Can print advertising drive online traffic? Yes, according to a study released by Telemetrics, a Toronto based company that focuses on call tracking and measurement solutions.
Tracking unique URL activity in addition to call measurement demonstrated a 78% increase in overall leads in the study that measured Yellow Page print advertising. Telmetrics found that site referrals from print represented 44% of leads on average.
“Evaluating the impact that print advertising has on Web activity is critical. Without tracking unique URL traffic, Yellow Pages advertisers would not know the total number of leads the print product is driving, as those touch points could be attributed to online ad channels,” said Bill Dinan, president,Telmetrics. “Our URL tracking data confirms that traditional media complements the digital media mix and echoes consumers’ use of multiple media and platforms in their purchasing decisions.”
The study states that during the timing evaluated, “the ads that used unique URLs (for example: florists2.com) were more often visited than client-specific domains with URL extensions (for example: publisher.com/florists).”
One of the critical elements in creating the report were the techniques used for tracking. Telmetrics created a URL tracking solution that provided integrated lead reporting allowing publishers to prove the value of the print medium. Telmetrics was able to record call and URL activity as each ad includes a unique phone number and URL only attributable to that advertisement.
