Are Print Newspapers Over?

Print newspapers are dead. At least, that's what everyone has been saying. It's not hard to see why they think that, either. Several newspapers have gone out of  business in the last few years, and the ones that are still around had to make some serious cutbacks. And really, who needs a paper? Twitter will make sure we're aware of the latest news, and blogs will give us all the details. Ad spending can simply switch to digital media. So, newspapers are over. It's pretty black and white, right? Let's take a closer look

-Why Print Newspapers Are Useless
According to Direct Marketing Newswire, a 3.5% decline in circulation is expected each year. This is a major hit. It seems that consumers feel that they have less need for print newspapers. In fact, digital sources are claiming 57% of the news consuming audience. This trend will probably continue. Does this mean that advertisers should take their money elsewhere?

-Why Print Newspapers Matter
According to NNNLP, while print newspaper circulation is declining, its influence is still very powerful. 82% of adults said they have taken an action as a result of a newspaper in the last 30 days. 82% also said that they have used a newspaper insert within the last 30 days. These are impressive figures. The vast majority of readers were compelled into action due to a newspaper. Certainly, marketers can use this to their advantage.

But wait. There's more.41% of adults say they use newspapers more than any other medium to view ads. This compares with 21% for internet and 8% for  TV. Even more surprising is that 77% of adults said that they would not remove advertising from their newspapers if the could. 64% said the same for Web sites and 48% for email. This means that while your audience may not be as large, it is more engaged.

There are other factors that make print newspapers appealing to advertisers. They are considered to be a credible source of information, unlike blogs, and ads are taken more seriously as a result. Also,the audience on average has a higher salary, which is never a bad thing (unless that's out of your target market). For these reasons, we don't believe that print newspapers are dead.

How to: Engage Your Audience

Engaging your audience is essential if you have any hope of making a sale. People like to feel like they are cared for when they interact with a business. Here are a few ways to make sure you are connecting with, rather than talking to, your audience.

1. Talk in Their Language
It's very important that you speak to your audience in the language that they use everyday. People want to feel like you understand them. There is no better way to make them feel understood than to speak as they do. It also positions your brand as "one of them," which is great because people like to feel like they are buying from a friend rather than a salesman.


2. Connect With Them on Their Turf
Seek your audience out because you don't want to rely on them to seek you out. Find out which programs they watch, magazines they read, radio stations they listen to, and social media outlets the use. Once you've established where they are, go there. Put your message in front of their face. After all, you do want to make this as easy for them as possible.

3. Show, Don't Tell, Your Benefits
If it all possible, demonstrate what your product or service provides to its consumers rather than describing it. While descriptions can sometimes do a wonderful job of explaining why a purchase is a good idea, it is often considered unappealing and is easily dismissed (who doesn't talk about how great their product is?). A demonstration, on the other hand, is not so easily ignored. Think of the old Timex "takes a licking and keeps on ticking" commercials.While the tagline is catchy, it was the fact that it showed various attempts to destroy the watch thwarted that made it such a successful campaign.

4. Help Don't Sell
People do not like to be persuaded, they like to be helped. Don't talk about how great your product or company is, talk about how much better you can make your audience's lives. They will appreciate this. Though people don't like to advertised to, they do like to receive information. It's our job to blur the line between them.

How to: Get Started on Twitter

If you're just getting started on Twitter, it can be very confusing and overwhelming. You've got things to say and websites to link to, but how do you get followers so that someone actually reads what you're putting out there? Here are some tips:

1. Follow the accounts on this list
Almost everyone that appears on the list will follow you back. You might be thinking that this will just pad your follower numbers without providing you with an audience that is genuinely interested in your topic. You're absolutely right. Fortunately, I'm not just having you increase your followers for nothing. It makes a big difference to a prospective customer whether you have 100 or 10,000 followers on Twitter. More followers looks like your company is a well respected authority in your particular industry. 

2. Follow related accounts
If you sell cars, follow accounts that talk about new cars, new car technologies, and industry trends. If they notice that one of their followers is tweeting information that would be relevant to them, they will most likely follow back. This way you can gain more followers while working on building an audience that cares about what you have to say.

3. Follow your target audience
Now that you have a decent base of followers, seek out your target audience. This is easiest to accomplish when the target audience is based in a certain region. When this occurs, you can find accounts for newspapers and sports teams in that area. Look at the list of people that are following those accounts and follow them. Again, they will most likely follow you back.

4.Retweet other people
Whenever you see a tweet or a link to an article that you find interesting, retweet it. This helps you to form relationships and engage your audience. Often it will result in a retweet or a suggestion from the person you retweeted to their followers to follow you. Both of those can result in more followers for you. Do not, however, hit the retweet button below their tweet. If you do this, your company logo and name will be replaced by theirs. Instead, copy and past their tweet and before it write RT @whomever.

5. Use hashtags
Hashtags are words or phrases that are put after a "#." They become hyperlinks. When you use these, it makes your tweets, and by extension you, easier to find. Make sure they relate to the article or tweet. For example, on our Twitter page we talk about marketing, social media, advertising and graphic design, so some of the hashtags you will find include #marketing, #socialmedia, #advertising and #graphicdesign.

Other than that, the biggest thing is to be patient. It takes time for people to notice you, it takes time to get people to care and it takes a lot of time before it will affect your sales.

What Ideals Does Your Company Advertise?

Norman Douglas, a member of the Advertising Hall of Fame, once said, "You can tell the ideals of a nation by its advertisements." We agree with this sentiment. By noticing the advertising that is shown in any given country, you really begin to understand what its residents value. It could be sex, fame, money, power, self-fulfillment, charity, or multiculturalism. Whatever is considered an ideal within a country will either be promoted or appealed to through advertisements.

The same is true for your company. Everything you put in front of consumers says something about your business. You could be saying that your company believes in great value rather than low price or that your company believes a good night includes football, girls in bikinis, and lowered inhibitions. We aren't saying that one value is better than any other, but all values have the possibility of resonating  with certain people, while isolating others.

The point is that you must be careful. Your promotions are your image, and your image is everything.