media update’s Aisling McCarthy discusses how print and digital can work together.

Print and digital offer different things

Despite often being viewed as opposing sides, print and digital media are rather two sides of the same coin. Although they can both offer similar content, they have different audiences and, therefore, different goals. Digital content is ubiquitous, but print is still around, despite many predictions planning its funeral.

According to a 2016 study conducted by Freeport Press, over 40% of people still read one or two print magazines and only 30% admitted to reading digital magazines. The study revealed that people claimed to trust print more than digital, but that digital prevails owing to its convenience factor – being available on PC, tablet, and mobile, free of charge.

Although both have similar offerings, print and digital media specialise in different areas and attract different types of readers and engagement.

Digital media offers short, attention-grabbing campaigns; whereas print media remains the space for lengthier articles. In a research paper on South African media, Anja van Schalkwyk and Nicola Baird, research analysts from Focal Points*, found that newspapers remain a vital element in South African society.

“Despite the encouraging innovations and growth in other mediums, print newspaper houses largely remain the home on in-depth and investigative journalism in South Africa.”

While many people predicted digital as the end for print, the research showed that readership numbers are on the rise.

“Between 2004 and 2014, the number of daily newspapers in South Africa increased, while the circulation for daily newspapers declined by 16%. Comparatively, the readership of daily newspapers increased from 21% to 29%, indicating that South Africans are still eager news consumers, but have simply shifted their readership and consumption patterns.”

For more media insights from Focal Points, read the research paper, The development of South African editorial media

Getaway Magazine’s editor, Sonya Schoeman, says that print and digital editions offer different draw cards, but work best when used together.

“The print magazine is there to inspire first and then provide the information necessary to enable our travelers. The site provides the information at people’s fingertips and immediately, so the two are important together.”

Different platforms can drive traffic to one another

In an article on its site, SPH Magazine says that many businesses have opted to go digital-only due to the various advantages of existing online.

“Some businesses have focussed their advertising efforts solely online, in an effort to capitalise on the extensive reach, cheap cost, and convenience of the World Wide Web.”

However, the article also suggests that print offers superior brand engagement and holds more credibility.

In an article for Graphics Art Magazine, Jason Lisi says that although both print and digital media can survive without each other, they both do better when they work together.

“Print campaigns do better when they have a digital media component, and digital campaigns do better when they have a print component.”

Lisi continues, saying that it is not only advertising that does better when using both print and digital media, but the media as an industry benefits too, with more offerings available to the public.

“Many article utilise QR codes that I can scan, and when I have cellular data I can read more about a topic that interests me. Personalised web portals, QR codes, e-commerce sites, loyalty programmes, and tablet publishing are just some of the digital media solutions that many print houses are offering. This is the reality today – print and digital co-existing and complementing each other.”

Melanie Van Zyl, Getaway Gear editor, says that the magazine’s online presence definitely does drive readers to the print magazine.

“We try to come up with interesting articles to entice readers. For example, we did a great guide to Addo Elephant Park and came up with an online article to tell our readers about it, titled 10 things you didn’t know about Addo. We shoot videos on assignment too and create super content for social media to coincide with our print releases – this really help our readers get a feel for local travel.”

Seamless integration is the missing link

Brands that have successfully integrated both print and digital media are fairly few and far between, and Lisi says that the relationship in still relatively new in the grand scheme of things.

“Although there is no question that there are benefits to such a co-existence, the relationship between print and digital is not quite as harmonious as it could be.”

Schoeman says that Getaway Magazine’s combination of print and digital offerings has helped to increase the magazine’s readership numbers.

“Our readership numbers are healthy, over 500 000 according to the last statistics (there’s a big pass-on element), although the challenge today is to get people buying printed magazines – but in a declining market, our numbers are staying stable, which is encouraging.”

Schoeman continues, saying that the digital element has definitely aided in keeping those numbers on the rise.

“I think if we didn’t have a digital presence, our numbers would have definitely declined because we wouldn’t be top of mind when readers needed to research information immediately.”

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With numerous brands ditching print and opting for digital, the luxury industry remains firmly entrenched in print. Read more in our article, Why luxury brands pick print over digital

*Focal Points is a media analysis company that provides reporting solutions to assist with brand and reputation management.