Yes, print marketing still works and delivers strong results in 2025. Eight out of 10 people trust print ads most when making purchases, and print has a 70-80% higher recall rate than digital marketing. While online advertising dominates spending, print advertising effectiveness creates trust and drives action in ways digital cannot match. The question isn’t whether traditional advertising works—it’s how well it fits into your overall marketing mix.
Does Print Marketing Still Work in 2025?
Print advertising works better than many people think. The numbers prove it performs well alongside digital channels within any comprehensive advertising strategy.
Print advertising reaches about 120 million US adults every month. That’s a massive audience that still engages with physical mail, brochures, and magazines. Studies show 89% of consumers read or scan their print mail immediately upon receipt. People don’t ignore tangible marketing the way they ignore emails. They open it, look at it, and often keep it around for later. The average US household receives 454 pieces of marketing mail each year, and people actually pay attention to them. Print cuts through the digital noise that fills our screens every day.
The real question isn’t whether print works. It’s how well traditional marketing performance delivers for your business compared to other options. Research shows 72% of consumers prefer to receive direct mail and print marketing over digital communications. That preference translates into better results. In 2025, the print advertising space is less crowded because many brands have shifted their budgets almost entirely to digital, meaning businesses investing in high-quality print materials can stand out more effectively. Your competitors might be missing this opportunity while they chase only digital metrics.
Print Marketing Response Rates Beat Digital
Print marketing has a 74% higher response rate than digital marketing. Direct mail campaigns get people to take action more often than emails or social ads.
Studies show print and direct mail campaigns generate a 4.4% response rate, compared to digital marketing’s average of 0.12%. That’s not a small difference. Print advertisements receive an average response rate of 9%, while email, paid search, and social media receive about 1%. When you mail someone a postcard or catalog, they’re 36 times more likely to respond than if you send an email. About 90% of print ads get opened, while only 20-30% of emails get opened. Most marketing emails never even get seen.
Why do postcard campaigns and other offline marketing formats win on response rates? Physical print ads require 21% less cognitive effort to read and remember than digital ads. Your brain processes print faster through superior cognitive processing and stores it better. There’s no competing browser tabs, no notifications pulling attention away, and no delete button. The tangible experience of holding something physical makes it harder to ignore than a screen full of pixels.
Why People Trust Print More Than Digital Ads
Sixty-five percent of consumers trust print advertising when making purchasing decisions, and 70% find print more trustworthy than other forms of advertising. Trust drives sales.
Studies show 82% of consumers trust print ads the most for purchase decisions, compared to 61% who trust newspaper ads versus 42% for online ads. Print feels permanent and credible in ways digital never will. Anyone can throw up a Facebook ad in minutes, but creating quality printed materials requires commitment and investment. Customers understand this. Fifty-six percent of consumers trust print advertising more than digital ads. When people see your brand in print media, they assume you’re established and legitimate. Print advertising is seen as more thoughtful, intentional, and less intrusive than digital ads.
According to neuromarketing research by Temple University’s Center for Neural Decision Making, print advertisements initiated stronger emotional responses than digital ads. These neuromarketing effects demonstrate how print engages more of your senses. You touch the paper, feel its weight, and notice its quality. The texture of a high-quality brochure or the scent of an innovative direct mail piece makes print memorable. These multi-sensory experiences build connections that last longer than a quick scroll past an Instagram ad. Trust comes from feeling something real in your hands instead of watching pixels disappear when you close a tab.
The Cost and ROI of Print Marketing
Direct mail delivers an ROI averaging 112%, outperforming digital counterparts such as email (93%), paid search (88%), and social media (81%). Print costs more upfront but often returns more profit.
Print requires bigger initial spending than digital. You pay for design, printing, paper, and postage before you see any results. Magazine ads provide an average return of $3.94 for every dollar spent. That’s solid profit despite the upfront costs. Research shows print advertising offers a 112% return on investment, making it cost-effective to reach consumers. The key is targeting the right people through precise traditional outreach methods and tracking what works.
People are 70% more likely to remember businesses from print ads than from online ads. That memory drives sales over time. According to data from 2022-2023, print ads deliver a recall rate of 78%, which is 48 percentage points higher than digital ads. When customers remember your brand, they buy from you later. Studies found that those who received print advertisements purchased 28% more items and spent 28% more compared to those who did not receive a print advertisement. The higher response rates and better brand recall justify the extra money you spend on printing and mailing. Personalized direct mail campaigns see an ROI increase of between 300 to 1000%.
Which Industries See the Best Results from Print?
Certain businesses benefit more from print than others. Local services, retail, restaurants, healthcare, real estate, and financial services all see strong returns from magazine advertising and other print formats.
Households in the United States with incomes above $100,000 read newspapers at a 70% rate. If you sell to wealthy customers, print reaches them well. Restaurants send direct mail coupons to increase foot traffic. Car dealerships use postcards to bring people in for service and sales. Healthcare providers mail letters to attract new patients. Real estate agents mail market updates and listings to homeowners. All these industries track clear results from their print campaigns through effective catalog distribution and other print vehicles.
Nearly 45% of consumers prefer reading a magazine over viewing online content. If your customers are older than 40, print probably works better for you. Fifty-eight percent of adults aged 18-34 read newspapers. Even younger audiences engage with print more than most marketers realize. Research found that over 92% of 18 to 23-year-olds find printed content easier to read than digital alternatives. B2B companies also win with print because decision-makers keep printed materials on their desks for reference. Consumers spend an average of 15 minutes looking at a catalog, and 62% purchase as a result, demonstrating how powerful print catalogs can be in closing sales. Any business that needs to build trust with high-value customers should test print marketing.
Combining Print and Digital Gets Better Results
Online campaigns were 400% more effective when combining print and digital advertising. The two channels work better together than either one alone within an integrated marketing strategy.
Multi-channel campaigns using direct mail, email, and personalized landing pages achieved a 28.7% visit rate and 26.3% response rate. When you mail someone a postcard with a QR code or website URL, then follow up with an email, your response rates shoot up. Almost 30% of consumers who notice a print ad eventually visit the advertiser’s webpage. Print drives website traffic naturally because people want to learn more after seeing something in their hands. Integrated campaigns achieve up to 60% higher response rates than standalone strategies.
A study found that 60% of catalog recipients visit the website of the company that mailed them the catalog. Print and digital support each other throughout the customer journey. You can use print to build awareness and trust, then use digital to close the sale. Add unique codes or landing pages to your printed pieces so you can track who responds. Augmented reality technology has transformed print into a gateway to the digital world, with one magazine seeing a 156% rise in revenue from advertisers using AR. QR codes, augmented reality, and personalized URLs are breathing new life into print campaigns in 2025, creating seamless bridges between the physical and digital worlds. The smartest marketers test both channels and find the right mix for their audience.
How to Track Your Print Marketing Success
You can measure print results just as accurately as digital when you use the right tracking methods. QR codes, unique promo codes, custom URLs, and phone numbers all work through partnership with printing companies and direct mail services.
Put a scannable QR code on your printed materials that takes people to a specific landing page. You’ll see exactly how many people scanned it and what they did next. Give each print campaign a unique discount code or coupon code that customers use when they buy. Track how many times that code gets used and you know your exact response. Create custom web addresses for each campaign, like yoursite.com/spring or yoursite.com/postcard so you can see which pieces drive the most traffic.
Use different phone numbers for different campaigns. When someone calls the number from your postcard, you know that piece worked. Connect your customer relationship management system to your print data so you can match responses back to who received each piece. Ask customers how they heard about you when they contact you or make a purchase. Simple surveys and feedback requests give you clear data on what’s working. With modern tracking tools, marketers can now measure the impact of print campaigns as precisely as they do digital ones. The tools exist. You just need to use them.
When Print Marketing Makes the Most Sense
Print makes sense when you need to build trust, reach older or wealthy audiences, stand out from digital competition, or create something customers keep and reference.
Use print when your product or service costs a lot of money. Big purchases require trust, and print builds trust better than digital. Use it when you’re targeting a local area because you can mail to specific zip codes and neighborhoods. Print works well for products that look better in physical form, like home services, food, or anything visual. It’s smart for industries where people want to touch and see quality, like real estate or luxury goods. In 2025, brands are increasingly tailoring messaging and targeting prospects in geographic areas, communities, and even specific neighborhoods determined by demographic and consumer data for hyper-local messaging.
With 86% of marketers worldwide still believing print marketing is effective despite digital growth, and 48% saying it produces better lead quality than digital, the channel clearly still has value. High-quality printed materials can enhance brand perception and foster customer loyalty, leading to significant conversions, especially when integrated with digital strategies. If your competitors are all-digital, print lets you stand out. If your customers are drowning in emails, a postcard or catalog gets their attention. Direct mail boasts an impressive open rate of 60% in 2025, outperforming digital marketing strategies such as email marketing, with 40% of direct mail recipients reading the content. Test small first, track your results, and scale up what works
