‘Digital fatigue’. It’s a strange sounding term. Considering that I am writing and researching this article on an Internet-connected PC and that you are, presumably, also reading through a digital device, the idea of digital fatigue may appear disingenuous. But, nevertheless, the idea has started to be floated in some marketing circles over the last couple of years. This article on DecisionMarketing from January 2024, in particular, makes the argument that consumers are turning away from digital channels in favour of more off-line, in person experiences, and time consuming print media. Is this just wishful thinking on the writer’s part, or are they onto something?
I’m not so sure. Let’s be careful not to be drawn into the same trap as the late 1990s pundits who confidently predicted the fizzling out of the Internet. Nevertheless, post-pandemic, there are genuine cultural signs of people looking for a sense of tangible experience away from their smart phone screens. The Covid-19 pandemic itself was, arguably, the highpoint of screen time use, when almost all relationships, jobs, social, and personal channels were reduced to digital networks. And people have been more or less glued to their phones ever since.
However, alongside this there has been something of a ‘print renaissance’ among both business and personal users. Small but noticeable changes include a modest revival in the fortunes of print magazines, many of whom were looking down the barrel of extinction until very recently. Other changes include the ways in which some businesses are re-embracing physical marketing collateral alongside purely digital channels, with a renewed interest in direct mail, hardcopy advertising, and branding strategies that blur the distinction between marketing and design, such as window graphics and bespoke signage.
Digital fatigue could be one of the driving factors behind this. There are other benefits of print media, however, that could be influential. One of these is that printed media can’t be retrospectively changed after publication. Once it’s there, it’s there, making it more trustworthy in the eyes of many consumers. Compare this to digital channels where, even without the growing threat of AI deep fakes and misinformation to contend with, a vendor is free to edit, change, or remove previously published content at whim.
The ubiquity of the Internet and digital devices makes it easy to forget that these tools are comparatively recent inventions. Most of us born in the 1980s and 1990s have spent our entire working lives in front of computer screens, as well as organising our personal and family lives through emails, Facebook, instant messaging apps, and Zoom. If people are rediscovering, belatedly, that there is a world out there beyond our screens and it’s worth engaging with, then this can only be a good thing.
A revival of in-person interactions, printed media, books, time spent outdoors and, yes, a bit less time in the company of our smart phones, might be just what this generation – and the future – needs right now.
If you’d like to explore the potential of print media for your business and marketing strategy, please feel free to contact the team.
Image source: Canva
