Do People Still Read the Newspaper - Whether Newspaper Advertising Is Still Effective

With the rise of the Internet comes a decline in almost all in print publications. Not many years ago I could go to the book store and pick out several short story magazines at my leisure to read. Now, if I want good fiction I'm more inclined to look up an online magazine than one in print. Simply finding a hard copy of a magazine these days can be a challenge. So what does this mean for newspapers?

Finding news online is an easy task. I routinely look up Yahoo news to get up to date information as well as reading the newspaper. The Internet provides a convenient way for people to easily acquire information at any time, so why not focus more on online news than in print?

Perhaps twenty or more years down the line this will be even truer, but to throw in the towel for our friend the tangible newspaper would be rather silly. While it may seem like everyone in this country has ready access to the Internet, there are still many who either don't, or choose not to. Furthermore, the Internet is something people can't always carry along with them. While wireless has given Internet access to a greater range of places, it still can't possibly compete with the versatility of a newspaper.

But what does all of this mean to marketing? Many companies are going to be tempted to shift more of their attention to online advertising than in print, but this would be a mistake. Color printing is not a thing of the past. People still like to have something they can hold in their hands, and, more importantly, something they can carry with them.

When you see that banner over a website, you have interest, and you think you'd like to try that out, what can you do? Go right at that moment to learn more? What if you don't have time? Write the information down or print it out, perhaps? But what a hassle that can be having to write everything down. A colorfully printed ad in a newspaper can be torn out, placed in your pocket, and carried with you. That right there is a convenience the Internet cannot readily give a person.

But beyond the convenience, newspapers are still a staple of our society, as are newspaper advertisements. Many people use these kinds of ads to see when the next sale is coming out, perhaps only looking through the newspaper at all to find this information. People know it's there, and unlike the Internet, which is a massive network of various websites, a newspaper is straightforward and easy to find. A person doesn't need to do lengthy searches to learn what they want to.

There has been a switch into Internet advertising, and it does have its advantages, but to say color printing and newspaper advertising is a dead form of marketing would be disregarding a large part of our population. We'll see what enough years do to newspapers, but for now, it seems a little too early to think about putting this particular media in the ground.

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