Getting the word out about your small business can be a challenging thing to do, especially when focusing across multiple platforms. Social media, websites and all things digital are on the rise, but that doesn’t stop the printing world from maintaining a top advertising medium. . Advertising in print is far from dated. I recently interviewed Taylor Morgan, the Editor and Owner of The Scout Guide New Orleans for over 10 years! Up to this point, Taylor has published around 200,000 print books, and is most definitely an expert in the field.  We discussed

Benefits of Print Advertising in 2022

Taylor, I am so lucky to know you, and to be having this conversation with you. So let’s jump into it. What do you think the benefits are of a business to utilize print advertising in 2022 specifically when we have lots of different options to advertise a business?

First of all, I’d like to say that print and digital go hand in hand. I obviously am much more partial to print. I think that I've just always been a tangible person, which makes sense why I favor print.I struggle a lot when people are much more digitally focused than they are focused on print advertising. Part of my job is trying to convince them of the value of why you need to have a diverse medium strategy. If you focus all of your time and energy on Instagram, yes, there are thousands of viewers on that platform, but you're also missing thousands and thousands of viewers elsewhere.

What we've also seen is that you don't own that content and that it (a digital platform) can get shut down immediately. So if you only build your client base within there, then you're really limiting yourself.  I think these days more and more people are finding aggravation within the platforms, so trying to reach your clients in other areas helps. 

When I started this business 10 years ago and I walked up and down the street with one prototype in hand, people looked at me like I was crazy. "What are you doing in the print world? Have you ever heard of Facebook? Oh, we just took out all of our money and invested in digital. Why are you doing this?" So it took a lot of convincing, but what we were successful in doing, which then goes back to dovetailing where we started this conversation, is by combining all the mediums. That's how The Scout Guide was able to stand out from other print publications because we were also offering digital direct advocacy, a network, and in-person engagement.

I try to help people understand how print can help you grow your digital audience and that print can help you reach corners of your city, state, or country that you may not be reaching. Once you obtain new readers, then they can follow you on Instagram and visit your website, but how would they have known about you otherwise, if it weren’t for a print medium? 

I don't think people realize the targeting that print advertising allows us, compared to organic social. In print advertising, you can pick specific locations that reach part of your audience that digital does not. So I think that the targeting capabilities print advertising allows for, are pretty cool and it can be cheaper than digital marketing. 

Targeting, the curation, and the thoughtfulness of both the advertiser and the reader around print advertising are all benefits. What's behind print is actually people who have taken the time to engage with one another and create this content and really give value to it instead of just throwing it up on a platform and hoping it performs well. 

I think that that goes back to when people look at a print publication, they schedule time within their day to sit down and look at a magazine or look at a publication. Whereas when you're looking at Instagram or TikTok, you're in the carpool line killing time and it's going in one side and out the other. Print is much more intentional, and therefore has a better lasting impression upon people when it's something artfully done.

I hadn't thought about the intentionality of the viewer when they're seeing it. The curation I think is important because when a business picks a place to advertise it speaks a lot to their business goals. For example, if it's a Scout Guide, they trust you to curate other businesses that the reader might also like. That does a couple of things for you. It makes the medium interesting, but also it gives you credibility. If you are a new business and you advertise next to five or six established old businesses, that really gives you credibility. It also gives you recognition, they might recognize the jeweler that you're next to and choose to read The Scout Guide Magazine.

Yes, I've had clients tell me that. Clients within their first year when I started this. She's said, "It would've taken me 10 years to even remotely touch the level of where Gerrie Bremermann," who has since passed away, but she spent a lifetime building her career and all of a sudden, almost instantly, she was elevated to the same high regard just by being alongside her in the pages of The Scout Guide.

Yeah, and that's something that I don't think social media can do for you. I know you touched on the fact of having a diverse medium strategy.  That's good too because we hear all the time that before a customer works with a business, they need to have been touched by them about seven times or so. 

As our attention spans have gone down,the times we need to touch people has gone up. Print advertising is a great way to touch them, especially if you pick wisely and pick an option like The Scout Guide that isn't going to get thrown away. I do still think there is a benefit to a piece of direct mail that may be considered ‘junk mail’ because that advertising is very inexpensive, but the audience least sees it before throwing it out. Whereas emails sometimes don’t even get open/touched before seeing it. 

I also think print has the ability to make more than just one touch. You go back to it as a source of inspiration more so than a digital article. There's also the credibility factor. A buyer trusts print more because again, the time that goes into creating a print piece, whereas all that digital noise is, you don't even know what's fake news or not anymore. It is too time-consuming to print anything but credible resources. 

I find myself defending influencers all the time because they have multiple steps into executing influencer marketing. But there are a lot of people that have zero trust in influencers or don't give them any credibility because they don't understand that they're really working hard. I think it's the same thing with print advertising. It takes thought, time and curation, so I see why it would be, people would trust it more compared to something on social media. 

The review time, engagement, and stimulation is more with the print advertisements.

Do you have any pointers for what makes a good print advertisement?

Yes. Honestly, taking the time to really sit down and craft a message is extremely important. Those that just show up, and don't understand the message for the intended audience, aren’t going to be nearly as successful. People also don’t understand how much time should go into preparing a print ad.
When working with clients, we like to ask them their marketing goals for a year out, and then we'll work with them throughout the year to augment this story on the different platforms through different copy and visuals.

Do you have a preference in a print ad, one big photo or multiple photos?

Almost the majority of my publication is one photo. Clients over time have seen that it's way more impactful to do one beautiful image, over a collage.

What about words in advertisements? 

When it comes to The Scout Guide, typically we use very limited words. I think if you're going to use words, make sure they're super powerful and really tug at the heartstrings of the potential reader, instead of just throwing words up.

So again, I am partial to print, but I recognize that my print works well because it has the other components to it as well. So not all print pieces really do succeed as much. They don't have as strong of an ROI until... And I think the other local publications in town, they weren't doing any real digital and they've had to amp up their digital presence just to compete with The Scout Guide and that sort of thing on a print capacity. 

I think that's awesome, that the combination is so powerful of all of it. How do you tell that your customers are getting ROI on their advertising with you?

Well, we've built a very loyal audience, so they really tell the owner, "Oh, Scout sent me." But I think a large part has to do with it is the way that we thoughtfully designed the piece and so people actually do walk into a business with The Scout Guide in hand, and so business owners see the results firsthand.

Do any of your clients ever ask if they can put a discount code or a coupon code in the book so they can track it?

I've had like two people ask me that before. I think that's the other thing is when for something like this, a lot of these businesses that if they get one client it kind of pays for it. I mean, not all of them, but even if a new person walks into a boutique and only spends $500 dollars, still that's a sizable amount for a boutique. They are gaining a customer and profit they didn’t have prior.

That is so true! Taylor, this has been awesome to talk about, as many  think print is out and digital is in. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and opinion from being in the print advertising industry for so long!

Of course, Meredith! Thanks for reaching out!

Just when you thought print was dated! Print advertising has so many benefits in 2022 that can help grow your business! What’s stopping you?

Want to connect with Taylor?

Visit her website https://www.neworleans.thescoutguide.com/ where you will find information about advertising with her and/or sign-up for updates on the latest and greatest happenings in one of my favorite cities- New Orleans! Taylor is my favorite go-to on all things fabulous! I highly recommend working with her, signing up for her newsletter, AND following her on social media! You will not regret it!