Mar 2019: The argument for digital advertising over print

Let’s start with an eyebrow-raising news story that we read about in February; the New York Times reported that digital advertising revenue overtook print advertising for the first time in Q4 of 2018. The full story can be read here.

As Facebook turns 15 and now has a staggering 1.52 billion daily active users, its clear that the digital landscape offers possibilities, and if undertaken in the right way, can lead to increased revenues for advertisers.

Some key advantages for digital over traditional print advertising include:

• Accessible; wherever and whenever
• Current, up-to-date
• Cost-effective
• Can drive traffic directly to advertiser’s website
• Geo-targeting
• Flexible options
• Easily shared
• Worldwide reach

We explore some key design pointers in another March Insider story but, for now, you need to be aware that:

• Designing a digital advertisement is completely different to designing a print one
• Content is being increasingly consumed via mobile devices. Banner design and calls to action need to accommodate these formats.
• Create impact
• Rotate copy
• Create a dedicated landing page – once you’ve invested in the banner make sure that the visitor goes through to the right information. Every page that a potential customer has to navigate to significantly reduces the interest of the user. Create a single page that has the summary information about the product or service promoted with clicks to locate their nearest dealer, pricing, specifications etc.