iBlogMarketing

Part I:  The Problem

The Printing Industry and the Internet often appear at odds with each other.  Printing, the third largest industry in the US, has lost a lot of ground to the Internet.  Now with the economy in a deep recession, it is only natural to ask:  What is the outlook for the Printing Industry?

To answer the above question, let’s start with fundamentals.  The future success of the Printing Industry is very closely tied to:
• Total advertising spend
• Shifts in advertising spend to other media, such as the Internet & mobile devices
• Other economic factors, such as the cost of paper & postal rates

Lets take a closer look at the forecasted total advertising spend for 2009.  According to the 2008 Starcom MediaVest Group’s Annual Media Futures Report, advertising expenditures for 2009 are predicted to decrease a record 2.4 percent.  This is the largest decrease ever predicted.  To make matters worse for the Printing Industry, the Internet is expected to be the main beneficiary of main media expenditure, with almost six in ten national advertisers predicting to increase their Internet budgets in 2009.  The one bright spot for the Printing Industry is that point-of-sale activations are expected to increase, which often requires printing.

In addition to the above economic situation, there is a radical poser shift occurring in the control of advertising, namely more interactive agencies are being designated as the agency of record.  This makes total sense, since the Internet has become the “go to” source for information, communication and commerce.  However, this is likely to accelerate the move from print to the Internet.

I don’t want to paint a totally bleak picture for the Printing Industry.  As I mentioned point-of-sale media will like drive additional print business.  In addition, 2009 advertising budgets will migrate from traditional media, like radio and TV, to direct marketing, promotion, and events, which will all use print.  The outlook is not rosy by any forecast, but it is also not a total bust.

What to do?  Since the print industry business is likely to be down due to the economy & business erosion by the Internet, I suggest
1. Use the Internet to get more business
2. Offer Internet related services that compliment your print services

Both items 1 and 2 will be covered in my next posts:

Part 2:  Print Industry Internet Marketing
Part 3:  Print Industry Internet Services

Please feel free to contact me at ldelmonte@tmaemarketing.com or 866.840.3062