When I started in advertising and marketing media in 1996, it was in the television advertising industry, which at the time had not been infiltrated by a myriad of cable channels (Netflix, Amazon Prime or Hulu). From there I went to work in radio, print and digital mediums to help companies market their products. For years, I was saying that digital was something to be a part of, and getting away from print, was probably the right move.
Seventeen years into my career, I found myself working at The Dallas Morning News, and my vision of what a good marketing campaign consisted of had changed. It was not just one medium or another, but rather a combination of outlets that could be leveraged, based on your audience.
Today I work at TravelHost, which is a business opportunity where independent business owners run their own multi-media business, in an effort to help travelers navigate within their respective markets. I decided to join TravelHost because of the opportunity to combine print and digital media. I found myself running toward the magazine and not away from it. Why?
The reason I made the decision to leave the daily newspaper and join a business, publishing quarterly magazines despite the ‘print is dead’ chant, is simple. Print is not dead, and will not be for a long time, because of the ability to combine a digital component with it. That is not the only reason though. Being a niche publication, targeted to travelers, makes TravelHost magazine and the business stand out.
Think about the last time you traveled, for business or pleasure. When you reached your destination, you most likely had your cell phone out, before the flight attendant told you that it was ok to turn on your mobile device. You checked your email, text messages and then a social platform like Facebook or Instagram. Businesses are using email and social platforms, to advertise to you in the digital space, but it does not end there.
You reach your destination hotel and you toss your bags on the floor, flip off your shoes and then throw yourself on the bed. After a few moments you reach over to the nightstand, and there is an in-room magazine. The magazine has advertisements in it that will direct you to the places in the area where you can eat, shop and play. If the campaign is connecting the dots, then the advertisement on your phone matches the advertisement in the magazine. The business has now touched you twice within moments and is doing what an advertiser is supposed to do, disrupting you with a message to come visit their business.
Tying those media platforms together allows a business to put their message in front of a captive audience. Television and radio are passive mediums in which a person can “ignore” the advertising that is being broadcast to them. With a print publication, the reader can only do one thing, and that is to actually read and/or flip through the pages. With digital, the same is true. Whether you are holding your phone, or scrolling on your desktop, there is very little else for you to focus on.
With a dedicated audience, the ability for an advertiser to reach the consumer increases, and allows for an impression to be made. As I mentioned earlier, the combination of print and digital provides a business to be seen by their audience, and in the case of TravelHost that audience is the traveler.
As technology continues to evolve and media blends together, the way a company markets themselves will change. Therefore, today and in the near future, the way to reach an audience combining traditional and digital mediums, is through print and digital. They work well alone but even better together.
Jason Bahamundi
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