Smackdown: Print vs. Online

In reading an article sent to me a couple of weeks ago, it’s been now publicized that online advertising spending will surpass print advertising spending for the first time in 2012. Online ad spending is expected to reach $39.5 billion in 2012, a 23.3% increase over 2011. 2011 experienced a 23% increase in online spending as well from 2010. Add it up and in the last two years, online ad spending has increased by over 40% in the United States.

The article is not necessarily what I found most interesting. Frankly, even the percentage growth is not what I found most interesting. What struck me as interesting was that for one…what took so long? Secondly, wouldn’t we all have assumed this by now?

In the early days of the Internet, online marketing consisted of having a website. A landing page online to help consumers learn more about your business, products, services, and more than anything, just another way to find you. The traditional mediums still reigned supreme during these first few years. Today, that online marketing climate, or online reputation as you are now seeing it called, has evolved to a point where the website is just the outline of a 1,000 piece puzzle. Now its social media, review sites, RSS feeds, public relations efforts, and so much more.

As the online revolution has carried through, advertisers have been pulling away from print publications for years. I’m just shocked that 2012 is the first year that online marketing will win out. What does that hold for the future of print publications as a whole? While growth efforts with online marketing are expected to level off in 2013 and beyond, has anyone started to research the overall downturn percentages with print advertising mediums? We’ve seen major market newspapers close up shop over the last 5 years. To be honest, despite working in this field, I can’t even think of the last time I read a newspaper. My curiosity also wants to know that within these numbers, are directories such as The Yellow Pages, Yellow Book, etc. being included as print publications. That is where I see a huge downturn, as advertisers I talk with day and day out are more annoyed and disgusted with results (or lack thereof) generated here.

In these shifts in ad dollars, outlooks are good for 2012 with overall spending expected to be up about 6.7%, while most traditional mediums outlooks are expected to see minimal growth or stay flat. Print advertising mediums are taking the hit, but have to say, I’m not surprised. I’m just surprised it’s taken until now.