Print advertising outshines other channels with highest profit ROI

A new study from Thinkbox has proven what we have always known all along – print advertising still has power.

The study concluded that:

• Increasing print advertising share of the media mix increases the overall profit of the campaign
• Print provides the highest profit ROI, outperforming linear TV and audio – everyone skips the TV and podcast ads!
• Print advertising provides scalable investment: print has a high saturation point, allowing for increased investment without diminishing returns, second only to TV.

Print Power Europe has analysed the report and says: “On average, a pound invested in advertising returns just over ￡4 in profit. But that’s an average across a wide scope of different media investments. Importantly, the study highlights that while television leads in overall profit contribution due to its share of advertising expenditures, print advertising delivers the highest return on investment (ROI) in profit.”

Is it true that that print is a declining medium? We have long believed in the power of print and this study reinforces the fact that print is still an effective way to reach an audience. An important take away from this study is: “Despite representing only 3.3% of the total advertising investments analysed, advertising in newspapers and magazines account for a remarkable 4.8% of the profit generated.

“Specifically, print advertising yields an impressive ￡6.36 in profit for every pound spent, outperforming other media such as linear TV (￡5.94) and audio (￡4.98).”

One of the key insights from the study is the importance of sustained advertising efforts in print.

Print Power says: “It was found that 58% of advertising’s total profit generation occurs after the initial 13 weeks. This underscores the long-term value of advertising investments, particularly in traditional media like print, which continue to yield returns well beyond the immediate period.

“Additionally, print advertising has the highest relative contribution to profit when considering short-term payback (up to 13 weeks), proving its effectiveness in both the short-term and long-term.”

Is it time to re-evaluate the role of print media in the marketing mix? Our award-winning commercial team thinks so. If you'd like to read the full article, you can at PrintPower Print advertising has highest profit ROI and also the study Profit Ability 2: The new business case for advertising (thinkbox.tv).