Insight from RAMetrics
The scale and reach of news brands on all platforms is staggering: campaigns across print and digital capture a UK audience of 45 million adults every month. But ad spend is migrating to digital at a faster pace than readers, with 19 million readers of printed news brands a month and a print-only audience of 5 million. Are brands missing out on the unique strengths and opportunities of print? What does each medium do best?
From recall to action
When it comes to recall, print reigns supreme: RAMetrics data covering 2022-2023 shows print ads deliver a recall of 78%, a whopping 48 percentage points higher than digital. That follows when you think how much time the average reader spends with their print news brands — one hour 20 minutes on average on weekdays and an impressive one hour 38 minutes on Sundays, according to IPA Touchpoints.
Digital reading times aren’t to be sniffed at either, with the typical reader spending one hour and four minutes with online news brands. But while print builds recall, digital encourages action. Engagement and brand recognition are both higher for digital news brands, while the ease of clicking through on a website or app makes action significantly higher for digital for those who recalled the ad.
Print and digital going from strength to strength
As seen in other research such as Peter Field’s latest IPA Databank study, brand metrics across both print and digital news brand campaigns have risen significantly over the past decade.
For example, readers’ emotional reaction to print ads has risen by 130% between 2012/3 and 2022/3, suggesting readers’ affection for their printed news brand is having an increasing effect on how they respond to the ads they see.
Meanwhile, the proportion of people recalling a digital ad who “have bought” or “will buy” has shot up by 129% over the same time period. This demonstrates how an effective ad in a trusted digital space is a great way to drive readers to purchase.
More RAMetrics analysis
Does size matter? Is bigger better? We’ve always known, always had a gut-feeling about the answer to this question – but now we have proof.
Does size matter? Is bigger better? We’ve always known, always had a gut-feeling about the answer to this question – but now we have proof.
This analysis using the latest RAMetrics data will help you decide whether text or images (or both!) is right for your campaign
