If you are like most marketers and are looking for ways to stretch your advertising dollars in 2009, a new report by Marketing Evolution has the answer for you—magazines. According the report, magazines beat out TV and online media in terms of effectiveness when it comes to influencing audience behavior.

The study focused on an ROI “cost per impact” model that measured brand awareness, brand familiarity and purchase intent. Magazines were especially successful in the categories of branded familiarity and purchase intent. Defining ROI is always a tricky thing, but in this study they use three measurements as a guide:

  1. Average number of people influenced
  2. Average number of influences per $1,000 of advertising spending and the cost per individual impact
  3. Cost per individual impact

As you work to finalize your advertising and marketing budgets for 2009, keep in mind these latest research results show that in terms of advertising, magazines are the most cost-effective medium for influencing consumer behavior, a critical part of the sales cycle.