Independent marketing research compiled by the Magazine Publishers of America (MPA) shows that magazine advertising drives consumers to Web sites better than any other offline medium and often outperforms online media as well.

Among the conclusions of the MPA report, How Media Drive Online Success: Increasing Web Traffic and Search (PDF)

• Offline media perform well in driving Web traffic and search - often better than online media - even when URL addresses are missing or not prominently displayed in offline ads.
• Media synergy is important, although each medium influences online behavior differently and plays a distinctive role.
• Looking at qualified search-those consumers ready to make a purchase - paints a different picture of media usage than total search, which is most often the focus of advertisers.
• When looking at the role individual media play in driving Web results, magazines most consistently drive Web traffic and search.

Research by Marketing Evolution, cited in the MPA report, indicates that consumers who saw a magazine advertisement for a brand are 40 percent more likely to visit the brand's Web site than those who had not seen the magazine ad.

Print magazine readers are also more likely to seek further information or make an online purchase than are newspaper readers, radio listeners and television viewers, according to data from Mediamark Research, Inc.

Peter Hamrick, 2007-11-05