A new study from InsightExpress makes it clear that brands and retailers need to be incorporating some aspect of mobile into their print strategies.

InsightExpress took a deep dive into how print media and mobile are playing together. The company found that heavy mobile users are highly engaged print consumers as well

?Based on our findings, it?s clear that brands and retailers should be incorporating mobile into their print strategies,? said Joy Liuzzo, vice president and director at InsightExpress, Stamford, CT. ?If they are starting with QR codes then, they need to pay close attention to the best practices we?ve outlined in the study.  

?However, mobile and print can go beyond QR codes to take advantage of already established behaviors such as article archiving or sharing, getting more information on a product or topic and so on,? she said. 

InsightExpress looked at QR code awareness, usage and consumer desires around this content. 

When looking at publications subscribed to/read, the smartphone owners who do six or more activities daily on mobile are both subscribing to and reading more print materials than any of the other groups (smartphone or regular phone owners). 

This six or more mobile activities group is quite attractive as they are more engaged with print media. They have more varied interests and are more willing to connect with brands/companies via mobile. 

?The biggest surprise to me was with the segment of smartphone owners that do six or more activities on their phone every day and their print media consumption,? Ms. Liuzzo said. ?This group is both subscribing to and reading more print materials than any of the other groups (smartphone or regular phone owners).  

?For a highly engaged mobile user, this was a shock ? why were they still relying on print,? she said. ?When we dug deeper, we found that they are more engaged with print media as well (e.g., tearing out articles to save for later, searching for a product mentioned in an article or ad, gone to a Web site mentioned in an article) which again caught us off guard.  

?After looking at all this and more, it?s apparent that print isn?t dead in the eyes of this highly technology engaged smartphone group.?

Engagement with print can take many forms, according to InsightExpress. 

Anything from tearing out an article to searching for a product online could fall into this category.

InsightExpress investigated the different behaviors based on newspapers and magazines and found that magazines tend to encourage more engagement than newspapers across most activities and groups.

Looking at smartphone owners who do six or more activities daily, their engagement with magazines is significantly higher than other groups. Based on this, publications and brands should consider expanding their mobile offerings to include things like QR codes and SMS. 

?Bring your print and mobile teams together in 2012 and really start to explore how your consumers are interacting with print in general and your campaigns,? Ms. Liuzzo said.

Mobile Marketer deputy managing editor Giselle Tsirulnik reported for this story.