Independent work theme: the future of print media

Value for Money

Printed media has often had a reputation for ‘dying out’ but this doesn’t correlate to what statistics tell us. Last year alone, over £42 billion was spent on print advertising globally – a far cry from zero, or ‘dying out-appropriate’ numbers. In fact, the UK is the 5th largest producer of print media worldwide, representing a £14 billion turnover from more than 10,500 affiliated companies. That doesn’t sound like dying out to me.
One of the major reasons why businesses still spend so much on print media, especially when it comes to advertising, is because of the value for money it represents. For example, magazines and newspapers only tend to feature printed adverts that are relevant to the content they contain, whereas digital adverts range from anything to everything. 
Producing printed media can also be a lot more affordable than running digital campaigns, and provide consumers with a physical product they can have an emotional attachment to. Digital media definitely has a number of advantages as well but, for many people, being able to hold and look at a physical product is preferred to having to stare at a phone or tablet for hours on end. 

Final thoughts…

This article may make it seem that printed media is better than digital but that’s not the case – both forms of media have their various pros and cons. Rather than it being a case of print versus digital, both forms of media should be used to complement each other – it doesn’t have to be such a competition. Businesses need to understand this and implement strategies which utilise both forms of media. They need to realise that while print may be declining, it’s anything but dying out. 
Digital forms of media may eventually take over and make printed media entirely redundant, but that time looks to be a long way off. As such, the print industry will remain a vital commodity of modern life for years and years to come.