Remember waking up to the Saturday morning newspaper and racing to the comics section? Mom and dad going through, clipping the coupons for the afternoon grocery run while reading up on the week's newsworthy events. It was a perfect collation of everything you needed to know in one broadsheet wrapper. The daily and weekly newspaper have been a part of society since our great-great-great grandparent’s day and possibly even before. As with many things in the modern world, the things that have historically been the norm are now changing and evolving. The print industry is no different.
The cost of producing a daily/weekly newspaper has always been high. However, with the decrease in readership and the increase in the use of mobile devices, reading what you want when you want (even when you're on the go) has served to reduce the need for the daily. Add to that the massive debt level, difficult labor agreements, and the social perception of trees for newsprint and you've got a problem. This reduced readership paired with the lack of advertising attribution and it’s obvious why print has, in many cases, become an afterthought when it comes to the advertisers and marketing teams.
Due to these limitations, there are only a few circumstances in which I believe you could benefit from the use of print as part of your dealership’s advertising spend.
When You Could Use Print
Dealerships all over the country still use print advertising; that is a fact. Print is still impactful - a fact that many digital media pundits would rather ignore. The thing is that there are still people out there that prefer to read news media in the printed form, rather than using their computer, tablet or their smartphone. Not every person in your market lives the connected lifestyle that most of us do. In fact, I met with the head of a large newspaper company a few months ago. This man (who was pushing 80), was adamant that car buyers bought vehicles using his paper. I was talking about the standard online consumer percentages and he abruptly stood up from the meeting table in his office, pulled a newspaper off the top of the two-foot pile of past days papers, opened it to the center spread which was an ad from a local dealer. He planted his hands firmly on the pages and stared me in the eyes, and said - “THIS… This is where people shop for cars.” So, you may say, “ya, but he's 80” or “sure, but how many people actually read the paper.” But I gave him even more credit when he predicted that I was likely some loyal Volvo driver … which I am.
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>> Tip: Two Emerging Technologies to Attract In-Market Car Buyers
The cost of producing a daily/weekly newspaper has always been high. However, with the decrease in readership and the increase in the use of mobile devices, reading what you want when you want (even when you're on the go) has served to reduce the need for the daily. Add to that the massive debt level, difficult labor agreements, and the social perception of trees for newsprint and you've got a problem. This reduced readership paired with the lack of advertising attribution and it’s obvious why print has, in many cases, become an afterthought when it comes to the advertisers and marketing teams.
Due to these limitations, there are only a few circumstances in which I believe you could benefit from the use of print as part of your dealership’s advertising spend.
When You Could Use Print
Dealerships all over the country still use print advertising; that is a fact. Print is still impactful - a fact that many digital media pundits would rather ignore. The thing is that there are still people out there that prefer to read news media in the printed form, rather than using their computer, tablet or their smartphone. Not every person in your market lives the connected lifestyle that most of us do. In fact, I met with the head of a large newspaper company a few months ago. This man (who was pushing 80), was adamant that car buyers bought vehicles using his paper. I was talking about the standard online consumer percentages and he abruptly stood up from the meeting table in his office, pulled a newspaper off the top of the two-foot pile of past days papers, opened it to the center spread which was an ad from a local dealer. He planted his hands firmly on the pages and stared me in the eyes, and said - “THIS… This is where people shop for cars.” So, you may say, “ya, but he's 80” or “sure, but how many people actually read the paper.” But I gave him even more credit when he predicted that I was likely some loyal Volvo driver … which I am.
[highlight color="#22b1e6" font="#ffffff"]
>> Tip: Two Emerging Technologies to Attract In-Market Car Buyers
