BY: TREVOR ARSENAULT, PRESIDENT

Although the COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly influenced many industries, the print media industry was one of the most heavily affected. With the rise of digital media and the shift towards online consumption, print media has struggled to maintain its relevance in a rapidly changing world. Or has it? Ironically, the very thing that challenges print media—that is, digital media and our pervasive online consumption habits—is helping prove its growing importance in our lives.

At Tulip Media Group, our focus has been on print marketing for the last 10+ years, and we’ve helped hundreds of businesses grow and thrive thanks to customized magazines and newsletters. However, COVID-19 was a difficult period for the company as employees faced new challenges and realized that processes would need to change to remain relevant. Even our founder and CEO, Andy Buyting, questioned the future of print during this time. But with each Client-Partner publication, the feedback only reinforced the need for print material.

You see, although everything shifted online nearly overnight during the pandemic, people were stuck at home with an excess of time and little to do. At the same time, hybrid work models made people more conscientious about limiting their screen time and unproductive distractions, meaning they turned to resources like custom print media to fill their time. While continuous scrolling is hard on the eyes and demands more from our working memory, print is an immersive experience that facilitates deeper learning without the opportunity for online distractions like social media or YouTube. As a result, many people rediscovered the joys of print media during the pandemic, which correlated with a higher demand for custom print media solutions.

Beyond the fact that the lockdown helped reignite the print media industry, there are also many fascinating studies being conducted on the difference between a reader’s comprehension and retention of knowledge for digital versus print material. For example, a study cited in Psychology Today (Singer & Alexander, 2017) showed readers recall more details from printed text versus screens. One reason could be that we often read digital text more quickly than printed text, even if our understanding suffers. Furthermore, the study found that the physicality of the print materials, including the tactile experience of manipulating the pages and how the information is organized on the page, helped improve students’ engagement and focus.

In fact, a study by the Journal of Advertising Research concluded that print media has a greater impact on people’s memories and emotions than digital media. They found that individuals who read print media could better recall the information they read and had a stronger emotional connection to the content. So, now do you believe your clients will remember your content better in print versus digital format?

Although the digital world allows us to have everything at our fingertips all at once, print media continues to rival digital media in terms of engagement and accessibility and surpasses it regarding information retention and recall. So, if you feel like your company’s message is getting lost in the echo chamber that the digital world is slowly becoming, it might be time to look into custom print media solutions for your business.

Contact our team at Tulip Media Group today to get started, and let’s help make your content bloom!