Here’s a simple question: between print and digital marketing, which would you trust most when it is targeted at you specifically? Various statistics suggest that print would be the hands-down winner on this count, helping to explain its continued relevancy in the marketing world.
According to a press release published by PR Newswire, 82% of Americans trust print ads – those in newspapers and magazines – while only a quarter of Americans trust online pop-up ads. It’s not hard to see such unassailable trust in print marketing evidenced elsewhere as well.
The Wide Gulf in Trust – Represented in Numbers
The insights4print.ceo website shares findings from various studies backing up the assertion that print marketing is indeed more trusted than its digital counterpart.
One of those studies focused on German consumers and found that newspaper and magazine ads garnered a much higher trust rate – 54% – than website advertising, the trust rate of which was at 16%. Research also suggests that even younger generations, despite spending more time online than older generations, place more trust in printed ads than in digital ads.
In yet another study, direct mail spurred a significantly higher response rate than that of all of the analyzed digital channels combined. Whereas direct mail’s response rate sat at 3.7%, that of the digital channels – including mobile, paid search, social media, email and online display – was 0.62%.
How Print Has Drawn Ahead of Digital in Trustworthiness
All of these eye-opening statistics leave us with the question: why has print marketing built up such a significant lead over digital in the trust stakes? Daniel Burstein, Senior Director of Editorial Content at research institute MarketingSherpa, could have an answer.
He has explained: “Some of the elements of digital marketing that make the channel so popular – its trackability, targeting and low cost thanks to greater inventory – are also its Achilles’ heel compared to traditional advertising.”
In recent years, high-profile debacles affecting companies that rely heavily on collecting users’ data – debacles such as the Cambridge Analytica scandal that beset Facebook in 2018 – have arguably sown distrust in how this data is used to inform digital advertising.
Burstein added: “There’s very high-value online content – even most print publications publish online as well – but that real value is drowning in a sea of mediocrity or worse, and as a whole, it damages consumers’ trust.”
How “Fake news” Has Further Tarnished Trust
According to further research findings shared by Print Power, whereas three quarters of people trust news sourced from local newspapers, only about one in five people trust social media. Even national newspapers’ print editions attract more trust than the equivalent websites, research shows.
It is telling that Facebook not only specifically cited a “breach of trust” as a reason for the social media company to apologize for the Cambridge Analytica scandal but also delivered the apology – including those words – in a print format.
This situation further shows why you should consider investing in a wide range of printing equipment from Duplo International to help yourself act on the print format’s marketing benefits.
