Print vs digital advertising: how to split a fixed budget
Print and digital advertising answer different jobs, so the decision is allocation, not replacement. Digital wins on individual targeting and click level measurement. Print wins on attention, lifespan and the cost of covering an area: iDO distributes more than 5 million brochures every month across 150,000 print points, the biggest print distribution network in the UK.
Sugandan Balaji
What is the difference between print and digital advertising?
Print advertising is a paid media format that puts a physical item, a leaflet, brochure or poster, in front of a person in a real place. Digital advertising is a paid media format that serves an impression on a screen, bought in an auction and measured by click. The two differ in how they are bought, how long they last and how they are proved.
iDO, the trading name of Info Display OOH Ltd, has distributed print since 1997 and now covers 150,000 print points from 60+ distribution centres with teams local to their own areas, the biggest print distribution network in the UK. iDO also runs digital screens in barbershops, gyms, pubs and bars delivering around 500,000 impressions a week.
Which costs less, print advertising or digital advertising?
Digital advertising costs less to start, print advertising often costs less to reach a defined area. A digital campaign can go live on a small budget, but the price of each impression rises with competition and the same person can be charged for repeatedly. Print distribution is priced per thousand items delivered, so the cost of covering a postcode sector or a high street is known before the campaign starts.
Print carries a production cost digital does not, normally an A5 or DL leaflet on 130gsm to 170gsm. Once printed, the cost per household does not inflate at the weekend or in December. Print advertising buys coverage at a fixed rate, digital advertising buys attention at a floating one.
How do print and digital advertising compare on targeting, attention and lifespan?
Digital advertising targets individuals and behaviour, print advertising targets places and moments. Digital reports clicks within hours. Print advertising is proved by delivery evidence rather than clicks, and it lasts: a brochure in a hotel rack or a poster in a shop window keeps working for weeks, while a digital impression ends as the page scrolls.
| Factor | Print advertising | Digital advertising |
|---|---|---|
| Unit of targeting | Postcode sector, street, venue, rack | Individual, interest, device |
| Cost behaviour | Fixed per thousand delivered | Auction, rises with demand |
| Proof | GPS tracking, photographed display | Impression and click logs |
| Lifespan | Days to weeks in home or venue | Seconds on screen |
| Creative | Fixed size and paper, no edits after print | Editable mid campaign |
Can print advertising be measured like digital advertising?
Print advertising can be measured, though not by a click. iDO has invested over 250,000 pounds in a reporting system that GPS tracks distribution, photographs proof of display and publishes both to a live dashboard with geo located maps. You see where the leaflets went, when they went, and what the poster looked like on the wall.
Response is then read the way any offline medium is read: a unique landing page or code per area, bookings by postcode, and the lift in a distributed area against one left alone. Trestle Theatre in St Albans took an ultra local poster blanket of every retail, food and drink, supermarket, community and heritage site in town, and the performance was oversubscribed.
How should a marketing manager split a fixed budget between print and digital?
Split by job, not by belief. Digital advertising should carry retargeting, the search demand you have already created, and anything that must change within the week. Print advertising should carry coverage of the catchment you need to own and the venues your audience already stands in.
Clients including Disney, the National Trust, English Heritage, ZSL London Zoo, the Royal Albert Hall, the Design Museum, the Imperial War Museum, the Royal Horticultural Society and the Welsh Rugby Union use iDO print distribution alongside digital spend. The question is allocation, not replacement: what share of the budget buys certain coverage, and what share buys targeted response.
- Launching in a defined area: weight print distribution
- Converting people already searching: weight digital
- Short deadline across a whole town: print, from 20 local centres
- Always: one measurement plan covering both
Frequently asked
- Is print advertising still effective compared with digital?
- Yes, for coverage and attention. A leaflet or poster is a single message with nothing competing beside it, and it stays in the home or venue for days. iDO distributes more than 5 million brochures every month across 150,000 print points.
- How do you measure a print advertising campaign?
- Use delivery evidence plus response. iDO GPS tracks distribution, photographs proof of display and shows both on a live dashboard with geo located maps. Pair that with unique codes or landing pages by area, then compare distributed areas against untouched ones.
- Should a small budget go to print or digital advertising?
- It depends on the job. If everyone in one town needs to know, print distribution reaches them at a fixed price per thousand. If you need to convert people already searching, digital is better. Most fixed budgets should fund both.