- But how true are these claims?
- Is newspaper advertising dead?
- Should it be avoided at all costs?
That’s what this blog is all about.
Readerships Are Declining
Since the rise of the Internet, traditional newspaper readerships have been steadily declining. Yet the majority of the decline has occurred over the last 5 years and seems to be increasing as time goes gone on.
Research from Roy Morgan shows that Australian newspapers are haemorrhaging readers, with some of them experiencing double-digit percentage losses from the previous year.
WA wasn’t able to escape the decline, with The West Australian experiencing a 6.72% reduction, The Weekend West a 6.42% reduction and The Sunday Times an 8.73% reduction.
Whilst traditional newspaper advertising has been losing readers, there has been a significant gain of digital newspaper readers online. This still isn’t promising for the future on hardcopy newspapers.
How Has This Affected Newspaper Advertising?
Put simply – badly.
As you would expect, the reduction in readers has also reduced advertising revenue. According to the Standard Media Index, newspaper print advertising revenue in Australia dropped $101m from the 2016/17 financial year – a whopping 18.4% reduction.
This is also true for the American newspaper industry, which took a 10% hit in advertising revenue in 2016 compared to 2015.
These results are pretty grim and have been following this trend from the 2000s.
So, Are Newspapers Worth Advertising On?
In general, it probably isn’t the best use of your money, but there may be a place for newspaper advertising in your budget depending on the kind of business you’re in. Like all forms of advertising, it comes down to your target audience and how they operate.
According to News Media Networks, the average age of a print newspaper reader in Australia is 44. Demographics like this need to be taken into account when considering whether to advertise with newspapers or not, because it can determine whether or not it will be effective. You need to advertise where your customers are going to find your ad.
It also heavily depends on the publication, as certain newspapers actually aren’t doing to bad and may be worth exploring. For example, The Australian actually saw a small 0.92% increase in readership in the last financial year.
Judge For Yourself
While it’s not a complete no-no to avoid newspaper advertising, it’s probably a good idea to find other places to advertise. However, although newspaper advertising is declining, it isn’t completely dead yet. So if you get a great deal and the newspaper will reach your target audience, then go for it!
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