Is print really in decline?

Print is not at a decline, it's actually growing, print is never going out! However at the moment the print industry is re-positioning itself, because of the rise in technology, and if you are a printer and fail to shift along with the re-positioning, you will lose out and possibly go out of business. Every industry goes through change and re-positioning at one point or another, and when you refuse to transition with the market you end up like Blockbuster and Toys R Us.

owensoffice.com 

Hi Joann,

You may also have heard:

Newspapers are dead. (but I know someone one making big bucks with a supplement and all he uses are newspaper ads)
Direct Mail is Dead. (But Google, Esurance, and Amazon still use it...)
Radio is dead, flyers are dead, brick and mortar businesses are dead, customer service is dead, and God is dead.

And each one of them has proven the alleged experts wrong.

I believe that it is in decline - but that doesn't mean it can't work for the right demographic. 

There is something to be said to doing the opposite of what the majority is doing. If the majority is doing online - suddenly you start to stand out with a physical item. 

But - only with certain demographics - and your print content will still need to stand out.

Best answer is a solid marketing mix according to your target market I think. 

Sorry to say, but print is declining. I equate it with the movie and music industries. There is still a demand for music and movies, but not a demand for CDs, DVDs, video tapes and audio tapes. We still have a demand for news articles and information, but not in the printed form. If print was a growing industry, we would not have so many newspapers and print shops closing their doors. I do not think print will go away completely, but it definitely is not needed as much now as in the past.

Print is one of the only services in the world where the sale price of the end product has gone down substantially over the past 10 years, even while the production costs have increased. Many companies have merged with/acquired others while others have simply folded. 

Print is changing as an overall percentage of marketing, and the "printing pie" is shrinking. The most flexible are the ones still holding the biggest piece of the remaining pie, by finding new and creative ways to keep print relevant and offering additional marketing services in addition to print.

Something to think about: With the decline in overall mail piece volume, a well designed direct mailpiece has little competition for attention. This turns direct mail into an opportunity to shine and sell print!  Someone else in this thread mentioned that even Google, Amazon and other online juggernauts use direct mail marketing. They are reaching people with a tangible, physical piece to supplement their online messages. 

So back to the original question, Is print in decline? Overall, it's been in decline for years—but it's not going away anytime soon. 

Well with catalogs it is not that popular. But I still create brochures, stationery, fliers etc..so no it is not dead. 

Actually if someone wants to create a printed catalog, I think it is more effective now, as there are not so may catalogs out there, so not so much compitation. 

Yes on-line ads target you, but sometimes catalogs are just there in the mail, and sometimes people like a break to see things in print.

These days, a business needs to market from all roads that lead to your target market. Leaving one avenue such as print behind in favor of digital is like cutting off a stream of revenue that could be benefitting your bottom line. Because there are more ways to try and reach/connect with consumers, it is frustrating that businesses now have to diversify their efforts towards more streams to get the same result as one stream used to do, but that is how our world has evolved. Find the stream that produces the most $$$ while judicially looking at your other less results oriented streams and deciding either how to augment your marketing to fit or dropping it.

Actually at one time that may have had some merit but this is all changing. More people are going to printing for a more immediate impact. Nothing beats the immediate impact. My business is mostly web based and in the printing industry,  but even so we are going to brochures etc. My web site is mostly a site to get more of an idea of what we do. 

Think it's a mixed bag. Yes, there are some areas of print that are definitely in decline, but areas we've seen dry up 5 years ago are starting to come back (direct mailing for example). People dropped all their direct mailing and flyers in favor of the more economical email newsletters etc. but those have become somewhat white noise now as so much comes into our inboxes. 

At least with an unaddressed piece (or addressed, which is even better) you get a few seconds of someone's time to review it and it might catch their attention, if only on the way to the recycling bin. A lot easier to swipe delete or unsubscribe it seems. Adwords/AdChoices and other browser-based marketing is definitely a great and cost-effective way to get your message, but that only gets them to your site - have to have a strong site to help continue that message and also some print collateral to further that along, should you get that face to face with a potential client.

Think the key is to have a mix of online marketing and traditional print collateral, as if you do have a sales appointment for your product and/or service, leaving behind a URL is not really the way to go. Best to have it on a piece of material that really showcases your company and what you can provide, as a great looking print piece can go a long way. Having an online presence to compliment that is also great, as you can update content on a website much more easily (and cost-effectively).

So while the amount of printing done in the world is definitely less than it was years ago, just means that the print that is done is less frivolous and more targeted to accomplishing a goal (ie sales, information etc.)

Just my 2 cents, but I do feel that the "print is dead" comments make it sound like a doomed industry. While definitely a decline in materials has happened, don't think print is going to go away entirely any time soon. Just might mean several years of re-focusing (tightening belts/trimming some fat as everyone is always looking for the best price!)...
 

Print is NOT dead......but it is a animal that has had to change with ever changing advancements in technology.

Budgets that formerly were supporting physical marketing tools like brochures and business cards are now supporting websites and social media first.  That does not mean that businesses are not getting around to ink on paper, it is just not the first initiative to support.

The actual print process has also advanced with the ever changing marketing machine.  Digital print has changed the landscape of ink on paper (or toner on paper).....Short run print is king, and the quality that we are delivering is second to the offset process no more.

Print is not dead, it has just changed it's stripes.

Gene Fisher

Source All Media, Inc.