Businesses Spend More Ad $$ Online than in Print

For the first time, U.S. businesses will spend more of their ad dollars in digital/new media than in newspapers and magazines.

I'm only surprised that it took this long. Who pays any attention to ads in newspapers or magazines these days? What's more, who buys that way?

Back in the day, people actually used to pick up the phone and order items they saw advertised in magazines. Or they would send away for something because of an ad they saw in the newspaper. Do people still do that?

All that really matters is that they do buy online. It's the only growing segment of the economy, aside, perhaps, from get-rich-quick schemes and bank robbery (but I'm not sure those count as growth). Advertise online and your customers can buy with the click of a mouse. Studies have shown that 90 percent of people surf the web with their credit cards in reach (OK, I made that up, but I bet it's not far from accurate). You can also target digital efforts not based on amorphous and questionable survey data given to you by the publisher but based on specific words that pull in your market.

It's like the Yellow Pages in a way: You advertised under the category of your business, and people looking for your type of business would call when they found you there. Now you can be even more targeted about it. Instead of "Widget Manufacturer" you can go for "Whacky Widget Manufacturer in Tuscaloosa." Heck, you could even go for "Buy Whacky Widgets" if that floated your boat.

Are people reading this month's Atlantic looking to buy Whacky Widgets? The return on a digital spend is going to be much higher, especially if you have someone (ahem) who knows what they're doing running your campaign.

Though this news is good for my business, I still rue the impending death of print. I hope the print industry manages to find a business model that works because I still love my Atlantic, and it's not the same reading it online.