "social media isn't just about big networks like Facebook and MySpace, it's about brands having conversations." 

In a time when traditional print-based advertising is on the downturn, why not join the discussion?

Learn more about Marketing Breakthroughs' web marketing, classic marketing, and advertising strategies. Book a meeting with us to discuss your next breakthrough ad campaign.