Do magazine adverts really generate web traffic?

I've seen a number of adverts in the PC press recently, where the main objective  is to get people to read the ad and then go to a website for more information.

I remember this happening a number of years ago, but I would have thought that suppliers would now be concentrating on generating web traffic from online resources instead.

So do traditional print media products generate web traffic, or should advertisers put their money into media which can not only be monitored more easily, but require less effort for the potential customer to get online?

Magazine Advertising 

For me, when marketing Bluhalo (digital agency), it has to be online! We've experimented with various forms of print advertising and at best it has a positive effect on brand awareness, at worst, it's money wasted!

As a digital agency we are naturally biased towards online. However, the facts are plain to see, even in the B2B arena - online can be better targeted, more easily tracked and is more easily scaleable.

When dealing with potential clients, they want to see us practising what we preach, getting it right for ourselves is the first step towards instilling confidence - online gets my vote!

Yes magazine adverts create site traffic.  When we have researched site traffic there is a positive correlation between magazine product placement/PR and advertising and increases in site traffic.  The question you appear to be really asking though is what is the opportunity cost and relative effectiveness of magazines relative to other forms of advertising.  There isn't a defacto right or wrong channel it all depends on what you are trying to acheive and communicate to which audience.

 

Recent research for PPA Marketing by BMRB has provided us with compelling evidence that proves magazine advertising drives consumers online. The full report is available at ppamarketing.net, but there are four particularly interesting statistics:-

 - 70% of online adults had been prompted to search online by offline advertising.

- Magazine and TV advertising dominate the drive to search, with magazine advertising the   most cost efficient means of generating online search through offline media.

- Nearly 60% of offline adults are making purchases online as a result of seeing offline advertising.

- In over 70% of the product categories measured, magazines are the primary driver of online purchase.

So while PPA would certainly not suggest clients do not use online advertising, we would suggest they don't do it at the expense of  magazines.

Bruce is right. The PPA research is available here:

http://tinyurl.com/2fe956

There's also quite a bit of research done in the US (some via the MPA) which shows the same thing. Also quite a few case studies from publishers here in the UK... 

Are we not sceptical about research from industry bodies which says 'our medium works well'?  PPA - Periodical Publishing Association.

If you are looking for some independent research you could look at the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association study with BIGresearch http://www.nrf.com/modules.php?name=News&op=viewlive&sp_id=229 . This also shows magazines generate significant online search and backs up the PPA study.

I have a background in business magazine (print) publishing, as well as databases and direct marketing, and am currently enthusing all over our new baby http://www.modernselling.com as an online business publication.

I think the mistake here might be to assume that everything that is today's web traffic was, is and always will be the web traffic. Patently not so, otherwise we'd all be university geeks or porn aficionados. Even if "most" people have now had some web browsing experience, that is not the same as them all knowing that new, relevant, different, innovative or even me too sites exist. To the point where, even if they are online in a different guise, they might not be inclined to search there for items they did not imagine existed.

So surely we are all involved, with our SEO, magazine and other media advertising, business cards, direct mail, email broadcasts and so on, in trying to expand knowledge of the range of products and services one can usefully acquire online, and the number of people who make a habit of so doing?

 

As an account manager responsible for B2B development, I think intelligent advertising/PR is using a combination of all mediums available, from traditional to web, balancing the pros and cons of each to the best advantage, depending on your market and your message. So I would say there can be no firm "yes or no" answer to this question-there are too many variables and there is never going to be one marketing solution to suit everyone. Jenny Burgess

Jenny I agree so If you want to drive traffic online that aren't already there then outdoor and magazines combined would work a treat, or TV and online. So it can work that one is for awareness on a webpage and one to describe why you should go there, combine that with a targeted online presence to guide them in and hay presto. It all depends on brand, audience etc. We need joined up strategy. Not mediums just fighting for themselves

 I do agree that web magzine adverts can create traffic, but not that effectively, like PPC and SEO. However, its now been observed that magzines are becoing popular amongst people, but still people prefer to read the content directly on a website, which of course makes it viable to generate traffic.