Newspapers: the Answer is Not Print or Digital; it's Integration!

1. Some are becoming digital service provider where advertisers can come for services like web design or search engine optimization.
2. Others are specializing and localization has become a favorite trend among newspapers that see this as an avenue to offer information only they can provide.
3. Reputation management of local businesses is another offering generating significant interest.

In a recent survey by InfoTrends, marketers confirmed that are planning to shift more dollars away from print and into digital media. In the next two years, print will still make up 30% of marketing spend but it is expected to decline by 6.2%. Online marketing is expected to increase 4.9% and mobile will experience the highest growth, with expenditures increasing by 8.8% (from 10.2 to 12%). Websites, social media and mobile apps are the top digital content to which customers are directed. According to Steve Adoniou, Director of InfoTrends' Consulting Service, "Print is not disappearing, but its use is declining and its role is changing."

In "What's next for print in an increasingly mobile world," the author notes that return on investment for print is actually increasing for marketers the world over. Marketers have moved away from the broad, general outbound marketing tactics of the past to a more targeted, data-driven and totally integrated approach. As a result, marketers have made print work harder by integrating it with their digital efforts.

This is reinforced by a survey by Oracle, which revealed that 70% of marketers currently use print to direct audiences to digital content. In addition, nearly half of marketers (46%) believe print is "vital" to driving interest in digital mobile content and campaigns. In an age of information overload, print has the power to cut through the clutter, but adding digital and mobile can attract many more eyeballs and offer an altogether more powerful proposition.