Print Media Is Losing (Part 3 of 4)

by lyndsey 10/1/2008 7:00:00 AM

(Part 3 of a 4-part blog series on The Battle for Influence: Online vs. Print Media)

“We face the most difficult advertising environment in our history … ,” wrote Terry Egger, publisher of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, in a letter to readers after restructuring the paper in June 2008. Major sections of the newspaper now appear online only.

According to Ad Age, the top 100 U.S. advertisers — who account for 41 percent of the total advertising spending — increased measured Internet spending by $1 billion, slashed newspaper spending by $674 million and cut TV budgets by $406 million last year.

It’s true that print media is losing out to the Web. The list goes on:

Online media companies like Google are enjoying huge advertising revenue increases, while mainstream media outlets are suffering.
Real estate revenues are shifting online.
Auto ad dollars are shifting online.
Department stores are shifting ad dollars online.

With social media, online forums, blogs and the interactivity of the Web growing and expanding so quickly, newspapers and magazines struggle to compete with the printed version weakening their bottom lines.

The advent of pay-per-click, mobile ads, dayparting, and ads sold by user profiles offer newspapers the ability to master the online monster. Eventually, the print industry will adapt and shift its printed counterpart online entirely — as soon as it integrates these emerging online technologies.

So, where does PR go from here? Less focus in print, more attention to Internet marketing campaigns, pay-per-click services, mobile ads, social networking, social media, blogging and search-engine optimization — the list goes on. The needle is shifting toward inbound marketing.